SB Nation - Ndamukong Suh

We're All Americans, But We're Not All All-Americans

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:51:28 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa's Pat Angerer (43) celebrates with teammates Allen Reisner and Dace Richardson, right, after Iowa blocked a Northern Iowa field goal on the final play. Iowa won 17-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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As is usually the case after a 10-win season, the accolades are beginning to pour in for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Everyone and their mom has an all-conference or All-American team, but the two that actually matter--Walter Camp and the AP--are now out. And for the 33th year in a row, the unanimous selection for player of the year is Frank Stallone*.

More importantly, the AP named three Hawkeyes to their All-American teams. While nobody made it onto the first team, thanks to Ricky Stanzi's ankle injury--come on, you know if he stays healthy and Iowa goes 11-1 and finishes at #5 or so, even the guys on defense get a little bit more of a bump--both Bryan Bulaga and Pat Angerer made it to the second team, while Tyler Sash made third-team AA as a sophomore. A fine moment for all three players (two of whom, as we insular and provincial types are quick to point out, are native Iowans).

Meanwhile, the Walter Camp Foundation agreed with the AP, naming Bulaga and Angerer to their second team as well and effectively establishing the two as the de facto MVPs of their respective sides of the ball. We have a little beef with each designation, but for wholly different reasons.

First, though Bulaga is by far the best pro prospect on the line as of right now and was utterly dominant in 2008, the reality is that even notwithstanding the 3-week absence as he recovered from thyroid issues, he struggled in 2009. Brandon Graham and O'Brien Schofield manhandled Bulaga. And while those are two very good defensive ends, so was Aaron Maybin, the 11th pick of the 2009 by the Buffalo Bills and Bryan Bulaga's personal prison bitch after Iowa-PSU 2008. There was a substantial dropoff in play by Bulaga in 2009, and voters just didn't notice it when it came time to hand out awards.

Meanwhile, Dace Richardson was actually very good in his return to the line, and he got a fair amount of media attention when mid-season awards were being handed out. Then his ankle was rolled up on against Michigan State, and he disappeared from both the depth chart and voters' attention. But why should he have been punished for an ankle injury while voters looked past Bulaga's absence of a similar length? It's all past reputation, and that's not really fair to guys who come from nowhere and work their butts off--especially in their senior year, where there's no chance for any payoff in the "rewarded in Year X for play in Year X-minus-1" system that's come to be when it comes to honoring offensive linemen.

What this comes down to is that if the AP were to select an Iowa lineman for All-American this season, we'd have preferred it be Dace--though we'll certainly "settle for" Bulaga instead. If both men are playing their last game for Iowa next month, as lots of speculation suggests, then they've both had stellar careers in the black and gold and we wish them well.

On defense, on the other hand, Pat Angerer didn't really establish himself as the most dominant player for that Iowa defense, but that's hardly through any fault of his own. After all, one usually does so by being simply better than his teammates, and the talent level on the Iowa defense this year was both so high and so consistent that it was hard to see Angerer as someone who was the best player on defense. After all, you could always come back with, "well why not Sash? Or Adrian Clayborn? Or Amari Spievey? Or A.J. Edds? Or, hell, Jeremiha Hunter?" We're not saying that Angerer was the 6th best player on the Iowa defense by any means--just that ranking the top 5 or 6 or so would be impossible, because the gaps would be so miniscule that personal preference could easily mean a 3- or 4-spot swing here or there and it wouldn't even be objectionable.

Angerer's accolades, then, come from two areas: 1) his name, which is everything you could ever hope for times infinity; 2) and his stats, which sort of sneak up on you for the same reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. As mentioned before, he was 5th in the nation in tackles at 11.3 a game. That's pretty outstanding, especially since--as TRE noticed during the season--Angerer's real strength might have been in pass coverage, not run support.

Still, absent game-changing plays, it's somewhat difficult to notice the overall impact a player has on a game. And all of those game-changing plays seemed to happen to other players--most notably Sash and Clayborn, and to a lesser extent Spievey.

Thus we have a weird ambiguity about how we look at Angerer's standing as the most highly-lauded member of the 2009 Iowa defense. It's not that he didn't deserve it--far from it--but with a defense like Iowa's, you could basically pick a name out of a hat and feel relatively confident that you made a good choice. It was that kind of year. Effectively singling out Angerer for praise, then, seems unusual and almost a little unfair. Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

Full AP All-American teams are after the break.

First team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Colt McCoy, senior, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Texas.
	   Running backs -- Toby Gerhart, senior, 6-1, 235, Stanford; Mark Ingram, sophomore, 5-10, 212, Alabama.
	   Tackles -- Russell Okung, senior, 6-5, 301, Oklahoma State; Trent Williams, senior, 6-5, 318, Oklahoma.
	   Guards -- Michael Johnson, senior, 6-6, 305, Alabama; Mike Iupati, senior, 6-6, 330, Idaho.
	   Center -- J.D. Walton, senior, 6-3, 305, Baylor.
	   Tight end -- Aaron Hernandez, junior, 6-2, 250, Florida.
	   Wide receivers -- Golden Tate, junior, 5-11, 195, Notre Dame; Jordan Shipley, senior, 6-0, 190, Texas.
	   All-purpose player -- C.J. Spiller, senior, 5-11, 195, Clemson.
	   Kicker -- Leigh Tiffin, senior, 6-2, 212, Alabama.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jerry Hughes, senior, 6-3, 257, TCU; Derrick Morgan, junior, 6-4, 272, Georgia Tech.
	   Tackles -- Ndamukong Suh, senior, 6-4, 300, Nebraska; Terrence Cody, senior, 6-5, 365, Alabama.
	   Linebackers -- Rolando McClain, junior, 6-4, 258, Alabama; Greg Jones, junior, 6-1, 228, Michigan State; Eric Norwood, senior, 6-1, 252, South Carolina.
	   Cornerbacks -- Joe Haden, junior, 5-11, 190, Florida; Javier Arenas, senior, 5-9, 198, Alabama.
	   Safeties -- Eric Berry, junior, 5-11, 203, Tennessee; Earl Thomas, sophomore, 5-10, 197, Texas.
	   Punter -- Drew Butler, sophomore, 6-2, 201, Georgia.
Second team
	   Quarterback -- Tim Tebow, senior, Florida.
	   Running backs -- Ryan Mathews, junior, Fresno State; Dion Lewis, freshman, Pittsburgh.
	   Tackles -- Bryan Bulaga, junior, Iowa; Chris Marinelli, senior, Stanford.
	   Guards -- Rodney Hudson, junior, Florida State; Mike Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Center -- Maurkice Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Tight end -- Dennis Pitta, senior, BYU.
	   Wide receivers -- Mardy Gilyard, senior, Cincinnati; Danario Alexander, senior, Missouri.
	   All-purpose player -- James Rodgers, junior, Oregon State.
	   Kicker -- Kai Forbath, junior, UCLA.
Defense
	   Ends -- Von Miller, junior, Texas A&M; Brandon Graham, senior, Michigan.
	   Tackles -- Gerald McCoy, junior, Oklahoma; Jared Odrick, senior, Penn State.
	   Linebackers -- Pat Angerer, senior, Iowa; Brandon Spikes, senior, Florida; Sean Weatherspoon, senior, Missouri.
	   Cornerbacks -- Perrish Cox, senior, Oklahoma State; Kyle Wilson, senior, Boise State.
	   Safeties -- Taylor Mays, senior, Southern California; Rahim Moore, sophomore, UCLA.
	   Punter -- Zoltan Mesko, senior, Michigan.
Third team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Kellen Moore, sophomore, Boise State
	   Running backs -- LaMichael James, redshirt freshman, Oregon; Jacquizz Rodgers, sophomore, Oregon State.
	   Tackles -- Dennis Landolt, senior, Penn State; Ciron Black, senior, LSU.
	   Guards -- Brandon Carter, senior, Texas Tech; Jeff Byers, senior, Southern California.
	   Center -- Chris Hall, senior, Texas.
	   Tight end -- Dorin Dickerson, senior, Pittsburgh.
	   Wide receivers -- Freddie Barnes, senior, Bowling Green; Demaryius Thomas, junior, Georgia Tech.
	   All-purpose player -- Dexter McCluster, senior, Mississippi.
	   Kicker -- Hunter Lawrence, senior, Texas.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jeremy Beal, junior, Oklahoma; Brandon Sharpe, senior, Texas Tech.
	   Tackles -- Brian Price, junior, UCLA; Dan Williams, senior, Tennessee.
	   Linebackers -- Sergio Kindle, senior, Texas; Cody Grimm, senior, Virginia Tech; Navorro Bowman, junior, Penn State.
	   Cornerbacks -- Brandon Harris, sophomore, Miami; Alterraun Verner, senior, UCLA.
	   Safeties -- Tyler Sash, sophomore, Iowa; Mark Barron, sophomore, Alabama.
	   Punter -- Matt Reagan, senior, Memphis.

*Did you know he was in Tombstone, a.k.a. the SINGLE GREATEST MOVIE IN HISTORY? And in a phenomenal scene, to boot.

Ranking the 2009 Pac-10 Football MVPs: Part I

Avinash — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:00:29 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Mike Mohamed had some big plays this season. Was it enough to be a Pac-10 MVP?

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In case you missed it, here's Part 1: the LVPs of their respective teams.

This post got too long, so I had to split it into three. Here are the honorable mention categories and the Pac-10 players and units ranked #30 thru #21 (#20-11 coming this afternoon, #10-1 coming Friday morning). Let's dive into it.

Honorable Mention

Jeff Locke, Reid Forrest: You know your team's in trouble when your punters are higher than anyone on your offense. And in Forrest's case, you know your team is royally fucked when your punter is the only one on your team who appears on this list.

Donald Butler: Didn't really do anything spectacular this year, but 96 tackles will get you on this list.

Daniel Te'o-Nesheim: So will 9.5 sacks and 12.5 TFL. Too bad the Huskies defense ranged from 'sheer brilliance' to 'human atrocity'

Ed Dickson: I'll be nice as possible about this--FUCK ED DICKSON. AGGGGGHHHHHHHHH.

Damola Adeniji: Despite all the production of James Rodgers, he wasn't Canfield's main target on 3rd down. Probably because secondaries keyed in on Rodgers, Adeniji racked up 27 catches in that situation, 21 for first downs, 5th in the country. Only 49 catches overall, but considering he only had 1 last season, I'll say this is a slight upgrade.

Chris Polk: Finished this season on a tear: Five ninety+ yard games and a 1000 yard season overall. Hard to measure his impact though, since the Huskies lost three of those games and Locker and the defense were the focal points of the other two.

Trojan offensive line: Lost season for these guys. 17 sacks allowed, 40 tackles for loss allowed, only a top 40 rushing offense. Ho-hum for them. I would've dreamed of something like this for the Bears.

Mike Mohamed: Cal's most productive defensive player on a not-so-great defensive unit. You have to give massive props for a 100 tackle season (his 104 tackles were tops in the Pac-10). And he saved another Cal season from sliding into disaster with a crucial interception in the Big Game.

Kyle Williams, Dmitri Nance: Solid production considering their quarterback struggled to complete half of his passes. Plus I feel bad for Williams ending his career like that.

Syd'Quan Thompson: If Cal had ONE guy (Hagan, Hill, Nnabuife, Conte, Rope Guy, someone) step up at corner on the other side of the field, who knows how our season turns out. We sure as hell don't get lit up by Oregon, USC or UDub on defense (Syd's limited ability in the final game pretty much assured we were screwed against Locker).

He was still a fabulous open field tackler when he got the chance, and when quarterbacks threw to his side of the field, he usually shut down. Like Asomugha in Oakland, that kind of effort only gets rewarded with first team All Pac-10, and minimal impact on the box score. So while his talent is easy enough to gauge, it's really hard to measure his value. Which is why he's honorable mention and not on the top 30.

After the jump, here's #30-21. If there are any thoughts of players or units left off, or guesses as to who will end up in the top 20, leave them in the comments.

#30 Damian Williams, #29 Joe McKnight

via theoraclesays.files.wordpress.com

These two are actually the first since Bush and White to break 100+ all-purpose yards a game since Bush and Leinart. Solid seasons, but other than McKnight on the final drive against Ohio State and Williams tearing up Notre Dame, how many moments do you remember concerning these two? That kind of year for the Trojans. It's up in the air whether either will return too.

#28 Ryan Whalen

via www4.pictures.zimbio.com

6th in the Pac-10 in receptions, turned into Luck's best passing threat when Owusu went Section Eight in the biggest games. Thought about ranking him higher, but I don't have any Whalen moments to really justify putting him further up. Perhaps the Cardinal fans can refresh my memory...oh, wait, there are no Cardinal fans. #28 it is.

#27 Arizona's receiving corps (Turner, Criner, Roberts, Dean, Douglas)

via www.azstarnet.com

Five guys with 30 catches or more? Now that's spreading the wealth around. By contrast, Cal had only one receiver (Jones) catch more than 30. Obviously, Cal isn't built to be a passing offense, but still, this is a far cry from two-three years ago. Sigh.

#26 UCLA's secondary

via images.ocregister.com

I know Rahim Moore led the nation in picks, and Alterraun Verner had another fine year--but how good are these guys? Other than shutting down Jonathan Crompton and whoever the hell Kansas State's quarterback is, the Bruins pass D has been surprisingly average. Even Kevin Riley burned them deep. I repeat, KEVIN RILEY BURNED THEM DEEP. Does this happen to good secondaries?

Oh well...at least Moore is capable of that "deep, longing, alluring, penetrating, soul-piercing, heart-tugging look".

#25 Tyson Alualu

via cache.daylife.com

Kind of hard to say how bad the Bears defense would've been without Alualu cracking apart the line. His efforts alone helped shut down Minnesota's passing game in a tight 4th quarter. Extra linemen often were forced to commit to him, and it opened up the rest of the front to get after Arizona and the Furd's high powered offensive attack.

Unfortunately, he never really had a Mebane-like force on the line--he couldn't really disrupt the passing attacks the way his predecessors did How much of that was dictated by scheme or by his own pass rush methods is beyond my knowledge, but Cal's pass rush was far weaker than anticipated, far weaker than the 27 sacks they put up this year.

Still a great season for Tice though--Cal's run defense was top-tier, and a lot of that had to do with #44.

(Story that really depressed me this week: Bear Insider's look at how close Ndamukong Suh came to being a Golden Bear. Imagine Alualu and Suh coming together in the 3-4 the last two seasons, particularly last year. I'm getting bummed out now.)

#24 Jahvid Best

via www.pe.com

For a guy who was supposed to be a Heisman hopeful, it's shocking to see Best not even crack the top 20. But that's how it is in a frustrating season for Jahvid, whose season seemed to peak in Minneapolis. Still had some spectacular runs, but running behind the crappiest offensive line in the Tedford era, it could've been way, way better.

#23 Chris Owusu

via a.espncdn.com

A menace for us, and a big game-changer for the Furd, having huge returns on almost every opponent this year. Surprisingly (and stupidly), everyone in the Pac-10 continued to kick to Owusu long after he demonstrated he would outrace their coverage to the end zone. The Furd ranked 3rd in the country in kickoff returns, mostly due to Owusu's skills.

He gets bumped down a bit because if he could just hang onto a few passes (he dropped big catches in EVERY conference loss), the Furd are going to Pasadena.

#22 Kai Forbath

via tnjn.com

Laugh all you want that a kicker cracks the top 25. When a Bruins fan describes him as your most consistent player...well, that says a lot.

Take a look at the games Forbath swung this season.
~13 of UCLA's 19 points in a 4 point win over the Vols in Rocky Top
~11 of UCLA's 23 points in a 10 point win over the Sun Devils
~6 of UCLA's 24 points in a 1 point win over the Huskies
~11 of UCLA's 23 points in a 14 point win over K-State.

Add in these stats
~26 field goals, second most in the country behind Alabama's Tiffin
~99th scoring offense in the country

Not hard to say Forbath was UCLA's offensive MVP this season, isn't it? Switch Forbath with an average kicker and the Bruins win four games? Three?

#21 Shane Vereen

via dlerium.smugmug.com

(Image from dmo580)

Surprisingly had more impressive performances than Best this season, cementing away a Cal victory in Pasadena and being the workload in two upsets over the Wildcats and the Cardinal. Best racked up big numbers against two of the worst teams in the country and an FCS opponent, managing only one great game this season against a bowl-eligible team. Although Best ended up with more rushing yards, Vereen had more all-purpose yards thanks to his kickoff returns and his own pass-catching abilities. Most importantly, when the offensive line collapsed, Vereen had more of the elusiveness to slip away from encroaching defenders.

Best might be the better talent, but Vereen was the more valuable Bear for this Cal squad...but only by a little.

Coming this afternoon: #20-11.

Haden, Hernandez Are Your AP All-Americans

mlmintampa — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:25:47 -0000

The Associated Press All-American teams announced today included Joe Haden as first team cornerback and Aaron Hernandez as first team tight end. Maurkice Pouncey gets shafted and sent to second team at center. Also on the second team was Mike Pouncey at guard and Brandon Spikes at linebacker. Tim Tebow was named second team, behind Colt McCoy, upsetting the fanboys that worship at the altar of golden boy Jimmy Clausen and new Pac-10 poster boy Jake Locker. They must be really upset that Kellen Moore, another quarterback of a BCS team, was the third team quarterback. I guess winning games means something to the AP. Your unanimous selections were Mark Ingram, Toby Gerhart, Ndamukong Suh and Rolando McClain.

Ranking The 2009-2010 Bowls: Part 2

Mark Kieffer — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:31:13 -0000

In Part 1 of the series, I listed the bowls that I would not be mad at missing. With this Part 2, I'm continuing the countdown. This set of games are those that I would like to see, but I'm not going to make any kind of sacrifices to watch these games.

During the holidays, especially when traveling to a bowl game myself, you're sometimes going to miss some. Click on the jump, to see the 12 bowls that I have in my middle tier of games!

#20: Outback Bowl (Northwestern vs. Auburn), 1/1/2010, 10am CST, ESPN

After a night of partying in Tempe on New Years, there's no way in hell I'm going to get myself up early to watch this. I'm not really one of those ISU fans obsessed with Chizik anyways. This game could have easily gone in my Part 1 post. Honestly, I think Auburn rolls in this one anyways, but you never know.

#19: Texas Bowl (Navy vs. Missouri), 12/31/2009, 2:30pm CST, ESPN

There's no way I'm seeing this game, (although I would've liked to) so it ranks this low. I'll be at Sundevil Stadium when this is getting underway, but I'll be scoreboard checking during the game. Not a bad matchup at all, and could be an entertaining game. Navy has that triple option, while Missouri has a good passing game behind Danario Alexander.

#18: Emerald Bowl (Boston College vs. USC), 12/26/2009, 7pm CST, ESPN

This should be an evenly matched game for the most part. USC has had a down year by their standards, but I think this year was pretty good for Boston College. I'm not really a fan of either team, which is why it ranks relatively low on my list.

#17: Liberty Bowl (Arkansas vs. East Carolina), 1/2/2010, 4:30pm CST, ESPN

You have a pretty good offense in Arkansas against an East Carolina team that won the CUSA, and has been on a roll down the stretch.

#16: Independence Bowl (Texas A&M vs. Georgia), 12/28/2009, 4pm CST, ESPN

Georgia has the better defense, and better overall team, while A&M has the better offense. You can't ignore Georgia's win over Georgia Tech; that was impressive. I think this has the makings of a good game, and it might suprise some people.

#15: Champs Sports Bowl (Miami vs. Wisconsin), 12/29/2009, 7pm CST, ESPN

I like watching Miami. Been a fan of them since I've been following College Football. Growing up in Minnesota, I've seen a lot of Wisconsin as well. A game between two programs I'm familiar with. Miami likes to pass it, and is a very athletic team. Wisconsin, plays your typical Big 10 style of game: running the ball and trying to play defense.

#14: Chick-Fil-A Bowl (VA Tech vs. Tennessee), 12/31/2009, 6:30pm CST, ESPN

Lane Kiffin is just a drama-machine. Seems like controversy follows him around, and that alone may be worth watching. It will also be interesting to see how VA Tech plays, when they've been eying a BCS Bowl game all year, and feel a little snubbed. Tennesee has played close to teams all year, with a pretty solid defense. This could end up being similar to the Nebraska vs. VA Tech game earlier in the year.

#13: Capital One Bowl (Penn State vs. LSU), 1/1/2010, Noon CST, ABC

If you like watching a good defensive game, this one is for you. Both teams have issues scoring at times, but have no issues stopping the opposing offense.

#12: Cotton Bowl (Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss), 1/2/2010, 1pm CST, Fox

This is the battle between two disappointing teams. Both were ranked high at the beginning of the year, and neither really did much of anything notable on the national scale. I'm still confused as to how Oklahoma State just laid an egg against Oklahoma, along with how Ole Miss was supposed to have this Heisman contender in Snead. I don't really think either fanbase is that excited about the game either. With how inconsistent these teams have been all year, I don't think anyone knows what to expect in this one, and maybe for that, it's worth tuning into for a little bit.

#11: Holiday Bowl (Arizona vs. Nebraska), 12/30/2009, 7pm CST, ESPN

These teams are pretty even on paper. I can't see scores outside of the teens in this one. Heck, this game could be 10-9 or something like that. It's really too bad for Husker fans that their offense was so bad this year, as it's really brought this team down. I have also come around to being a big fan of Suh, and it's extremley fun to watch him dominate the line of scrimmage all game long. Even if he doesn't get the tackle or sack, Suh has an impact on the play.

#10: Poinsettia Bowl (Utah vs. Cal), 12/23/2009, 7pm CST, ESPN

Jahvid Best is back for the Golden Bears, and he's a lot of fun to watch. Really good to see that he's going to be able to continue playing, after that scary concussion he suffered not too long ago. Honestly, when I saw that play, I thought his playing days in the future could be in jeopardy. This game is likely going to come down to the wire, as they are dead even on paper.

In Part 3, I'm going to countdown the bowls that are must-see for me. By process of elimination, you can figure out which bowls they are, but you will have to see on Thursday as to what the order is.

----

Part 1

Rock out with your mock draft out: Todd McShay

Mocking Dan — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:43:16 -0000

Todd McShay, the leader of ESPN's Scout's Inc., released his on Sunday with little fanfare. The draft is Insider content, but SportsCenter put out his top five picks.

First overall, he has the Rams taking Washington junior quarterback Jake Locker. It seems obvious now that St. Louis should take either the top quarterback or Ndamukong Suh.

McShay has the Nebraska defensive tackle going second to the Buccaneers. At this point in the draft process, Suh seems like the most sure thing among prospects and would fill a need for Tampa Bay.

He fills out the top five sending safety Eric Berry to Cleveland third, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy to Detroit fourth and offensive tackle Russell Okung to the Chiefs fifth.

Since this is Insider content, I probably can't talk about too much of it here. But there are few surprises in McShay's mock draft. One of them was Jason Pierre-Paul going in the first round at No. 21. The South Florida defensive end is an ESPN favorite, but that seems a little too high. It's easy to fall in love with his athleticism and size, but the production didn't match the hype this year.

There really aren't too many noteworthy picks in this mock. In fact, to ask people to pay to see a one-round mock draft is kind of an insult. Heck, I'd much prefer some of the four and five round monoliths you guys put together in FanPosts.

With that said, keep your mock drafts coming! They are probably the most popular feature of the site, and that's thanks to you readers. So, keep it up.

Blogger Heisman Results Announced

Gamecock Man — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:32:05 -0000

By now, you've surely heard that the Downtown Athletic Club awarded the Heisman trophy to Alabama tailback Mark Ingram, who narrowly beat out Stanford tailback Toby Gerhart for college football's most prestigious individual award. Well, the blogging community disagrees. As you'll remember, I participated in the blogger Heisman organized by The Blue Workhorse (TBW). TBW award goes to Gerhart instead of Ingram. In fact, Ingram finished third in TBW's tally, with Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh finishing second. Gerhart beat Suh by only one vote, making his margin even slimmer than the margin between Ingram and Gerhart for the official trophy.

Although I voted for Ingram, Suh, and Gerhart in that order from first to third (I also voted for C. J. Spiller as an honorable mention), the results of TBW's tally aren't all that surprising to me. A good bit of popular support has arisen among bloggers and other informed spectators for Gerhart and Suh over the past week. If anything, I'm surprised that Suh didn't win the blogger trophy, as he has, reasonably so, been the focal point of criticism of the Heisman regarding its bias towards skill-position players. Indeed, the more one thinks about it, the one one falls into line with this line of thinking. Suh had an absolutely unbelievable year for a defensive tackle. If ever a defensive player deserved the award, it was Suh. Unfortunately, I doubt you'll ever see a defensive tackle bring home the trophy in New York; a defensive back like Charles Woodsen that does something else like return kicks or runs the Wildcat can win it by combining stellar defensive play with some other statistical measure, but a big guy like Suh that doesn't have many opportunities to score TDs is just at too huge a disadvantage to sway a crowd of voters that believe jaw-dropping stats equal Heisman. It's really a minor miracle that Suh made it to New York this year in the first place; maybe we should take that, along with the fact that neither Tim Tebow nor Colt McCoy won the award, as evidence that the often embattled award is moving in a good, more credible direction.

A few other notables about TBW's outcomes:

Like myself, the bloggers believed Clemson's C. J. Spiller was more deserving than Tebow or McCoy. The fact that the disappointing Tebow and McCoy got to go to New York in Spiller's stead shows that things might not have really changed all that much this year, at least in the sense that although most voters didn't vote for Tebow or McCoy to win the award, many did leave them on their ballots, seemingly out of inertia.
Tebow finished with no first-place votes. It's really pretty shocking how far Tebow's stature has fallen over the course of this season. Basically no one outside of Gainesville, FL and Bristol, CT still believe in the power of the Almighty Tebow. He's still a great player, but the aura is gone.
I'm really fairly surprised that Gerhart did so much better than Ingram in the blogger's minds. When you compare the stats and the defenses the two played against, I see little reason to believe that Gerhart had a better year. What am I missing?
George Rogers is still the only player from a college in South Carolina to win the Heisman. Suck it, Clemson. (Unfortunately for them, Auburn fans have lost the right to make these kinds of jokes about their rival.)

Final Thoughts About Ndamukong Suh's Heisman Chances

Jon Johnston — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:24:01 -0000

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

Say what you want about any of them, but that's a damned fine group of young men. Wait? Where's CJ Spiller? And who's that guy second to left?

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Earlier I was taking the youngest over to a friend's place so they can play outside in the snow, when he asked "Dad, do you think Ndamukong Suh will win the Heisman?".

Agh. Answering a 10-year old kid is a lot different than what I'd tell some smack-talking friends. You have to be honest (or a pretty good liar and I'm not a good liar) when you're answering a kid that age, otherwise they know.

What I said is "He could win it, but I doubt it. It's really hard to win the Heisman Trophy if you're a defensive guy. It's a huge accomplishment that Suh has even been invited to be there. It would be a big wonderful surprise if he wins, but you really can't be disappointed if he doesn't. "

Well.... I was only partially lying. I don't think I'll be disappointed if he doesn't win it, but I will be disappointed if Alabama's Mark Ingram finishes ahead of him. I don't have anything against Ingram, but if I had to vote, here's how I would have voted them:

1. Ndamukong Suh

2. Colt McCoy

3. Toby Gerhart

4. Mark Ingram

5. CJ Spiller

I won't be upset if McCoy wins it because back when I was trying to work out how Nebraska would beat Texas in the Big 12 title game, there was one obvious answer - take Colt McCoy out of the game. People can bag on McCoy all they want for not putting up great numbers, but the fact is, McCoy is the guy that makes the Texas offense go. Take him out and they'd still win the South, but would have not won the Big 12 and they certainly wouldn't be going to the national title game.

Same thing with Toby Gerhart. Gerhart made the Stanford Cardinal go. The guy finished first nationally in rushing yardage with 1,736 yards, first with attempts at 311, and first in rushing touchdowns with 26. He was amazing to watch as he ran over people, and especially enjoyable as he ran over Notre Dame.

Ingram? Take him off the Crimson Tide, and they're still a great team. What bugs me most about Ingram is that his worst game came against Auburn, the Tide's biggest rival. How do you call yourself a Heisman winner when it's the biggest game of the year and you don't rise up against your opponent? (Tide fans might say Auburn isn't the biggest game of the year, instead pointing to the SEC title game or the upcoming national title game. My response would be to ask how much Saban has stolen their soul.) The most damning point against Ingram comes from the Heisman Pundit, who points out that Ingram's 119 per game rushing average would be the fewest by a Heisman-winning running back in the modern era of two-platoon football.

CJ Spiller fills in the last place out of five because he's a phenomenal player, fast as a bullet, and it gives me a chance to remind everyone that a Ndamukong Suh-lead defense held him to 17 yards rushing and six yards receiving in last year's Gator Bowl (although Spiller did have 159 yards in returns).

Let's face the fact that the Heisman Trophy is the most overrated, hyped trophy in sports.... until your guy might win it. Then you're right there, hoping he's the guy the nation wants to reward. With Suh that's especially true, as a win here would be a recognition of just how far the Blackshirts have come in the last two years.

Heisman Trophy - Quick Prediction

Beergut — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:45:51 -0000

My prediction for the Heisman Trophy award which will be presented tonight on ESPN at 7 p.m. Texas time:

Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
Colt McCoy, QB, texas
Tim Tebow, QB, Florida

In the end, I think Gerhart's consistency will win out over everything else, and the West Coast media will push Gerhart to the Trophy. Mark Ingram's position on an undefeated team who will play for the national championship makes him formidable, but his poor performance against Auburn hurt him. Suh should win the Trophy, as I have made abundantly clear, but I think the voters won't choose a defenisve player who came ot their attention too late in the season, despite the fact that he is the best college football player in the nation this year. McCoy's performance against Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship did as much to hurt him as his performance against A&M helped him. Since the Nebraska game is the last one voters remember, I think it is safe to say McCoy won't win the Trophy. As for Tebow, he's had a pedestrian year by the standards he has set for any QB, and his forgettable performance against Alabama sealed his position in last place. When you're remembered more for your tears while losing than you are for your performance on the field, you aren't going to win the Heisman Trophy.

Friday Cartoons Talk Colt McCoy, Big 12 Championship And Heisman Moments

ccmachine — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:30:14 -0000

Undeserving Winners Of National Awards Announced

Beergut — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:06:08 -0000

The winners of the Maxwell, O'Brien, Walter Camp, Outland, Lombardi, Nagurski, Butkus, Thorpe, and just about every other individual college award were announced yesterday at the ESPN Awards Show. Ndamukong Suh, the incomparable defensive tackle from Nebraska, won the Outland Trophy as the nation's best interior lineman, the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation's best defensive player, the Lombardi Award as the nation's top lineman, and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation's top defensive player. Suh winning all of these awards was somewhat predictable, because they were well-deserved.

What was somewhat surprising was that texas QB Colt McCoy won the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top QB. McCoy isn't even the best quarterback in his own conference, forget the nation. I'm very surprised the O'Brien didn't go to Case Keenum of Houston. Keenum has led the nation's top offense all season long, passing for 5,449 yards and 43 TDs against only 9 interceptions. Compare this to McCoy, who had 3,512 yards passing and 27 TD passes with 12 interceptions, to go along with 3 fumbles, and the decision to give the award to McCoy is a head-scratcher. McCoy averaged over a turnover per game, but we're supposed to believe this is the nation's best quarterback? McCoy also won the Maxwell Award for the nation's best all-around player. The Maxwell really should have gone to C.J. Spiller of Clemson, the multi-talented RB who is equally dangerous as a runner, receiver, and returner. Spiller rushed for 1,145 yards and 11 TDs while averaging 5.7 yards per carry, had 33 receptions for 445 yards and 4 TDs, AND finished fourth nationally in kickoff returns, averaging 33.7 yards per return while taking 4 of them all the way back for touchdowns. Those stats are a little more impressive than a QB with whom there is a better than 50% chance he'll turn the ball over than pass for a TD.

McCoy also won the Walter Camp Football Foundation's player of the year award, but that was somewhat expected because he won the same award last year.

The Biletnikoff Award for the nation's best wide receiver went to Notre Dame's Golden Tate; that award should have gone to texas' Jordan Shipley. Tate had 93 receptions for 1,496 yards and 15 TD receptions. Shipley has 106 receptions for 1,363 yards and 11 TDs, and still has one more game to play. Shipley built his stats against the Big 12 Conference, not against a padded schedule with the likes of Navy, Nevada, and Washington State. Tate is a phenomenal receiver, but no moreso than Shipley. Given the opponents Shipley faced, and the game-by-game production, the best wide receiver in the nation this year is Shipley.

The Jim Thorpe Award for the nation's best defensive back went to Tennessee safety Eric Berry. While I think a good argument could be made for texas safety Earl Thomas, who finished tied for second in the nation in intercepions, with 8 on the season, Berry was dominant playmaker on a top twenty defense for Tennessee. Berry also garnered more national attention early on because of his stellar play against Florida and Heisman-hopeful Tim Tebow early in the season, while Thomas was coming off a season on one of the worst pass defenses in the nation in 2008, so that probably played into consideration for the award.

Overall, with the exception of the defensive awards which went to Suh and Berry, a lot of these national awards went to the wrong person. It seems some of these committee's make up their minds early on who the winner is going to be during the season, and don't let other candidates or other information sway their opinion, and that is a shame.