After one week it is hard to really know where we stand in the Heisman rankings. In the first week we saw some impressive and some expected performances. It's hard to put a lot of credence in some of the games as lots of the teams play cupcakes. It's even harder to make a case for players to go up and down in the rankings when they all put up great numbers.
The biggest news of the weekend was Chris Wells' injury. He fell to the ground in the third quarter of a blowout against Youngstown St. and couldn't get up on his own. He is listed as doubtful for the upcoming game against Ohio and most likely will not play as they hope to have him 100% for the biggest game of the early season, at USC.
Jeremy Maclin also went down with an injury in Mizzou's game against Illinois. The WR could play this weekend.
These updates lead us to the list going into the weekend.
(number in parentheses is ranking from previous week)
1. (1) Tim Tebow (Jr. QB Florida) - 137 yards and a touchdown is good enough for me in the first week of the season. Tebow and Florida now turn their attention to Miami (FL). Tebow needs to put up big numbers against the Canes if he's going to stay atop this list for another week, and Miami is a team he should be able to do that against.
2. (3) Chase Daniel (Sr. QB Mizzou) - Daniel played against probably the best cover corner in college football last weekend in Illinois' Vontae Davis, and he came out with the win while throwing for 323 and 3 touchdowns. He also threw in 46 rushing yards, as well. The main question for Daniel going into this weekend has to do with his teammate, Jeremy Maclin. If he does play, how effective can he be, and if he doesn't, can Daniel still put up great numbers? The answer, for this weekend at least, is it doesn't matter if Maclin plays, Daniel will tear apart SE Missouri State. If Maclin's injury persists beyond this week, Daniel could end up missing out on the hardware.
3. (5) Sam Bradford (So. QB Oklahoma) - An effective performance by Bradford last weekend. He gets bumped up thanks to the injury to Chris Wells. Bradford had 2 TDs and 183 yards through the air. Cincinnati is coming to Norman, OK on Saturday, it should be the first test for Bradford, and they will only get tougher from there.
4. (4) Michael Crabtree (So. WR Texas Tech) - Crabtree grabbed 9 passes for 73 yards and a score last week. Tech travels up to Nevada on Saturday. Look for Crabtree to break one, if not two, big plays.
5. (NR) Pat White (Sr. QB West Virginia) - Pat White had quite a game Saturday versus Villanova. He set a personal record for most touchdown passes in one game with five. He needs to keep up those kind of numbers if he is going to keep pace with the other quarterbacks in this race. West Virginia plays East Carolina who is coming off an impressive win against a ranked Virginia Tech team last week. East Carolina will put more pressure on White than what he felt from Villanova. This could be a great game to watch.
On the outside looking in
(2) Chris Wells (Jr. RB Ohio State) - Wells only had 13 carries and ran for 111 yards and a score before hurting his toe. He will not play Saturday against Ohio. This really hurts his chances for the Heisman as Ohio is a team he should be able to run for 200 yards and 3 scores on. With the class of contenders Wells is dealing with, he needs all the stat padding he can get. He will have his chance to sky rocket up the board, though, when Ohio State travels to USC.
Knowshon Moreno (So. RB Georgia) - Moreno only carried the ball 8 times for 59 yards on Saturday. He also found his way into the end zone on three of those carries. And he had 53 yards receiving, as well.
Matt Stafford (Jr. QB Georgia) - 13 of 21 for 275 yards and 2 TDs. Not a bad way to start your season.
P.J. Hill (Jr. RB Wisconsin) - Hill was great in his opener. He had 26 carries and ran for 210 yards and 2 scores. Wisconsin plays Marshall Saturday in what should be another stat padder for Hill. The real challenge for Hill will come once Big Ten season begins.
Most intriguing game (for me at least)
Central Michigan @ Georgia
There are three players playing in this game that I have mentioned in my blog, and the one I'm going to be watching closely is the only one I didn't mention in this post, Dan LeFevour. The guy is an unstoppable MAC force, and it will be interesting to see how he can stack up against an SEC powerhouse's defense. I know I mentioned part of this in my last post but the QB threw for 27 TDs, ran for 19 TDs, and he caught one TD pass! He also punted for the Chippewas twice last year! He truly is an all-around player. After saying all that, Georgia will win big, but if LeFevour manages to keep it close, he could be appearing in On the Outside Looking In next week.
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4 comments:
I agree with your initial rankings, but I think Pat White (and WV as a whole) dropped out of the Heisman race today after getting demolished by ECU (which means they don't have a chance of playing in the National Championship).
But I think the players to watch are Mark Sanchez and Joe McKnight. But next week against Ohio State will be their biggest regular season stage, which will make or break their Heisman chances.
And, while reading your blog, I decided that I'm going to change my name from Eric to Knowshon. Knowshon Van Dril. I like that.
I agree with Eric's comments about the USC/OSU game making or breaking Heisman chances for players on both USC and Ohio St.
West Virginia's loss knocking Pat White out of Heisman contention...the possibility of Chris Wells or Mark Sanchez being knocked out of contention next week. It all makes me wonder, do we put too much Heisman hype into a single game?
How about the name Patrick Pinkney for the Heisman trophy?????The East Carolina quarterback was lights out in leading the Pirates to upset wins over VA TECH and WEST VA.His stats after two games: 41/51 for 447 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT.Now due to the Pirates playing in Conference USA Pinkney won't win the Heisman because of the lack of quality opponents, but this kid showed he could play and dominate "big name" schools.
I'm going to have to agree with your ratings. I feel like Florida has such a strong team all around and an improved running game. If they can win the SEC I believe Tebow will win the Heisman back to back years.
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