Yay alliteration.

Amazingly, this little bit of data may not have been discovered by Florida's SID's, but instead some guy commenting on Heisman Pundit's Live Blog last weekend.

my first question/comment was going to be about tebow becoming the first 20/20 college player EVER (20 rush TDs, 20 pass TDs)...

 

1:24 Do you guys know what Tebow was for Halloween?

1:24 [Comment From J.R. Deluxe]
doesn't this make tebow the first 20-20 player ever?
1:24 Clark Kent

1:25 Good question Deluxe

1:25 I think so

1:25 Amazing

okay, this guy is the "foremost authority" on the Heisman and i had to inform HIM of this fact? i detected a strong urge from "the establishment" to hurry up and find a frontrunner to replace the injured Dennis Dixon QUICK, with someone besides SuperTim...i wasn't having it.

so, i'm not going to take credit if Tebow eventually wins this thing, but i will say that i might have influenced an "influential player" in the game...

UPDATE--i don't mean to brag, but i think my pointing out the 20/20 angle seems to have become the talking point nationally. i think i re-framed this debate...

 

This guy has a future in politics.  Great find, and more than anything I'm shocked Heisman Pundit wasn't on it first, he has a tremendous knack for putting together information/stats/storylines like that.

Hate the Heisman Trophy all you want, but you won't see "Favre for NFL MVP" carved pumpkins anytime soon.

Happy belated Halloween

(Via: Ryan for Heisman, the best candidacy blog I've seen since Leinart4Heisman)

For years the usual complaints about the Heisman Trophy was that its winners were formulaic, pre-determined, and not necessarily the best players the game had to offer.  The formulaic thing makes sense, I mean the fact that there exist Heismandments speaks to a certain pattern of determining the winner.  Whether or not the Heisman Trophy winner is college football's best player is debatable and ultimately meaningless to its real virtue.

As for that other critique, this season has completely thrown out the window the whole pre-determined thing.

Much like the insanity of the first half of this 2007 college football season, the Heisman Trophy race is one big mess.  The sage and knowing Heisman Pundit has gone so far as to make like its a 1988 Nintendo game and is hitting the reset button.

We have come to a turning point in the race for the 2007 Heisman.

Seven weeks into the season, each of the players on the preseason HP Heisman Watch have suffered devastating blows to their candidacies. It makes for a very confusing race.

No other candidate from a traditional power is in place and ready to make a move. No player is wowing the country with season stats (Texas Tech players aside) that capture the imagination. No one player is dominating week in and week out.

Therefore, I think it is time to re-set the race, because right now there is no real leader.

So yes, sad orangutan.

This thing is wide open and it's exactly what the doctor ordered for Heisman Trophy critics.  At the same time, there's absolutely no energy to this race.  Is there a connection between this lack of excitement and a wide-open field?  You tell me.  What I do know is that this is quite rare what we're witnessing and while the opportunity's there for some player from outside the traditional powers who also isn't a preseason favorite for the honor to make a run ... it just ain't happening.

In a few more weeks those ballots go out and voters have three lines to fill out three names.  If form holds, voters will truly have a wide range of choices and we're going to learn something new about the award and its mysterious cabal of voters here.

Personally, Michigan's Mike Hart has been on my radar since week one.  I believe he's had only one game under 100 yards and showed a real competitiveness throughout some of Michigan's tougher, embarrassing games.  Heisman Pundit and MGoBlog both are banging that Hart drum a bit, so this isn't an isolated sentiment (see: website + shirts).  Hart is college football's Little Engine That Could - and does - so if nobody else makes a break for this thing, why not?

I think he can.

Heh, interesting promotional approach.  Given his last name this is five years in the making ...

I have a feeling this could get out of hand.  John David Booty had a pedestrian 2007 debut against Idaho (if 60+ percent completions and three touchdowns is pedestrian?), but he's a good one.

Anyway.  USC Ladies: send your pics in.  Everyone else: please consider it just for the hell of it.  We could use the entertainment.

That final sidestep was just ridiculous.

I did this last year and with another year of college football it's worth another try as we head into the final week before the 2007-2008 college football season.

1. Artists and Mechanics 2006
2. Whit's Response: Artists and Mechanics 2006

See above for a full background of what follows.  In brief: Sun Sports TV's Whit Watson came up with an intuitive but rarely discussed concept called Artists and Mechanics.  He wrote about it, fleshed it out a bit and that's kind of how this internet thing works.

In short, I believe that the world is split into two groups: Artists and Mechanics. Some might call it right-brain and left-brain, but I think Artists and Mechanics is much more lyrical and descriptive. Artists tend to be big-picture types, unconcerned with mundane details. They're strong on the "why," but weaker on the "how." Process is irrelevant; experience is everything...

...A Mechanic, on the other hand, thrives on process. The "how" supercedes the "why." Details bring joy. Learning how to accomplish a new task is a thrill...

...Artists need Mechanics, and vice versa. One cannot survive without the other.

I saw it, loved it, responded and he was kind enough to respond back with his takes.  I looked at college football's big picture, and he nailed down the Florida schools and dabbled with SEC/ACC notables.

Time to try it again, as it's a new year and we have new names and faces to talk about.  I'm going to write this up and pass it along to Whit Watson and if he's got the time (he's a busy man right about now), he'll send us a reply to which I'll gladly reproduce on here.  Sound good?

***
There's no better way to start out than talking about the preseason favorite USC Trojans.  Although he's lauded for his aggressiveness and risk-taking, USC coach Pete Carroll is a mechanic.  The man is still in love with the NFL (nothing if not a mechanic's league) and conservative, let the defense win it football.  Notably, he's edged even further towards the mechanic camp in recent years, transforming the vision of the USC offense from Norm Chow's artist's interpretation to a more grinding pro style.

His right hand man in the new offense is Steve Sarkisian.  Although a Chow "disciple", Sarkisian speaks a lot about execution and mastery of an increasingly complex system.  Their system is now less about daydreams and "what could be" and more about NFL 101 and "what we're going to do".

Down in the Bayou, I've got a funny feeling that LSU coach Les Miles is a bit more of an artist than he lets on.  Behind that bravado and huff-puffing is a guy who 1)wears his hat real funny and 2)hired freaking Gary Crowton to run an SEC offense.  That takes some imagination.  His mind was also flexible enough to permit both a pass-happy and run-happy offense in separate years at Oklahoma State.  Dogma is the realm of mechanics and Miles doesn't strike me as a repeatedly dogmatic person.

I talked last year about Arkansas coach Houston Nutt being an artist - that hasn't changed.  Whit Watson has alluded to how pairing artists with mechanics can create a synergistic harmony.  Well, pairing artists with artists or mechanics with mechanics may be bad medicine.  I think that may have been part of the issue last year with former offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn (artist!).  Malzahn liked his art one way (the forward pass), Nutt liked his the other way (run, run, run).  Thus: splittsville.

Malzahn's gone, but Arkansas has dusted off some old school tricks and made them modern with its Wildcat offense (now renamed WildHog).  Tell me that's not an artist at work?

New Alabama coach Nick Saban is an almost overbearing Mechanic.  Last year I said the 'Tide was too mechanical.  So what'd they do?  They went out and got another mechanic.  Here's hoping new offensive coordinator Major Applewhite is an artist to balance things out.

Now, for some players.

Leading Heisman Trophy candidate Darren McFadden strikes me as an artist.  His game isn't all that fancy, but he's creative enough to play multiple roles as returnman, tailback and quarterback at the D-I level.  He drives a funky, tricked-out car.  And he wears dresses on the side.  Artist.

Out west, quarterback John David Booty is an artist.  His game isn't all that fancy, but here's a guy who ditched his senior year of high school at age 17 to compete for a starting quarterback job at a major program.  That's vision at work.  As a high school passer, he was magnificent in a gimmick offense.  Somehow he was able to transform himself from a shotgun/gunslinger into a pure pocket passer.  It's one of the most remarkable transformations I've ever seen and something that stumped guys like Brock Berlin, Brent Rawls, Josh Booty and so many others.  Kid's got some imagination.

Another signal caller worth mentioning is Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen.  He's a big-time mechanic.  He's been groomed since birth to be a quarterback and by the end of high school had all but mastered college-level mechanics and understanding of defenses.  He's very polished (which also means he has a low ceiling) and a ready-made product.  Artists tend to be more freewheeling and prone to mistakes whereas Clausen's had that tunnel-vision of a grinding mechanic.

At Michigan, one player who really stood out last year was linebacker/defensive end Shawn Crable.  His versatility alone speaks to artistic tendencies.  He plays decent in space and can run with tight ends and backs.  But he can also stuff the run and has a real knack for getting to the quarterback.  His game is imaginative and freewheeling.  Need more?  He was born in Buckeye country and was one of those rare high high high profile Ohio ballers to give serious thought to programs around the country before settling on hated rival Michigan.  Independence?  Check.  Creativity?  Check.  Artist.

Who else would you like to discuss?  Leave a comment below and let's get the conversation started.  Some wild cards: Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit (broadcaster or player), Mack Brown, Colt McCoy, Arrelious Benn, Andre Woodson, Pat White, DeSean Jackson, Frank Beamer.

In the meantime, here are some possible questions for Mr. Whit Watson: You spoke last year about Urban Meyer, Bobby Bowden, Mickey Andrews, Jeff Bowden, Larry Coker, Chris Leak, George O'Leary, Jim Leavitt and Andre Hall.  With some new players and coaches emerging, how about these names: Randy Shannon, Jimbo Fisher, Rick Trickett (are there any artists among FSU's new coaches?!), Tim Tebow, Matt Grothe, Percy Harvin, Myron Rolle and Terry Bowden?

Also: How would you assess the great Tailgate Overtime show?  More artist or mechanic?  How about co-hosts Brady Ackerman and Terry Norvelle?  Or guests like Mike Bianchi or the myriad former Gators, Noles and Canes who make guest appearances?  Plus: wild cards.

My quick takes: Rolle is a tough-nosed defender, but I could see him dropping football tomorrow to follow some other pursuit.  He's a renaissance man and an artist in my book.  Shannon appears to be a big-time mechanic, same with Trickett.  Fisher strikes me as a mechanic, Grothe an artist (people keep comparing him to Joe Montana!), Harvin an artist, Tebow a great artist who is also a mechanic (keeps winning all the offseason hard-work awards).  Bowden's a bit of a renaissance man - surprisingly - went to Oxford and did law school and seemed surprised by the hours he's had to put in as a low-level assistant coach at Florida State.  Let's call him a closet artist.

Heisman Pundit's latest is up: a Heisman primer for 2007.

This is a monster year for tailbacks.  They're overdue to get into the mix after a recent run of quarterbacks (Reggie Bush aside).

Why not?

First item up: coaches' tenure and BCS appearances.

Ok, so this is a little late, but Georgia Sports Blog went to the trouble of determining the BCS conference coaches with the most tenure who have yet to make a BCS bowl game appearance.  Take a look.

Arkansas' Houston Nutt is atop the list, having coached since 1998.  Last year was his best chance but that kind of fell by the wayside.  Nipping at his heels is Clemson's Tommy Bowden whose team had a late collapse of its own.  A particular burr in this saddle is Cal's Jeff Tedford, tied for 7th longest wait.  He's been coaching since 2002 and would have gone to a BCS game in 2004, but Mack Brown happened.

GSB's Paul Westerdawg also lists BCS appearances by conference teams.  The Pac-10 leads the list, of course, with seven teams appearing in a BCS game.  As noted above it should be eight but Texas two-stepped Cal out of the way in 2004.  The Big 10 is tied with the Pac-10 but also has one more institution.

The ACC is particularly woeful with just four of its 12 institutions collecting BCS cash.  The snag, of course, is that Miami is counted with the Big East, having last entered a BCS game before the whole ugly ACC seduction of several Big East powers.

***
Now, for a moment of Heisman talk.  Heisman Pundit's released his "Winter Top 20", a list of the 20 players who will "at least get a whiff of legitimate consideration".

It's good to see West Virginia's Pat White crack the top ten at No. 6.  He doesn't get enough credit for his contribution to the West Virginia offensive machine.  HP's taken some flack for placing John David Booty at No. 1 but it's hard to argue with a winning, good-stat USC quarterback at the moment.  It's a little like center field for the Yankees, what can you do about it?

***
And now, some entertainment from the FanHouse.

---Top 10 cheerleader videos (???).  The Kelly Ripa one's comical.

---Domestic violence charges won't be filed against Cal's Marshawn Lynch.

---Auburn Tigers: 2004 National Champions? Yeh. Freakin'. Right.  Patrick, this is why it's so easy to take jabs at Auburn on here.

---Hippies get in the way of Cal's new stadium.  The bums lost, Lebowski!  Except, this time they won.  Dammit.

---Troy Smith exacts his revenge on Chris Leak.  Not really.

Heisman Pundit's also doing a live blog from the actual ceremony.  I got a text from him a while back, I'll let him tell the story if he wishes, but... he's a funny guy.

Kari Chisholm of StiffArmTrophy.com also sent me an email about his final projection.  Needless to say Troy Smith is a landslide and will challenge Reggie Bush for the biggest Heisman landslide in history.  He also projects Darren McFadden narrowly edging Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn for third place.

Our projection shows that Troy Smith will be the single biggest winner ever; besting Reggie Bush's 91.8% of the total vote in 2005.  Our final numbers show Troy Smith picking up 2603 points - that's 94.0% of the 2772 possible.

The only responsible method for comparing Heisman Trophy wins across multiple years is to compare the winner to the total possible points (number of voters times three.)

In short, "How close did this winner come to a unanimous #1 selection?" 

The top ten winners of all time:

YEAR VOTERS   MAX |  PTS  PCT  WINNER
2005    923  2769 | 2541 91.8% Reggie Bush
1998    921  2763 | 2355 85.2% Ricky Williams
1993    919  2757 | 2310 83.8% Charlie Ward
1968   1200  3600 | 2903 80.6% O.J. Simpson
1991    917  2751 | 2077 75.5% Desmond Howard
1976   1048  3144 | 2357 75.0% Tony Dorsett
1999    922  2766 | 2042 73.8% Ron Dayne
1984   1050  3150 | 2240 71.1% Doug Flutie
1986   1050  3150 | 2213 70.3% Vinny Testaverde
1997    921  2763 | 1815 65.7% Charles Woodson

There ya go.  More to come in a few minutes.

7:44 p.m. (Eastern) - If you want to ask HP a question, let me know and I'll try and text it to him (keep it real short).

7:50 p.m. - Quoth Deadspin: 'Hopefully, pictures of Troy Smith freaking some young lady at an after-party will be on Deadspin by Monday afternoon'

7:52 p.m. - Because I'm curious about these things, I asked HP his attire since it's a black tie affair.  He says he's in a suit.  Oki doki.

7:59 p.m. - ESPN just showed their top 10 college football plays of the year.  I saw eight of them live, including one in person.  Not bad.  And yes, I watch a lot lot lot of games each weekend.

8:02 p.m. - ESPN's intro is a bit hokey, but the Heisman still stirs something within me. There's also video of the three finalists walking into the ceremony... Darren McFadden has a few inches on Troy Smith.

8:03 p.m. - 25 former Heisman winners in the house.  Methinks Reggie Bush has some business to tend to tomorrow, which is too bad.

Chris Fowler: "Arkansas has never had anyone finish higher than eigth place" I did not know that.

8:05 p.m. - Chris Fowler bugs me sometimes, but he does a great job as emcee.

Bonnie Bernstein's today's "sideline" reporter? Eh.  Give us Thursday night gal Erin Andrews.  Bonnie looks like a China doll she's so pale.

8:13 p.m. - Fowler notes that all the candidates are east coast guys this year.  I noticed the other night that the Big 12 doesn't really have a candidate, either.  If Colt McCoy had been a little more healthy maybe that changes.

Nice writing tonight for these video packages.  Troy Smith's "spirals are tightly spun".  Smith Troy, you're the man!

8:18 p.m. - From HP's Live Blog: Linda Cohn is doing a little Darren McFadden on air promotion on ESPN. "He'll be something to see in the NFL" she informs us. I'm thinking the best runs we'll get to see out of him will come at Arkansas.

8:21 p.m. - Fowler just called Paul Horning "carousing"

8:23 p.m. - ESPN's chosen theme/motif for Brady Quinn: scholar/good guy. 

8:28 p.m. - Yet another one from HP's Live Blog: If Brady Quinn doesn't win the Heisman, it'll be because his haircut made voters think he was an SEC quarterback. Or maybe they thought he was that guy from My So Called Life.

8:31 p.m. - Heh.  Fowler to Marcus Allen, "you look daisy fresh"

8:32 p.m. - Darren McFadden at Ground Zero: "I was in eigth grade when this happened"

Heh, his mom had to tell him to stop buying shoes as he enjoys the NYC shopping scene.

8:41 p.m. - Great piece on Troy Smith.  All the things he's battled, his highs and his lows.  The B.R.I.C.K. program to change his direction in life.  Getting his degree.

His football transformation has been impressive as well, emerging from a throw-in recruit to starting quarterback, getting past the booster scandal and leading his team the last two seasons.

8:45 p.m. - Kind words from coach Jim Tressel.  "I've learned that humility comes before honor".

Two good entries from HP: 'Troy Smith is definitely a great story. People wonder how the Heisman could go to a kid whose had such problems. But, Troy Smith is all about overcoming those problems and, ultimately, redemption.'

Yup.  And... 'This is about as close to the Heisman as Ted Ginn will ever get... as sad as that is for him.'

8:47 p.m. - His mother had to calm him down/cool his anger as a youth by having him write down on pieces of paper "I'm not mad.  I'm not mad.  I'm not mad." Heh. 

8:53 p.m. - Greetings to my visitors from BrendanLoy.com.  An Irish Trojan, he knows a thing or two or 14 about Heisman trophies.

As always, it's great to see the past winners on stage.  USC winner Charles White is rocking the all white suit... interesting.

8:55 p.m. - Of little suspense, the winner is Ohio State senior quarterback Troy Smith.  Congratulations, Troy, from College Football Resource!

8:57 p.m. - Heh.  Like Matt Leinart, he says his heart is pounding.  He's human like the rest of us.  Thanks God, coach Jim Tressel ('he put the ball in my hand and let me know he had trust in me to be his quarterback to lead The Ohio State University').  Thanks his dad, mother, sister.  Ted Ginn Sr., a handful of his teammates, particularly the offensive line.  Brady Quinn, Darren McFadden.  Says he's in awe watching those guys play.  Thanks his foster family.  An anecdote from when he was being recruited, sitting in the recruiting office and someone telling him one day he could be tOSU's quarterback.  Thanks the Heisman Trophy Trust.

9:00 p.m. - That's all she wrote.  I'll have the results up when ESPN releases them.

Fowler: Troy Smith has highest percentage of first place voters ever, surpassing Reggie Bush last year.  Steve Slaton finishes fourth, Mike Hart fifth, Colt Brennan sixth. 

I'm not a voter, so this is simply playtime.

1. Troy Smith, Ohio State - Gee, that was easy.  Look, he wasn't the most jaw-dropping runaway candidate ever, but he played superbly well in the majority of his games, rarely made mistakes, and led the nation's top team without a hitch.  He saved two of his better efforts for Texas and Michigan, throwing for a combined seven touchdowns against supposedly elite defenses.  Congratulations ahead of time, Troy.
2. Darren McFadden, Arkansas - Overcame the toe injury from that whole night club fight thing to have a special season.  Is starting to be mentioned in the same breath as Bo Jackson and Hershel Walker so you know he's doing something right.  Played quarterback towards the end of the season and was the heart and soul of his offense and the entire Arkansas team.
3. Mike Hart, Michigan - Chad Henne's a nice hood ornament, but what drove that Michigan offensive engine this year was Michael Hart.  If he had even a single bad game they wouldn't have gotten this far, nor shaken off the disappointment of last season.  Hart was relentlessly competitive and carried a heavy burden on his stocky body.  Somehow he thrived, and Michigan rallied behind his consistency.

Others I considered:

Colt Brennan, Hawai'i - I know people want to compare him to Ty Detmer and Andre Ware and Timmy Chang, but Colt's a little different.  Those guys are mostly from another era when the gimmick offense was shiny and new and Chang simply didn't win like Brennan has.  He also happens to be a legitimate NFL prospect.  What it boils down to is that he punished defenses all year and propelled Hawai'i's second-half surge that put them into the postseason and within a few points of a one loss season.

Pat White, West Virginia - Steve Slaton is a special runner, but White makes that West Virginia offense hum.  He was equally unstoppable and improved slightly as a passer this year.  He caught fire in the middle of the season and had some real special efforts that went largely unnoticed.  He may or may not make it as an NFL star, but he's a classic college star not unlike say, Oklahoma Heisman winner Jason White or Florida State Heisman winner Charlie Ward.

Colt McCoy, Texas - Was money once he had a few games under his belt.  Is a tough SOB but some unfortunate injuries sidelined him, killing any Heisman shot.

What's interesting is the youth movement in this year's Heisman field.  On my ballot there's but one senior (Troy Smith).  Nationally the only other seniors of note are Brady Quinn and Chris Leak.  Receivers Calvin Johnson and Dwayne Jarrett are juniors and likely headed to the NFL, same with California back Marshawn Lynch. 

Stiff Arm Trophy, after nearly a year's layoff, is BACK.

Be sure and stop by to keep tabs on Troy Smith's Heisman ascent.  Also, help the project along by identifying Heisman voters and their actual ballots as heard on the radio or seen on TV, print and the internet.

It's that time of year.

Hit Kari's site up, hopefully he'll notice the hits and start to get that engine revving in time to project this year's winner in a few weeks. 

If Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith wins the Heisman Trophy this year, it will be the school's seventh such award.

Doing so will also tie the Buckeyes with Notre Dame and USC for the most aggregate Heisman Trophies.  Ohio State is a little unique, however, in that they have five individuals responsible for their six current Heismans as Archie Griffin was the award's only two time winner (1974 and 1975).

Smith is looking to become the sixth quarterback in the last seven years to win the award, and the first Big Ten recipient since Wisconsin back Ron Dayne in 1999.

The last--and only--Big Ten quarterback to win is Ohio State's own Les Horvath in 1944. 

The last Buckeye to win the Heisman was tailback Eddie George in 1995.

The previous Buckeye Heisman recipients:

1. QB Les Horvath (1944)
2. RB Vic Janowicz (1950)
   
3. RB Howard Cassady (1955)
4. RB Archie Griffin (1974, 1975)
5. RB Eddie George (1995)

Horvath actually outpolled Army's great sophomore backfield of Glenn Davis and Felix 'Doc' Blanchard (both sophomores at the time).

Dorsett was part of a 12 year run of running back winners starting in 1972 with Nebraska's Johnny Rodgers and ending in 1983 with Nebraska's Mike Rozier.  The last quarterback before that run of rushers was Auburn's Pat Sullivan.  Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie finally snapped that streak and ushered in an era of more mixed position winners.

The last Buckeye to "place" in Heisman voting was linebacker A.J. Hawk, who finished sixth in balloting last year.

The last Ohio State quarterback to "place" in Heisman voting was Joe Germaine who finished ninth in 1998.

Be sure and take a look at this cool writeup at Heisman Pundit (special guest author Chip Haunss) about 1936 and that year's Heisman Trophy winner---Yale's Larry Kelley.

Excerpt:

At the time New York Times reporter Allison Danzig called him a "genius who gets the touchdown regardless of the odds."

Strong praise!  I cannot imagine a modern sportswriter penning something so forceful about any of today's athletes.

1. Troy Smith, Ohio State
2. Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma
3. Mike Hart, Michigan
4. Garrett Wolfe, Northern Illinois
5. Isaiah Stanbeck, Washington
   

It's early.

Smith was completely average until he made that amazing touchdown pass on the run to shock Penn State.  The Buckeyes never looked back after that.

Peterson was fairly quiet but he's done plenty already to stay near the top here.

Michigan's defense is the real story with that team this year, but Hart's healthy and where he goes, so also goes the Wolverine offense.

Wolfe is simply having one of those amazingly productive early seasons, and his 100 yard rushing and receiving effort against Ohio State won't easily be forgotten.

Stanbeck rallied the Huskies to a win against UCLA and they are now... 3-1!

1. Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma---Carried his team on his back in the second half.  The scary part is he's added the receiving element to his game.
2. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame---Like Peterson, made the necessary plays for his team in a tough game and took a beating while doing it.
3. Troy Smith, Ohio State---Jaw-droppingly efficient in Ohio State's first quarter of offensive work, leading four touchdown drives and then calling off the dogs.
4. Garrett Wolfe, Northern Illinois---Did everything he could to help his offense stay alive against Ohio State with over 100 yards both rushing and receiving.  You won't see that very often, particularly against a very good team like that.
5. Kenny Irons, Auburn---Washington State found out they could play reasonably close to Auburn... until Irons decided to put the game away.  Almost two-hundred yards on opening night is a great effort.
6. Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech---Made some plays with his feet for seemingly the first time in his career.  Methinks he really wanted to make an impact against Notre Dame.  Got a little quiet in the second half, but hard to ignore the only consistent offensive weapon for a team that doesn't know how to score.
7. Steve Slaton, West Virginia---Ho hum, another 200-yard effort.  It takes a special back to make the extraordinary look ordinary and routine.  Slaton is such a back.
8. Ben Olson, UCLA---An extraordinary debut game, taking down a top 25 opponent with over 70% completions, 300 yards passing and three touchdown passes.  What more can you ask?  Threw to something like 11 different receivers.
9. Dennis Dixon, Oregon---Torched Stanford with his arm and legs, propelling the Oregon offense to a 48-point afternoon.  A great fit for Oregon's second-year spread offense.
10. Chris Leak, Florida---The Gators have a million talented receivers, but a good quarterback knows where his bread is buttered.  Leak smartly made an effort to throw to superfrosh Percy Harvin in his collegiate debut.  He also took down a fringe top 25 team after a slow start.
    

A somewhat interesting, tangentially related story from my friend Steve.

He spent part of last weekend at the California 500 or whatever the auto race is called in Fontana, California.  One of his friends had access to a posh luxury suite and there was no way they were going to pass up on that opportunity so there they were.

Anyway, at one point former Navy legend and Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach strolls into the suite.  It was a pretty exciting moment, so they talked to him and whatnot.  Well, as often happens with athletes and celebrities some autograph requests are made and Staubach obliges.  But one of the friends had an unusual request: to have his beer can signed.

Staubach was a bit confused by the thing, but signed it, admitting he'd never been asked to sign a beer can before.

Yeah I don't know.  But I thought it was funny.

And it's about a former Heisman Trophy winner, so I thought I'd share. 

Just some items I've saved over the last few days...

---The New York Times' Pete Thamel has a good story about the money angle of the many lopsided OOC games that are scheduled annually.

I wonder if teams would schedule more equitably if there were a mandatory $1,000,000 fee to schedule the Buffalo's of the world?

---Redshirt Freshman Mike Kafka will be the starter at quarterback for Northwestern this year, as sophomore C.J. Bacher has nagging leg problems.  Hopefully he can continue the offensive success established by forebears Zak Kustok and Brett Basanez.

---The Sports Frog talks a little about the amazing transformation with Stanford's stadium.  The school was able to demolish its old stadium (work beginning literally minutes after the Cardinal's season finale against Notre Dame) and build a new one within a single year.

---Rivals.com ($) has put together some fancy Heisman candidate highlight videos.

---Many more videos available from this link at FoxSports. 

---More from Rivals.com.  Here's a cool story about the round-trip travel mileage logged by D-I teams for road games this year.  Topping the list?  Florida Atlantic, with 15,064 total miles traveled.  The least-traveled team?  That would be Purdue with just 1,994 travel miles to be logged this year.  The most-traveled SEC team, the Arkansas Razorbacks, check in at No. 68 with 5,832 total miles.

---Hurricane turned tropical storm Ernesto continues to drag its way towards the Keys and South Florida after getting roughed up pretty bad after passing through Cuba.  It is unclear whether/how much it will strengthen as it heads towards the U.S.

---Yeah, the NCAA doesn't get it.  Callous fools sometimes.

---How much is Marshawn Lynch worth, according to the San Jose Mercury News?  $800,000.  Interesting read.

I really hate the word "exploitative" because it's often abused and thrown around as a weapon in public debate.  I'll ignore that angle of this story to simply say the following: the NCAA can do better by its athletes.  I'm not really in favor of free-market salaries or compensation for college players, but the NCAA desperately needs to find a way to be such poverty mongers.  There will be a point some time down the road where either the NCAA will collapse and the system will turn to chaos unless concessions start being made to take a stronger interest in athlete welfare and economic freedom not tied to eligibility.

---Oh, and here's a little more about Lynch from CBS Sportsline's Dennis Dodd.  Turns out the man can toss the rock a little.  And about that unusual running style (I don't know how else to describe it other than herky-jerky)?  Turns out it's from years of riding a bike that way through the streets of East Oakland.

---College Football News has moved to Scout.com.

---Now, where have we seen this argument before?  "Power rankings?"  "Prediction vs. relative strength?".  I love my readers.

I was watching SunSports' college football show last night and there was a segment discussion this topic almost verbatim from the Mandel column.  Good to see people are starting to wake up to the methodology arguments about college football's poll system.

Don't get me wrong, I love the polls, but there's a better way to do them, expressed many times on here.  It's simply encouraging to see that discussion trickle out into the mainstream.

I've been mulling over this game in my mind for a few days, figured I might as well write about some of those thoughts on here.

The rematch of last year's battle in Columbus (which Texas won 25-22) will be played in Austin on Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. Eastern in what could be a consensus No. 1 vs. No. 2 game. Hype worthiness TBD, but it's clearly a big intersectional game to rally around.

In assembling a game in one's mind, it helps to lay a foundation of facts, make some assumptions and then arrive at an outcome, hopefully more accurate ("Tennessee's vastly overrated in '05") than inaccurate ("Boise State over Georgia, wheeeeeeee").

The following are choppy but relevant facts about the proud combatants, typed up in scout-speak for rapid consumption:

Texas Longhorns

Defending national champions. Vince Young no longer at quarterback, replaced by completely untested R-FR Colt McCoy and true frosh Jevan Snead. Returns a good chunk of the roster. Will run the same offense and return for a second year of defensive coordinator Gene Chizik. Big, athletic defensive line. Three seniors return on a quality offensive line. Defense must replace veteran MLB Aaron Harris, DT Rodrique Wright, DT Larry Dibbles, SS Michael Huff and CB Cedric Griffin. Fast and shifty running backs in SO Jamaal Charles and SR Selvin Young, not much size in the unit except the overrated SO Henry Melton who may or may not be a tight end or defensive end this year. Like to run the ball. Major fumble issues although few fumble related turnovers.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Preseason No.1 team in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Return the majority of their offense, but will miss playmaking receiver Santonio Holmes, first-round center Nick Mangold and guard Rob Sims. However, they must replace nearly the entire starting defense from last year. Many good players return, however, and have experience everywhere except the secondary. Defense plays very physical football. Will likely have best offense in the coach Jim Tressel era (six seasons) with quarterback Troy Smith, backs Antonio Pittman and frosh Chris Wells, and receivers Ted Ginn, Anthony Gonzalez and Roy Hall.

Last Year's Numbers

These help paint a picture of what both teams can do and what they emphasize based on the previous season

Texas-50.2 points/game, 275 rush (5.9 YPC), 64.9% completions, 237 yards /// 16.4 points allowed, 131 rush (3.7 YPC), 51.1% completions, 172 yards, +7 turnover margin

Ohio State-32.7 points/game, 197 rush (4.7 YPC), 64.9% completions, 226 yards /// 15.2 points allowed, 73 rush (2.2 YPC), 60.7% completions, 208 yards, -9 turnover margin

Last Year's Game

Texas won 25-22 at Ohio Stadium. The Longhorns had a good first quarter and established a 10-0 lead, but panicked a little after an Ohio State touchdown, committing a few turnovers in their side of the field before making the appropriate stops and only allowing a few gimme FG's to the Buckeyes. Texas took an interesting risk in committing to untested frosh back Jamaal Charles who ran ten times and caught six passes. Aside from a few long plays Texas' offense never really was a threat after the first quarter (game winning TD drive aside).

Ohio State's major flub was a tactical error in playing the shaky Justin Zwick. He wasn't a disaster, but struggled to inspire an already shaky offense. The bulk of the Buckeyes' offensive production came when Troy Smith was under center, generally running for haphazard gains and connecting on a few passes but doing enough to score when presented the opportunity. That all changed when Smith wasn't playing. Particularly woeful was the bungled last 2:37 of the game. After Texas scored to go ahead 23-22, Ohio State trotted out Zwick who proceeded to surrender a safety and fumble on another possession, effectively ending the game without any offensive threat.

Here's what I think happened:

Tactically, Texas played that game as well as they could. Much like last year's Rose Bowl, Texas gambled that its opponent would do some stupid things and give them a shot to win the game. Both times it worked against arguably superior foes. Texas also knew it had its best team in a long time and with a guy like Young at quarterback could emerge victorious in any game where they had the ball, were within a touchdown and the game clock was under 5:00 to go. The successful strategy has left a wake of such prominent victims as Michigan, Ohio State and USC.

What were those stupid things their opponents did? Well, for Ohio State they played the uninspiring Justin Zwick. To be fair Zwick was superb in his last start, the Alamo Bowl against Texas A&M. The thinking was that he would build on that momentum, which obviously didn't happen. The Buckeye offense clearly responded to Troy Smith both in the Texas game and throughout the 2005 season, but coming off his suspension I think politically the coaches had to be careful about his playing time in this game.

Compounding their mistakes, the Buckeye coaches let Zwick play on Ohio State's final two drives. Smith played a good chunk of the second and third quarters, when Ohio State scored all of its points and did the most offensive damage. Yet when the game called for a comeback, the coaches whiffed and let Zwick surrender two points and possession on a safety and then the game on another fumble. [Ed.-I stand corrected, it was Smith at quarterback on the safety.  Regardless, it was a huge mistake]

Texas' gamble clearly paid off in that game and similarly in the Rose Bowl. USC's stupidity was in Reggie Bush's first quarter lateral on what would have been a scoring drive, and then the 4th and two stop when they didn't even have Reggie Bush on the field despite Texas' having keyed All America safety Michael Huff on him all night. With Bush on the sideline, Huff was the Longhorn defender who helped bring down LenDale White short of a first down. The rest is history.

So, what to make of this year's game?

The two obvious things to know are that it's in Austin, which gives Texas some kind of an advantage, and that it's early in the year. Good teams take a while to "get going", and that was clearly the case for both these squads last year. Ohio State in particular caught fire midway through the season once they figured out Troy Smith was in a class with other very successful Buckeye QB's of late such as Bobby Hoying, Joe Germaine, Stanley Jackson and Craig Krenzel.  The early season date is a tipoff that things are likely to be pretty conservative: controlled passing game, ball control, an emphasis on the run and simplified schemes on both sides of the ball.

As far as tactics, I think Texas will be confident it can continue its policy of "let them make the mistakes" and keep this game close even if they have opportunities to pull ahead. They'll try and run the ball and protect their young QB's McCoy and Snead.

For Ohio State, they'll probably be conservative too. Although Ted Ginn is a great athlete, he's been a fairly average receiver to this point in his career. The real playmaker in their pass game was Santonio Holmes, and with his departure I anticipate a scaled-down passing game more concerned with small gains down the field instead of taking large chunks of yards at a time.

Both defenses are likely to make their stand against the run, and gamble that the opposing quarterback cannot make enough big plays against their secondaries and linebackers to put the game out of reach. This is where Ohio State actually gets a break, because their defensive weakness is the secondary and Texas' passing game is in the hands of very inexperienced young quarterbacks.  Mind you, that advantage can be neutralized if McCoy or Snead start making plays all over the field.

Of the two teams, I anticipate Ohio State will also be the better running team. I'm enamored of Texas' Jamaal Charles, and he played big role in Texas' offense last year against the Buckeyes, but ideally you want a bigger, more physical runner to bang into the Buckeye defense who can then soften things up for Charles. Texas does have big Henry Melton, but I'm not sold on him as a hammer.

Ohio State under Tressel consistently trots out a no-name defensive line that can stop the run. I think they've twice led the country in either run defense or defensive yards per carry. They like to maul up front and make things real messy and crowded, and this group should be one of their finest despite losing two of last year's starters. Last year Texas could muster only 2.9 YPC in this game, and 112 yards overall. I anticipate similar numbers, which means with a young quarterback their scoring should be fairly low.

For the Buckeyes, they'll be going up against a talented texas defensive line, but one that can be run on. For all the hype last year, Texas was vulnerable to the run, as Antonio Pittman had a fine day against them (17 carries, 75 yards, 4.4 YPC), as did Oklahoma State (250 yards, 5.4 YPC), Baylor (112/3.7), Kansas (119/5.4), Texas A&M (277/5.3) and USC (209/5.1). They're good, but not impregnable the way Ohio State tends to be. That's a sign of a soft underbelly that might be exploited given the right conditions. In addition, Pittman is just a fine runner with good speed and the size and strength to run inside. He'll be complimented by frosh Chris Wells, one of the nation's top recruits who is a big, physical runner at 6-1 and 225 pounds.

Here's what I think will happen:

In last year's game, Texas invested heavily in scoring early, exhausting a certain amount of their offensive capital in racing to a 10-0 first quarter lead. It was smart strategy and let them play keepaway for a good chunk of the game. Expect more of the same this year. They'll craft a game plan to score early and get fan and player faith in the new quarterback and some doubt in the hearts and minds of Buckeye players and fans.

But then things will bog down for the Horns' offense, much as happened last year. Meanwhile, Ohio State will find ways to move down the field but probably not score too much, tilting this towards being a low-scoring affair. They have a terrific offense but Texas has a fine defense as well and is at home and it's early which means offenses will take what they can get.

There will be a moment at some point in the third or fourth quarter when both teams get a little desperate and either do something great or make a mistake and put themselves in dire straits.  Who will flinch?  It's tough to tell.

Texas has conditioned itself not to panic in the last two years, but their main source of calm and sobriety, Vince Young, is gone.  Their resolve without him is unknown.

Meanwhile, Ohio State's always been a calm team under Tressel.  Think back to the amazing 2002 season where nearly every game was excruciatingly close and narrowly won.  They like playing that way and are probably a little more comfortable than Texas at such a battle, especially with Young gone.  Given the youthful realities of Texas' quarterback situation, I give the edge to Ohio State.

They have the more veteran offense led by Heisman Trophy candidate Troy Smith, they have what should be a great defensive line despire dire predictions to the countrary, and are arguably the superior team.  Despite playing this game on the road, they should be favored and it will be a disappointment if they don't come away with a victory whether it's one point or twenty-one points.

As I noted earlier, Ohio State is likely to gamble that it can stop the run and pray for sloppy quarterback play when Texas' young passers are asked to win the game for the Longhorns.  It's a smart gamble and the odds are on their side.  Texas can't be so cavalier knowing the athletic and passing abilities of Troy Smith.  To gain victory here, they'll have to find a solution to overcome this apparent disadvantage.  I'm not sure they will, but we'll see, maybe McCoy or Snead are better than anticipated and can handle a big game like this so early in their careers.  The fact that neither has emerged as "the" guy is concerning, however, and the same issues plagued Ohio State last year in this very game.  Again, advantage Buckeyes.

That's my call.

***
I'll try and provide another analysis like this of this year's other anticipated matchup between elite teams, USC and Notre Dame.  Stay tuned. 

Alright, time for a quick stroll, see what my peers are up to...

---Heisman Pundit's had a little fun lately, talking up offense with coaches at Pac-10 media day and Heisman with Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith.

---MGoBlog's in Las Vegas at the World Series of Poker.  Sweet.

---BON's captured Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione's whining at Big 12 media days.  Poor Fran.  He was a great coach... once.  I have a friend with a connection to people at Texas A&M and they've basically given up.  The key word here is "mutiny".  Insert any other descriptive phrase such as "water's been poisoned", etc. and you have the problems at Texas A&M.  No surprise of course, but only Fran's mega-contract keeps his job safe.

You can basically repeat the above for what's happening at the University of Virginia under coach Al Groh.

---The Wiz continues to raise hell (more and more)about a new NCAA rule that will effectively reduce the number of plays and thus scoring in a game.  The NCAA instituted the rule to reduce the real time length of games, and of course badly misfired.  Must read if you care about NCAA football.

---The brand-new Razorbloggers has wall-to-wall coverage of star Arkansas back Darren McFadden's early morning not-so square go outside a private club that resulted in a potentially season-ending injury to his toe.

---And, keeping with the Arkansas theme, Hogs/Hill/SEC says a different new NCAA rule will help scoring on kick returns.

---The great Georgia Sports Blog has rumors about UGA's suddenly strong OOC road scheduling efforts.  CFR's happy.