So we see in this piece by Emily Badger of the Orlando Sentinel.

As usual, not only the writer, but the subjects of the article–the Sports Information Directors–would be well served by reading The Heismandments.

One amusing quote is by USC SID Tim Tessalone, who unwittingly proves the Heismandments’ case that a highly-ranked school that is a traditional power has a huge advantage in the Heisman race:

“We always went into a season believing that you had to have a lot of the foundation laid, that you had to change the candidate’s name from Joe Smith to `Joe Smith comma Heisman Trophy candidate,’ ” Tessalone said. “What we found out in Carson (Palmer’s) case was we didn’t do any of that.”

So according to Tessalone, USC doesn’t have to do jack and Heismans can roll right in. Actually, his statement is technically inaccurate, since USC did roll out a campaign for Palmer and later for Leinart. But the point stands that USC is at a distinct advantage because of its status as a traditional power.

But Tessalone is off base when he says:

“The voters out there are smart enough to understand and realize who the best players are, the best player is,” Tessalone said. “I think they got it right the last couple of years.”

Much of the talk last year was that Matt Leinart wasn’t the best player on his team, much less the country. If the Heisman went to the best player, then Jason White probably never would have won in 2003. And it still doesn’t explain how voters decide in situations like last year, when you had four players from the top two teams–both traditional powers–vying for the Trophy.

The story also touches on the Heisman research of Clark Haptonstall, the director of Sports Management at Rice. Haptonstall, a former Marshall SID, surveyed all the Heisman voters anonymously and found that Heisman campaigns had very little impact on their voting.

I would question the real value of this study, since it seems most Heisman voters would be reluctant to admit that a bobblehead influenced their vote in the first place. What people forget is that that purpose of a Heisman campaign is to highlight the name of a candidate in the minds of voters. No one may have voted for Joey Harrington because of his Times Square billboard, but more people were aware of him because of it. And that helps.

It’s like in advertising. No one is going to buy T-Mobile because Catherine Zeta-Jones is the pitch woman. But I’ll be damned if people don’t know that T-Mobile offers cell phone service and its slogan is ‘Get More.’

Joe Dudek of Div. III Plymouth State was among the top vote getters for the 1985 Heisman. It didn’t hurt that he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, as the ‘thinking man’s’ candidate. And who could forget his slogan: ‘What the Heck, Vote Dudek’?

So, that’s a clear-cut case of a Heisman campaign helping a small-school player. Could he win it? No. But, there it is nonetheless.

In the end, it all goes back to the reality of the Heismandments. Nine schools are at a big advantage and everyone else is catching up. But there is competition among those powers and a good, well-thought-out campaign can go a long way towards clarifying things for voters.

The Onion is almost always too funny for words, but I thought I’d share an especially funny link that paints a situation that we’ve all been through at some point.

If we were Gator fans, we’d be feeling pretty good right now.

As we stated earlier, Florida is about to be the new addition to the ‘Gang of Five’–the teams that were the elite offenses in college football last season.

That group is now USC, Boise State, Louisville, Utah, California….and the Gators.

What does it mean to be in that group?

In raw 2004 statistics, here it is:

Those five schools averaged 230 yards rushing per game.
They averaged 263 yards passing per game.

In other words, they exhibited nice balance. When they needed to, they could run. When they needed to, they could also pass. Sometimes–depending on what the game called for–they could run for a ton, or pass for a ton.

Their average total offense was 494 yards per game and they scored an average of 44 points per game.

The five teams in the elite last season went a combined 57-4. What’s more, two of those four losses came against other teams in that group, so they went 55-2 against the rest of college football.

Some might say: Well, lots of teams put up yardage and score points, so why aren’t those teams in the elite?

Take Texas Tech, for instance. The Red Raiders averaged 491 yards per game, but only 92 of those yards per game came on the ground. In other words, Texas Tech is a one-dimensional team. When a team is one dimensional, it is much easier to defend. So that’s why Texas Tech, despite putting up a ton of yards and points, is not part of the new offensive elite in college football (the Red Raiders also lost four games). On the other extreme, neither are rushing teams like Texas or Minnesota.

What about Oklahoma? The Sooners averaged 462 yards per game, 253 of it in the air and 209 on the ground. They had a great passer in Jason White and a great rusher in Adrian Peterson. However, we don’t consider Oklahoma to be among the elite group because of its lack of a sophisticated passing scheme, which doesn’t really utilize backs and tight ends out of its base formation. In other words, you didn’t see Adrian Peterson stay in there very often on obvious passing downs the way that Reggie Bush stayed in for USC. The Sooners can certainly be potent against teams that are unable to matchup athletically, but (for instance) they scored just 31 combined points against the two best teams they faced last year–USC and Texas.

So how does a team prepare to face an elite offense? Well, sometimes in college football, a gimmick team can be really effective on a given night (see Cal vs. Texas Tech), or one team doesn’t really believe it can win (Louisville vs. Miami) and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Other times, there may be too much talent on one side for scheme to overcome. It could even be a combination of all three.

But as a rule, teams that are unprepared to play offenses of this sort are heading for trouble. Which is why the Gators–once they get their scheme down pat–should roll through the SEC like Schwarzkopf through Iraq.

Things are slow in the Heisman world these days, so why not skip off topic for a bit and talk about college football in general?

Here’s a few of the things we think we’ll see in 2005:

–Another national title for USC. The Trojans will go 13-0 and run their win streak to 35 in a row. To do so, they’ll have to squeak by Florida in the Rose Bowl, as Urban Meyer’s offense will give USC fits. The rest of the college football world will realize then and there that a wide open, multi-dimensional offense is the only way to beat the Trojans. Note: For our money, the Heisman winner WILL be playing in this game.

–Continued excellence by the five teams in college football whose offensive scheme and playcalling sophistication is above and beyond everyone else’s: USC, Louisville, Boise State, California and Utah. Last year, those teams went a combined 60-4 (with two of the losses coming against each other). And it wasn’t a coincidence. This year, add a sixth team–one with a boatload of talent–to that list: Florida.

–The curtain call for Bobby Bowden. The Seminoles are tough on defense, but without a legitimate quarterback–something he had for about 15 years in a row–Bowden’s squads have struggled. A second-straight loss to Florida will hasten his departure.

–The reformation of the SEC. In 2003, there weren’t any competent, advanced offenses in the Southeastern Conference. The league was surviving on superior talent alone. Despite that fact, the SEC was still being touted as the best conference in the nation, we think wrongly. Then last year, Auburn implemented an antiquated Pac-10 offense run by Al Borges and proceeded to run the table. This year, South Carolina gets to see Steve Spurrier’s Fun ‘n Gun offense in action. And, of course, Urban Meyer is ready to take the SEC by storm as Florida’s head man. So, just like that, there are now three teams in the SEC running offenses that (for instance) actually utilize their backs and tight ends with regularity. While that’s a concept that is fairly mundane in many other parts of the country, it’s revolutionary in the SEC. Expect other teams in the league to shift accordingly, as they are dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. The result will be that the SEC really WILL become the best conference around, as its unmatched talent base, combined with a big improvement in coaching, will pay dividends.

–Texas will finally beat Oklahoma….but lose to Texas A&M in an epic battle between Reggie McNeal and Vince Young.

–Boise State will beat Georgia in Athens. The Broncos of this decade are a lot like the BYU teams of the 1980s–possessing only a modicum of talent, but very dangerous due to great coaching, superior scheme and a confidence that borders on cockiness. That same formula allowed BYU to beat powers like SMU and Miami in the 1980s, all the while revolutionizing the way offenses (and hence, defenses) were run in college football.

–The ‘hybrid’ will be one of THE stories of 2005, as Reggie Bush, Ted Ginn and Devin Hester will continue to dazzle with their versatility. As a result, more weight will be lent to the ‘all-purpose yardage’ stat, as sportswriters will need to find SOME way to make the contributions of these uber-talents show up in the box score.

Anyone have any contributions?

In this day and age, it’s tough to look too far ahead–you never really know who’s going to stay in school. But here’s an early look at the 2006 race, assuming everyone who can go pro will go pro.

1. Adrian Peterson, OU–He’ll have it all by then: a great resume, some salt between his toes and a more experienced quarterback to keep the heat off him.

2. Chris Leak, Florida–If he doesn’t win it this year (2005), he’ll make a big run for it the following year.

3. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame–A senior Notre Dame quarterback is always a prime candidate. If he engineers a return to glory, so much the better.

4. Chad Henne, Michigan–He’ll be a great quarterback by his junior season and his team could follow suit.

5. Kyle Wright, Miami–If he has a proficient year in 2005, he’ll set himself up nicely for a 2006 run.

6. Ted Ginn, Ohio State–Mr. Excitement will be bigger and stronger–and probably a little slower–but he’ll still be hard to contain.

7. John David Booty, USC–The USC quarterback is now a staple of the Heisman diet.

8. Drew Tate, Iowa–Will be in his third year of terrorizing the Big 10.

9. Marshawn Lynch, Cal––Will be coming off a 1,500-plus-yard season as a sophomore.

As you can see, six of the nine traditional Heisman powers are represented. In other words, it’s a pretty safe bet to figure that one of these guys will win it in 2006.

We expect the following Heisman candidates who are juniors to go pro after the 2005 season:
Reggie Bush
Vince Young
Maurice Drew
Lawrence Maroney

It has begun, officially, with DeAngelo Williams of Memphis.

The school is spending $30,000 on a Heisman campaign for the running back, who had over 1,900 yards rushing last season.

The best gimmick is the NASCAR model racer. Nice touch.

Unfortunately, the only way Williams could even come close to the award is by surpassing Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record. So, while it’s a nice gesture to support its student athlete, Memphis has basically thrown $30,000 down the drain.

Bruce Feldman of ESPN has a good commentary on Williams’ campaign here. You’ll need a password to read it.

For those who don’t have a password, here’s a snippet:

I do like the idea (props to SID Jen Rodriguez) and I think Williams is fantastic, but I really think this type of thing teeters on the brink of trouble. Schools already make money selling players’ jerseys all over town. This will feed into the bobblehead/beanie baby/whatever-junk-collectors-are-falling-all-over-each-other-to-get craze. What’s next? A scarlet and gray rocket with Ted Ginn’s picture on it or a Devin Hester-wind-up car? Whatever it is, you’ll probably find it on Ebay pretty soon. OK, rant over … I can see this downshifting into the whole should-college-kids-get-paid thing.

Personally, I think a Ted Ginn rocket would be pretty cool.

Why would Collegefootballnews.com even go through this pointless exercise of ranking the top 100 Heisman candidates for 2005?

Not even we would go that far.

Players 81-100 are the guys who have no shot but will put up big numbers. So, why even mention that they don’t have a shot? Why not just have a list of guys who will put up big numbers?

Players 61-80 have a chance to make a ‘statement’ in the race, whatever that means.

So now, according to CFN, there are 100 players who are Heisman candidates. Way to narrow it down, guys.

There are so many nuggets available, like saying this in regards to Selvin Young: “Cedric Benson was the best player in America last year and didn’t even get an invite to New York, so it’s asking a lot for another Longhorn back to do better.”

Uh, excuse me? Benson was the best player in America last year? Just an open-and-shut case, was it now?

We are also informed that Wisconsin’s Brian Calhoun has a better shot than Brady Quinn of Notre Dame. Does anyone outside of Madison believe that?