Heisman Candidates

Three weeks have passed.  Just enough time to see how the top players are performing against usually vastly inferior talent levels.  Lets take a look at my top five Heisman candidates TODAY:

1.  Jahvid Best - California Running Back

Best began the season on the fringe of the Heisman discussion.  With the "Big 3" of Bradford, McCoy, and Tebow all coming back, it figured to be a tough nut to crack to get into the discussion.  But Best is that good.  Best is 3rd in the nation in rushing with 412 yards and 1st in touchdowns with 9, and that is with teams keying on him.  If you read my blog you know I LOVE Best.  He tends to make his way into most of my posts.  But he deserves it.  This guy has all the skills to be a Heisman contender and a top end first round pick in the NFL draft.  I don't think he will win the award overall because it will take so much to overtake McCoy and Tebow nationally, and west coast players are hardly ever on TV during the day on the east coast so voters don't really ever see you play.  But right now, no one has played better than Jahvid Best.

2.  Colt McCoy - Texas Quaterback

McCoy was a popular pick for Heisman winner at the start of the season with both Bradford and Tebow already having one.  Plus, people will be very hard-pressed to vote another multiple winner.  It may happen with Tebow if the Gators do go undefeated, but it will take a fantastic statistical season which he isn't having so far.  Colt sits 9th in the nation with 859 yards, but only 6 touchdowns which is tied for 13th nationally.  Colt also isn't rushing very much this season.  He led the horns on the ground last season, but has just 46 yards on the ground.  But that is more because he actually has a quality running game this season than it is anything against Colt's abilities.  The Horns sit positioned for the BCS title game and as long as that doesn't change, McCoy will stay near the top of the race.

3.  Tony Pike - Cincinnati Quarterback

You might not have heard of Tony Pike before this season, but I'll guarantee you will by the end of it.  Pike sits 8th nationally in passing with 923 yards and 8 touchdowns, tied for 5th.  The Bearcats have the disadvantage of playing in the Big East and by playing a mostly weak out of conference schedule.  But they are beating who they are supposed to beat in ways they are supposed to win.  They embarassed Rutgers @ Rutgers on opening weekend and throttled SE Missouri State in week 2.  Lets not forget winning across the country @ Oregon State last weekend.  Pike will have at least two more chances to play on national television to impress the voters.

4.  Tim Tebow - Florida Quarteback

I actually have a hard time putting Tebow into this category at this point in the season, but I'll admit, I have to vote with history on this one.  The Great One sits just 67th in passing with 540 yards, but he's also only thrown the ball 58 times.  At 9.3 yards/attempt, he would fall near the top of the NCAA in that category......I couldn't find the official stat, but I only saw four quarterbacks averaging more than 10 YPA.  Tebow's 5 TDs are tied for just 27th as well, but again, not many attempts to go with so far.  Tebow has really only played one full game since the Gators blew out their first two opponents.  Until he costs Florida a game and they drop from the BCS picture, he has to stay in the top five.

5.  Jake Locker - Washington Quarterback

I can't think of one player who has effected his team's fortunes more than Locker.  The Huskies go from win-less one season, and beating USC in the next with the only real difference being a healthy Locker.  If you remember, Washington nearly defeated BYU to start the 2008 season before Locker went down, but a phantom excessive celebration call helped Washington miss an overtime extra point.  Locker is 11th nationally in passing with 811 yards and tied for 27th with 5tds.  With only a 7.7 yards/attempt average however, dont' expect to see Locker on the short list of Heisman candidates UNLESS Washington somehow makes the Rose Bowl - which they do control their own destiny for at this point.  But that's about as likely as Sports Illustrated calling me telling me they love my blog and want me to write for them!  But for now, the leader of the hottest team in CFB right now deserves to make the short list.

On the edge:
Taylor Potts - Texas Tech Quarterback
Jacory Harris - Miami Quarterback
Daryll Clark - Penn State Quarterback
Ryan Mallett - Arkansas Quarterback
Kellen Moore - Boise State Quarterback
Ryan Williams - Virginia Tech Running Back
Evan Royster - Penn State Running Back

Week 4 Games of the Week:

Week 3 is in the books, so now it's time for the Week 4 Games of the Week!

Last Week: 4-1:  Season Total 4-1


5.  Texas Tech @ #17 Houston 8:15 p.m CDT Espn2
If you are a fan of offense and not so much of defense, this game will be for you.  The scoreboard operator is likely to have a heart attack in this game.  Houston has had two weeks to prepare for this game after their stunning upset of then #5 Oklahoma State and is averaging 50 ppg.  QB Case Keenum has a 7-1 TD/INT ratio in just two games with 725 yards passing.  This is the toughest game left on the Houston schedule so if they can pull it out, a BCS bid is possible.  They still have Road games @ Mississippi State, Tulsa, and UCF along with Southern Miss and Memphis at home, but Texas Tech is by far the toughest contest remaining.  Speaking of Tech, they aren't doing too bad themselves on offense.  The Red Raiders are "only" averaging 39 ppg, but QB Taylor Potts has taken over the offense just fine.  Potts has 1,281 yards in three games carrying a 12-4 (3-1) TD/INT ratio.  And three of those four picks were in the first game which was his first career start.  In the Texas game, Potts looked great too.  Its at home for the Cougars and they have had two weeks to prepare---I give it to Houston 49-42.

4.  Iowa @ #5 Penn State 7:00 PM ABC
This game really should have been played last week were it seemed as though every game was a revenge game.  Iowa gave the Nittany Lions their only regular season loss with a last second field goal destroying their BCS Title chances But this game wasn't totally on my radar until it was announced that College Gameday would be attending the game in Happy Valley.  Penn State has look about as impressive as any top team.  But when you're best opponent is at toss-up between Akron and Syracuse, we don't know anything about you yet.  RB Evan Royster is playing well finally and QB Daryll Clark has looked very efficient with an 8-3 TD/INT ratio.  Iowa comes in 3-0 but hasn't looked very good doing it.  The Hawkeyes had to block the last second field goal of Northern Iowa on opening weekend not once but TWICE to preserve the victory.  They did destroy Iowa State on the road and had a quality victory vs. Arizona last weekend, but they just don't "feel" like a 3-0 team.  I think Penn State exacts revenge for last season and wins BIG over Iowa 35-6

3.  Arkansas @ #3 Alabama 2:30 CBS

The SEC schedule opens for Alabama this weekend with the Razorbacks coming into town.  Alabama looks unstoppable on offense this season with an efficient quarterback in Greg McElroy, and any of three running backs that could be considered a starter on most teams.  Mark Ingram leads the way with 297 yards over 3 games and a 6.8 YPC average, but Freshman Trent Richardson isn't far behind with 215 yards and is leading the team with a 7.4 YPC average.  Ingram actually leads the team in receptions with 10.  Sophomore Julio Jones should be ready to go against Arkansas giving McElroy the probably 3rd best receiver  (Dez Bryant, A.J. Green) in the NCAA back to throw to.  Jones hasn't gotten into the endzone since the Georgia game last season and will be hungry to get back there now.  Arkansas looked pretty great against Georgia last weekend though scoring 41 points on what is supposed to be a great defense.  QB Ryan Mallett, a Michigan transfer, is so far living up to his lofty projections coming out of High School with 717 yards in just two games with a 6-0 TD/INT ratio.  But he hasn't faced a defense as strong as Alabama's yet.  Senior RB Michael Smith hasn't shown much yet this year in limited attempts, but with Mallett at QB this is a pass first defense.  Alabama typically dominates that type of team, so I look for a 27-14 Alabama victory on Saturday.

2.  #6 California @ Oregon 2:30 ABC
This game looked a lot more appealing in the preseason when people actually thought Oregon was going to be a true contender.  But a miserable showing and LaGarrette Blount punch later, and Oregon is reeling a little bit.  RB LaMichael James is doing his best to fill in for the suspended Blount but he's just a freshman and it will take time.  Although he did have 152 yards against Utah last weekend.  QB Jeremiah Masoli hasn't looked good however so he either needs to improve dramatically or the running game really needs to be that dominant.  As for Cal, they have looked impressive.  The Maryland win may not be as impressive given that they have since lost to MTSU for the second straight year, but convincing wins over Eastern Washington and on the road @ Minnesota convince he that was more a product of how good Cal is, not how bad Maryland is.  QB Kevin Riley has this offense clicking with an efficient passing attack and a 5-0 TD/INT ratio.  But the Golden Bears really live and die by the play of Jahvid Best.  Best has played better than expected so far this year aleady collecting 412 yards and 8 touchdowns with an astonishing 7.8 YPC.  Best is no longer just a fringe Heisman candidate, he may be the leader early in the season.  The game is in Oregon, but that won't be enough for the Ducks to hold off the Golden Bears 35-17

1.  #9 Miami @ #11 Virginia Tech 2:30 ABC

The only game of the week feature two top 25 teams against each other has to be the game of the week.  Why College Gameday isn't there I'll probably never know --- they didn't respond to my tweet ----- but it is my pick for game of the week for sure.  The Hokies are just 2-1 on the season, but that loss was to a then #5, now #3 Alabama team.  It did take a last second touchdown to get past Nebraska however, so they could well be 1-2 on the season.  Maybe that's why Gameday isn't up in Blacksburg?  Tyrod Taylor hasn't looked great so far only achieving a 50% completion percentage once on the year (Marshall week 2) but he doesn't turn it over often with a 3-1 TD/INT ratio.  Ryan Williams does have back to back 100 yard games on the ground though.  Miami comes in looking as good as they have in years.  All the analysts said if the Hurricanes could come out of the start of the season with a 2-2 record it would be a victory for the program.  Well, they have guaranteed that already starting out 2-0.  Jacory Harris, one of the Miami Northwestern High School 8 from a couple years ago, has looked simply fantastic from the quarterback position hitting on 41-of-59 passes with a 5/2 TD/INT ratio Graig Cooper and Javarris James carry the load at running back.  The running back is a slight issue for the Canes because there is no true standout back there, but if Harris has progressed as much as he looked like he has it shouldn't matter.  If Miami can keep the Hokies from making a big play on special teams, they should win this game.  And I think they will do it in a slugfest 24-17.

That's it for the picks this week.  Check in tomorrow for my top five picks against the spread.