A couple days ago, we looked at what Colt McCoy and Mark Ingram needed to do to win the Heisman. Now, let’s look at Tim Tebow.
Stats so far: 99 for 153 (64.7 percent) for 1,323 yards, 10 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 153.68 rating, 139 carries, 551 yards, 3.96 YPC, 8 touchdowns.
Games to go: Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Florida International, Florida State, SEC Title Game
Best Route to the Heisman:
1. Win out.
2. Average over 200 passing yards and two touchdown passes per game the rest of the way out, while scoring at least one rushing touchdown per game. This would allow Tebow to finish with about 2,400 passing yards, 20 touchdown passes and another 13 touchdowns on the ground by the time of the Heisman vote.
3. Ingram bottled up in losses to LSU and/or Florida; McCoy has weak finish to season.
4. Heroic performance in SEC title game win.
Possible Pitfalls
1. Gators lose SEC title game.
2. McCoy and Ingram finish strong.
3. Tebow fatigue among Heisman voters.
I see Tebow as the third option in the race right now, but based on how the season has gone, it wouldn’t take much for him to catapult back into the role of favorite. However, I think the burden of proof is on him to show Heisman voters that he is clearly deserving of that second trophy. That proof is murky right now and the more murky the race, the less it is to his benefit.
The bad news for Tebow is that his next two games are against the #8 (Vanderbilt) and #3 (South Carolina) pass defenses in the country. The good news is that he gets to finish the regular season against FIU (#104) and FSU (#97). Those four teams average out to 53 and give up 199 passing yards per game. The other bad news is that McCoy’s last four opponents average out to 83 in pass defense, giving up 235 yards per game.
Hopefully he will finish the season out a little more like he did against Arkansas and Georgia and a little less like he did against Mississippi State.
I’ve gotta tell ya, judging by this past week Tebow’s 208 yards passing and Ingram’s 144 yards rushing look like child’s play when compared to Clausen (452 yards passing), McCoy (470 yards passing), or Keenum (522 yards passing) this week. I’d still put Clausen above Tebow even thought the Irish lost.
Tebow just doesn’t have the “wow” factor anymore.
They said Tebow’s play looked like child’s play compared to Bradford all last season too.. then when Bradford faced a decent defense Tebow out-passed Bradford in the game.,,, with less help around him to.. while playing runningback.