Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Ain't The Hype


Coming into the 2009 college football season there were high expectations for the Heisman candidacy. So far it's been a big flop. Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, and Colt McCoy were supposed to be leading candidates for the 2009 Heisman trophy race, but all three have come up short thus far. The media was predicting that McCoy would win this year; giving all three quarterbacks a Heisman before they enter the NFL draft next season. Or Tebow and Bradford would win a second one before they graduate. Unfortunately, Bradford announced this past weekend that he would have Dr. James Andrews take a look at his shoulder, and that he would be ending his college career. Three words no fan or team ever wants to hear in all of sports are "Dr. James Andrews." Usually when a player sees Dr. James Andrews, it means their career is over, or that player will be out for a length of time.

This year we have found out that Tebow is not Superman anymore. He fell back to earth once kryptonite, a.k.a. defensive end Tyler Windham from Kentucky, knocked him out of the game on September 26. McCoy's numbers overall have plummeted compared to the production he put out last year. He has now thrown at least one interception in all 7 games this season; fortunately Texas is still undefeated at 7-0.

Two guys people should be considering for the Heisman trophy this season are Mark Ingram, running back from Alabama, and Dan LeFevour, quarterback from Central Michigan. Ingram is one of the best running backs in the nation this year. Coming into week 9 of the season, he has over 1,000 yards on the ground with 6.6 yards per carry. That means when he gets his hands on the ball, he has the chance to break for a big run. Unfortunately, this past Saturday was the first game of the season in which Ingram did not reach the end zone.

Dan LeFevour is a stud. He is the most NFL ready quarterback in college football. LeFevour is having one of his best years of his college career this year. He has all of the tools to be a great quarterback in the NFL. He can beat you with his arm. He can beat you with his legs. He's an all-around good athlete. His team is 7-1 on the year, which partly factors into the voting for the Heisman race. The only obstacle in LeFevour's way is that he goes to Central Michigan University, which plays in the MAC-Mid American Conference (a conference that doesn't get a lot of national recognition). A big portion of the voting is a popularity contest like high school class governments. If you weren't recognized across campus, you had a tough time becoming elected.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

There's Nothing "Golden" About The Cal Bears


Once again the University of California Golden Bears football team lost another pivotal game...Wait, they didn't just lose, they got destroyed by a decent USC team. USC's domination started from the opening drive when Taylor Mays, USC safety, picked off a wounded duck of a throw from Cal quarterback, Kevin Riley. From there USC never looked back. USC's defense stuffed one of the nation's best running backs, Jahvid Best, for only 47 yards on 14 carries. Jahvid Best's Heisman hopes were definitely wiped away Saturday night after the game. There is no way a running back can compete for the Heisman with other studs across the nation without at least gaining over 100 yards a game, or mixing in receiving yards to compliment low rushing totals in a game.

Once your running back keeps getting stuffed, you know it's time to look for another player to step up in the passing game, most likely the quarterback. But, Riley couldn't throw a complete pass to save his life. Even when Cal put on the perfect trick play in the third quarter coming out of a timeout, he couldn't get the job done. As players lined up on the line-of-scrimmage, Shane Vereen, Cal 2nd-string running back, stood next to the sideline with no defender in sight. Riley then proceeds to overthrow Vereen. If Riley completes the pass, Vereen has the chance to go the distance and take the goose egg off the scoreboard. This was Riley's chance to show the nation that he can compete, and lead his team to victory. He did the opposite.

Then, I start to question Jeff Tedford's, Cal head coach, play calling. In the third quarter, why do you run the Wildcat formation all the way down the field, then on 4th and 2 you put Riley back under center? Once again he throws an arrogant pass. Best was doing great marching the team down the field under the Wildcat formation. In the Wildcat formation, Cal would just run plays with Best and Vereen, while Riley decoyed as a wide receiver. Best and Vereen were making progress every time they carried the ball on that drive, and then on 4th down they don't go with the bread and butter that got them in USC territory in the first place. It just doesn't make sense.

The only good news the Bears got after the game was that they were done with their toughest tasks for four weeks until they host Arizona then go to "The Farm" at Stanford. If they can go undefeated or lose only one game for the rest of the season, Cal still has a great shot at breaking the top 15 by season's end.