Who's Your Heisman? Profiling The Candidates

With the 2010 college football nearing bowl season and the annual Heisman Trophy presentation (see here for info on the Heisman) a little over a month away now would be an opportune time to highlight a few of the top candidates for the award this year. You have the consensus favorite (Cameron Newton), some "super sophomores", and your prototypical "pocket" passers. Basically everything except a senior. Here are some of the top:

Cameron Newton, QB, Auburn, Jr - 1890 passing yards, 19 TDs; 1146 rushing 15 TDs

Newton is having a monster first season under center for the Auburn Tigers, though the athletic quarterback does not come with controversy. He was arrested back in 2008 for burglary but was allowed back on the team after charges were dismissed. Newton transferred to a JC last season and has been tearing up the SEC all season. Although there has been recent  news about  his recruitment to Auburn and possible violations, until he's proven guilty he is the clear front runner. Signature performance: 24-17 victory over LSU where Newton ran for 217 yards and 2 TDs.

Kellen Moore, QB, Boise St., Jr - 2372 passing yards, 21 TDs

Moore is not the dual threat Cam Newton is, but he is deadly and precise in the pocket and can pick a defense apart. Moore is also shorter than the traditional pocket passer which makes his performance even more impressive. Some may point to Boise St.'s soft schedule as a reason for his lofty numbers, but you can't deny that the kid is really good. Signature performance: 30-37, 507 yards & 3 TDs against Hawaii.

LaMichael James, RB, Oregon, So - 1,331 rushing yards, 17 TDs

Despite missing the first game of the season the James leads college football in touchdowns, rushing yards per game and only trails leading rusher Denard Robinson for the rushing yardage crown by only 18 yards. The compact shifty back hardly ever goes down behind the line and has breakaway speed to go along with the power. He is clearly the main offensive weapon for the No. 1 ranked Ducks. Signature performance: season high 257 yards and 3 TDs in a 52-31 victory against no. 6 Stanford.

Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford, So. - 2,213 passing yards, 22  TDs, 370 rushing yards, 3 TDs

Luck is the prototype of a pro quarterback. The red shirt sophomore has ideal height (6'4), can make all the throws and is actually nimble in the pocket. The Stanford QB has played fantastic this season and has completed less than 59% of his passes only twice. Luck has the Cardinals poised to make a major bowl appearance and made most fans forget that this team lost Toby Gerhart to the NFL this summer. Signature performance: against USC, Luck went 20-24 for 285 yards and 3 TDs in a 37-35 road victory at the Coliseum.

So who do you think will be striking that famous pose on December 11th?

-ALR

Weekend Quick Hitters

The dubbed "Monster Saturday" for college football should have been the theme for the whole weekend in the sports world. I honestly think every sport had something going this past weekend, and I tells ya, it was great!!! Here are a few things that struck me from the eventful sports weekend...

- OSU's QB Terrelle Pryor is a superb athlete and coming into his own as a quarterback. He needs to work on the short game and some of the decision making to really set himself apart and get OSU to where they need to be, and that's national champs.

- Michigan QB Denard Robinson is what Rich Rodriquez has been waiting for. This kid knows what to do as far as reading blocks, hitting the right space to dart out TD runs and his passing isn't too shabby.

- Boise St was potentially robbed of a BCS National Championship berth due to the laugher Va Tech put up losing to James Madison. I am on record saying Boise St has a cupcake schedule and shouldn't get to go anyway, but I will say they do exactly what they are supposed to do, which is rip apart that cupcake schedule.

- I hope Carson Palmer doesn't keep a mental tab on how much he targets TO and Ocho. They both had 13, but Ocho put up monster numbers. Keeping them both happy and not winning will be an issue down in Cincy.

- Michael Vick should be Philly's starter. Kevin Kolb is not a bad QB by any stretch, I just think Vick will get the most out of that offense.

- Congrats to Kevin Durant and Team USA for winning the FIBA's. That was a very strong statement preparing for the 2012 Olympics.

- Oklahoma City Thunder will benefit the most from the Team USA experience. Kevin Durant took a huge step into becoming more than just a scoring champ and Russel Westbrook learned HOW to play gambling defense, rather than just doing it based on his athleticism.

- In local news your 3 contributors to this blog, @lostherod, @A_Ramsey, and @marcusjnorris, began the hoop season this past week. Best believe I, and hope they do to, will provide our own stats, successes and failures throughout the season. I know it's shameless, but dammit I wanna shine too!!!

- @lostherod

Los That Links 9-7-10 and 9-8-10 (REMIX)

Everyone loves an underdog, but is that love unconditional?

Case in point, Boise State. Remember when that little school from Idaho that took on the vaunted Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl back in 2007? The 43-42 overtime win that was capped off with a hook and ladder play, tying the game w/ seven seconds left. In OT, a fourth-and-2 TD pass from a reciever, then the Statue of Liberty two-point conversion where the light-skinned kid ran into the crowd and propsed to his cheerleader girlfriend. Great game, great story, the end...not really.

See, in the movies, the credits roll, the Celine Dion music plays, and the paying audience walks out of the theater satisfied. But in real life, Cinderella, doesn't just marry Prince Charming. She moves into the castle, orders servants around, nags the Prince about having babies and why he's always away, and only dresses in the rarest of fine silk.

She doesn't move back into the evil step-mother's house, and start the process over again.

But in college football, that's exactly what Cinderella has to do. The Boise State's of the world go back to zero, only this time, newer obstacles are placed in their way to prevent them from making it to the Royal Ball. Powerful teams with a Natl Champ shot won't schedule them. Pollsters make it more of a point to accentuate just how weak of a conference they actually come from. Any stumble they have along the way is treated as a nail in the coffin to any idea of considering them as best in the country.

Call it the consequence of raising people's expectations. Fast-forwad from 2007 to last night, and we have a pre-season No. 5 ranked Boise State defeating No. 10 Virginia Tech in a nail-biter, yet possibly losing at the same time. Boise State is no longer sneaking up on anybody, and for that, they must pay! Va Tech is the toughest school on Boise State's schedule, from a BCS conference (Big East), and the Bulldogs traveled to a Hokie-friendly environment to play, yet because of the final score, and remaining schedule, there is a real likelihood that another undefeated season will result in no National Championship for Boise.

Cinderella will return to her evil step-mother's house after a one night stand with Prince Charming, and she will have to complete her chores, again.

Is there a solution to this problem? Aside from a playoff, no. (And don't worry, I'm not campaigning for a playoff system in college football for the same reason I won't campaign for more money to be spent on education: it makes too much sense, and will solve too many issues to actually happen.)

Oh well, NFL starts Thursday night.

Los That Links

- Reggie Bush will have to give up his Heisman. And with that, college athletes will never be offered money under the table again.

- Would you rather watch an NFL game at the stadium, or at home. (Either way, prepare to pay up.)

- Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco will have a TV show together. Oh, you'll watch.

- Jay Mariotti can breathe a tad bit easier.

- In college football, there are "pimps", and there are "get pimped". If you aren't sure which one you are, you're "get pimped. Exhibit A: Georgia wideout A.J. Green.

NCAA Preseason Coaches Poll Released, Boise St. No. 5

Have the powers that be reconsidered their mid-major bias? The NCAA College Football Preseason Coaches Poll was released today. Alabama is ranked No. 1, no real surprise there. Four spots down, however, there is some reason for intrigue.

Boise State will start the season ranked No.5, a position they usually have to wait until the end of an undefeated season to reach. If they manage to make it to the end of this season undefeated, there is a real possibility that they'll play for the first national championship in the history of the program. The Broncos went 14-0 last season (although technically, I'd say this counts as a loss), winning the Fiesta Bowl, and will have 22 starters returning.

Stay tuned.