Heisman race: mid-season update

I know, this is a post related to college football. But, I think someone needs to shed a little light on the Heisman race. Or, perhaps, someone needs to detract a little from the hype machine that is pumping up Troy Smith. Conveniently, the media overlooks poor performances when they want to. For the aforementioned Smith, his game was the controversial win against Penn State. Smith was 12-22 in that game, with one TD and two INT's. He managed only 115 yards through the air against the Nittany Lions and the offense really struggled. Overhyped Ohio State WR Tedd Ginn Jr. managed just 2 catches for 15 yards in that game.

I noticed something a little troubling looking at Ginn's stats that translates to Smith's. That isn't entirely surprising, as the QB is throwing to the WR, but stats aren't always closely related. But, the only two games Ginn has gone over the 100 yard mark receiving have been the two games Troy Smith has posted a QB rating over 200 (I'm not sure how the college QB rating is computed and how it differs from the NFL rating, but they are different — I think). Those two games were against major powerhouses: (1) Northern Illinois and (2) Bowling Green. Is it a coincidence that the four games against BCS conference schools have been the worst statistically for Ginn and Smith, against Texas (without a starting CB who was suspended for the game after being arrested on drug and gun charges), Cincinnati, Penn State and Iowa? Maybe. Or, maybe Ohio State's big guns struggle a little with stiffer competition and pick on weaker foes.

Troy Smith for Heisman is ridiculous. Troy Smith is a solid QB on the number 1 team in the country. But, when did that qualify you for a Heisman? How many times has he gone over 300 yards? 0. How many times has he gone over 250? 2 — against NIU and Texas. Texas is a major national power. But, Troy Smith wasn't working against Texas at full strength. Remember, Tarell Brown wasn't playing against Ohio State. He played against Oklahoma and OU QB Paul Thompson threw for 209 yards. Brown and Ross are a great tandem. Ross can't cover Ginn and Gonzalez by himself. In the last 4 games, Smith's high for yards is 203, against Cincy. Smith is a good athlete, but he doesn't beat people with his feet. He's been praised for not running and being patient in the pocket. But, his passing numbers aren't good enough to justify winning the Heisman if he's not hurting people with his feet. Vince Young could throw for 225 because he was making plays on designed runs and running off broken plays. Smith is averaging about 10 ypg, with most of his yardage against Bowling Green.

Calvin Johnson, on the other hand, has had two games that he hasn't reached 100 yards in. He's 4 for 6 getting to 100. Johnson, a junior WR for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets put up 111 yards and 1 TD against ND, 165 and 2 against Virginia, 115 and 2 against Va Tech, and 133 and 1 against Maryland. His two down games were against Troy (9 receiving yards, 21 rushing yards) and Samford (26 yards and two TD's). He puts up numbers without any other major threats. Reggie Ball has to get him the ball, but he just makes plays ... big plays. He's a game-changing receiver on the outside and he has stepped up in the biggest games against the best opponents, something that can't be said of Mr. Smith.

Similarly, OU RB Adrian Peterson went for 211 yards at Oregon. His lowest rushing total of the year in 5 games was Saturday against Texas. He only gained 109 yards. Texas hadn't allowed 100 yards to a team all year. They held Ohio State to 79 yards and Ohio State was winning that game. They held Big 12 foe Iowa State to 27 yards. Peterson hasn't laid an egg this year and shouldn't be punished for a bad call by officials who can't tell whether a ball travels forward or not. Dave Revsine said Peterson lacked awareness by not going after the ball. You don't have to pick up an incomplete pass to prevent the other team from running it in for a TD ... I think Peterson was aware of that and that is probably why he didn't go try to pick it up. Peterson lit UW up for 165 and 2 TD's, and Washington is looking better than people thought they were going to be. Peterson is also returning kicks, giving him those all important all-purpose yards! Obviously, I'm being sarcastic. But, if you praise Bush for accumulating them, you have to give a little credit to AD for his, even if they are just kicking it away from Reggie Smith.

I'm not lobbying for Johnson or Peterson for the Heisman at this point. They'd be my top two, although I'll throw Slaton into the mix as soon as his WVU Mountaineers play someone. You don't have to play for the best team in the nation to win the Heisman. Vince didn't win it last year. It's too early to give it to anyone, especially someone with lackluster numbers like Troy Smith. He's been good, but not great. He's been fairly consistent, but he laid an egg against Penn State and it might have cost them if the officials had realized the guy running in for the pick 6 actually lost the ball before he got into the end zone. Troy Smith has been on the radar since before the season, and the ability of his Buckeyes to keep winning through the 1st half of the season has made him the favorite (for whatever reason) to win the Heisman. Why? I can't even begin to fathom the rationale.