Game Day Chat Preview: Heisman Thoughts and Bold Predictions

 

Debate is a big reason why we love sports as much as we do. We love to debates, stats, plays, and legacy with out friends, families, and even random strangers. Chris Russo wrote a book called, “The Mad Dog 100: The Greatest Sports Arguments of All-Time.” The book was a New York Times Best Seller. Above all, awards might be my favorite thing to debate. Who deserves to win? Major League Baseball just gave out their awards and we all debated if Justin Verlander, a pitcher, deserved to be named the MVP? Tonight, the Heisman Trophy will be given to college football’s most outstanding player. Let’s take a look at the fire candidates for the award and I will unveil The Sports-Caster’s unofficial Heisman Trophy Ballot.

(Listed Alphabetically)

  1. Player: Monte Ball School: Wisconsin Year: Junior Stats: 1,759 yards rushing, 32 Rushing touchdowns Incredible Fact: Monte Ball scored more touchdowns this season than 45 teams or 37 percent of the entire FBC (Football Bowl Subdivision). Ball scored more touchdowns than Florida, Oregon State, Duke, Buffalo, Kentucky, Kansas and forty other teams.
  2. Player: Robert Griffin III School: Baylor Year: Senior Stats: 3998 yard passing, 36 touchdown passes, 644 rushing yards, 9 rushing touchdowns Incredible Fact:  RG111 lead Baylor to their first victory EVER over Oklahoma.
  3. Player: Andrew Luck School: Stanford Year: Senior Stats: Completed 70% of his passes for 3,170 yards and 35 touchdowns. He only threw 9 interceptions. Incredible Fact: Luck was perfect in the red zone, 26 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
  4. Player: Tyrann Mathieu School: LSU Year: Sophomore Stats: 71 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 5 fumbles recovered (2 returned for touchdown), 2 interceptions, 420 punt return yards, 2 touchdowns. Incredible Fact: Nicknamed, The Honey Badger, Mathieu he might be the most versitsle player in the group. Honey Badger has returned punts, played corner, nickleback, and safety.
  5. Player: Tony Richardson School: Alabama Year: Junior Stats: 1,583 yards rushing, 20 rushing touchdowns, 27 receptions, 327 receiving yarsds, 3 touchdowns Incredible Fact: During his first two seasons at Alabama, Richardson backed up Heisman winning running back, Mark Ingram. Ingram was the first Alabama player to ever win the Heisman Trophy. Can Richardson be the second?
My Ballot (Each voted gets to pick a 1st 2nd and 3rd place finisher. I don’t actually have a vote. This ballot is unofficial.)
  1. Robert Griffin III: Being a fan of Big 12 football, I have had the pleasure to watch Robert Griffin III emerge from a freshman who had happy feet to a senior that is the most complete quarterback in the Nation. Griffin can do things on the football field that only 2 or 3 other people in the entire world can do. This season Griffin has become a fantastic pocket passer and learned to be safe with the football. His signature win came in front of the entire country when he lead a last minute drive to defeat Oklahoma on ABC.
  2. Andre Luck: I wanted to vote for Luck as the winner but the way he played, in a loss, to Oregon was stuck in my head. In most seasons, Luck would have done enough to win the award, this year, RG111 was just a little bit better.
  3. Trent Richardson: When it comes to deciding between the two running backs I decided to lean towards the player who played against better competition. Richardson plays in the SEC and Ball plays in the Big 10.
(For the record: Ball would be fourth and Mathieu would be fifth)
The Top 10 Heisman Trophy Winners in the BCS ERA (1999-2010)
  1. Tim Tebow (2007)
  2. Cam Newton (2010)
  3. Sam Bradford (2008)
  4. Carson Palmer (2002)
  5. Mark Ingram (2009)
  6. Matt Leinart (2006)
  7. Jason White (2003)
  8. Ron Dayne (1999)
  9. Eric Crouch (2001)
  10. Troy Smith (2006)
Getting Ready for Sunday
Week 14 of the NFL season got off to an interesting start on Thursday night. The Steelers looked to have lost Ben Roethlisberger to a terrible ankle injury only to watch him return for the second half and lead the team to a must needed victory over the hapless yet game Cleveland Browns. The Steelers now have a sizable break to prepare for a Monday Night Football game against the 49ers.
Three interesting games and three interesting story lines prepare us for Sunday’s live blog on ProPlayerInsiders:
Top 3 Games of the NFL’s Week 14
  1. Bears (7-5) vs. Broncos (7-5): Can the Bears get serviceable quarterback play from Caleb Hanie? Will it matter without their best play maker on offense, Matt Forte? Can Tim Tebow complete enough passes, and rush for enough yards to lead the Broncos to another victory? After Sunday, one of these teams should be surging towards the playoffs while the other will be fading away from it.
  2. Texans (9-3) vs. Bengals (7-5): Last week against the Steelers, the Bengals didn’t seem to be ready to play the big game. Andy Dalton was sloppy and the Steelers were in command of the game all day. Can the Bengals bounce back against another of the AFC’s most elite teams? Without Mario Williams, Matt Schaub, Matt Leinart, and Andre Johnson are the Texans still one of the AFC’s elite teams? Can TJ Yates win on the road?
  3. Giants (6-6) vs. Cowboys (7-5): This game has been flexed from a day to a night game so we can all enjoy the game after the dust has settled on most of the Week 14 action. Can the Giants end their disastrous 4-game losing streak that has taken them from in control of the NFC East to 1-game behind the Dallas Cowboys? Can DeMarco Murray return to the form that helped him rush for over 600-yards in his first four starts? Will Jason Garrett ice his own kicker again this week?
Top 3 Story-lines of the NFL’s Week 14
  1. The AFC has five 7-5 teams. The Raiders, Broncos, Titans, Jets, and Bengals are all tied with the same record. Either the Raiders or the Broncos will emerge and win the AFC WEST. The remaining four teams will be fighting for the final playoff spot in the AFC. It is a fact that one of the Jets, Titans, or Bengals will not make the playoffs. What two teams will emerge from week 14 action as the front runners? Or, will more than 2 teams emerge?
  2. The Saints can clinch the NFC South with a win over the Titans and a Falcons loss to the Panthers. The Saints seem to be a lock to clinch the NFC South at some point, but can they catch the 49ers and secure the second of the two first round byes in the NFC. The 49ers basically hold a 1.5 game lead over the Saints. They have a better record with only 2 losses compared to the Saints 3, and the 49ers only have one conference loss. The Saints have three. For the Saints to get the bye they can not finish behind (obviously) or tied with the 49ers.
  3. Will Adrian Peterson and Christian Ponder be healthy enough to play against the frustrated Detroit Lions. Can the Lions control themselves for sixty minutes and play disciplined football? The Lions had 3 offensive pass interference penalties last week against the Saints. They also earned personal foul penalties for pushing the ref, throwing the ball at an opponent, and for punching an opponent. If the Lions want to make the playoffs they are going to half to stop the stupidity and just play football.
One last thing….
Last week I boldly predicted that the Dolphins would defeat the Oakland Raiders. Not only did the Dolphins beat the Raiders they humiliated them 34-14. That turned out to be a good call. Here is another:
The Panthers will defeat the Falcons. Book it.
Enjoy the rest of your Saturday night. I will be back tomorrow for a live blog that will take you through the 1:00 match ups and through part of the 4:00 tilts.
In the meantime, check out EP54 of The Sports-Casters podcast featuring interviews with Luke Winn (SI, SI.COM) on college hoops, Jimmy Traina (SI.COM) on his column Hot Clicks, and Freddie Coleman from ESPN Radio.

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