Archive | November, 2009

The Case For McCoy

By on November 24, 2009 in General CFB

Some very impressive numbers and accomplishments provided by Texas Sports Information in an email today: 

Note:  I welcome and encourage any other data or material on behalf of the other candidates.

COLT MCCOY * UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
QUARTERBACK * 6-2, 210, Senior

**NFF Scholar-Athlete/Campbell Award Finalist
**Lowe’s Senior Class Award Finalist
**Davey O’Brien Award Finalist
**Maxwell Award Finalist
**WCFF Player of the Year Semifinalist
**Final 5 for Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award

2009 NCAA Rankings:
Completion Percentage: 73.0 / 286-of-392 (1st)
Completions Per Game: 26.0 (4th)
TD Passes: 23 (8th)
Total Passing Yards: 3,024 (9th)
Passing Efficiency: 152.5 (10th)
Passing Yards Per Game: 274.9 (10th)
Total Offense Per Game: 292.5 (12th)

McCOY BY THE NUMBERS:
3: His three seasons with at least 3,000 yards passing is half of the Longhorn all-time total of six. No UT player has ever thrown for more than 3,000 yards in a season more than once in their career.

28: NCAA leading consecutive games with a  TD pass streak.

36: Has accomplished his numbers in 2009 despite watching from the sidelines
in many Longhorn blowouts. He has played in just 36 of a possible 44
quarters on the year.

45: Longhorn records held by McCoy.

20-3 (87%) – McCoy’s career record in road and neutral-site games
(includes loss at Kansas State when he was injured on first series of game).

McCOY HEATING UP: Over the past five games, Colt McCoy has completed 130-of-169 passes (76.9%) for 1,487 yards (297.4 ypg) and 12 TDs (2 INT).

That works out to a 171.9 pass efficiency rating. Excluding sacks, he’s also rushed for 146 yards on 35 carries (4.2 ypc). He’s led the Longhorns to scores on 30 (23 TDs/7 FGs) of 47 drives (64%) in those games.

GOING DEEP: Colt McCoy has completed 16 passes of at least 30 yards this season with 10 of them coming in the last five games. Of the 10 completions over 30 yards, six have gone for 40 or more, three for 50 or more, two for
60 or more and one for more than 80.

DID YOU KNOW?: McCoy is averaging 27.7 yards per TD pass on his 23 scoring throws.

CLIMBING THE NCAA CHARTS: In addition to breaking the NCAA record for career QB victories (43), McCoy improved his career total offense numbers to 14,172, sixth on the NCAA all-time list.  He also has 12,756 career passing yards (7th in NCAA history), 108 career passing TDs (7th), 126 career TDs responsible for (6th) and his 70.9 career completion percentage ranks as tops in NCAA history.

ON A ROLL: McCoy has led the Longhorns to victory in 24 of the last 25 games (.960). That record includes two bowl-game victories and eight wins over ranked opponents. In those games, McCoy has gone 639-of-856 (74.6%) for
7,057 yards (282.3 ypg) and 58 TDs (18 INTs) for a 162.1 passer rating, while rushing for 838 yards and 13 TDs. He is averaging 315.8 yards of total offense and nearly three TDs per game. McCoy has thrown for at least 250 yards in 18 of the 25 games, at least two TDs in 19 and completed at least 70 percent of his passes in 19. He also has posted a rushing and passing TD in 10 of the games.

I’LL SECOND THAT: McCoy joined Vince Young as just the second QB in Longhorn history to post back-to-back 11 win seasons. He is seeking to become the first Texas QB ever to register consecutive 12 victory seasons.

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From a Voter

By on November 24, 2009 in General CFB

“I listed Mark Ingram first, but it’s really Ingram IA and Gerhart IB. I think they’re that close. If Ingram falters at all in the final two games I’d have no issue moving Gerhart ahead. But I remain very impressed with Ingram. He hasn’t padded his stats against inferior opponents. His fewest carries have come in lopsided wins over North Texas, Florida International, Arkansas and Chattanooga, and he’s produced against good defenses. Further, he does it with defenses geared to stop him. Seriously, defenses aren’t too concerned with QB Greg McElroy consistently beating them with the pass. So, stop Ingram and stop Alabama. But Ingram hasn’t been stopped yet. Also, McCoy has been amazing the last five weeks, but does that erase his struggles early in the season? Maybe it does. But he needs to finish with two more strong games to have a chance, I think.” — a Heisman voter.

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The HeismanPundit.com Heisman Poll, 11/24

By on November 24, 2009 in Heismanpundit Straw Poll

The HeismanPundit.com Heisman Poll, 11/24/09
Total Points, (with first-place votes in parantheses)
 
1. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama–58 (10)

2. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas–40 (1)

3. Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford–33 (1)

4. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida–20

5. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson–13

6. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State–9

7. Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame–7 (1)

Case Keenum, QB, Houston–7

9. Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska–3

Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon State–3

11. Jeremiah Masoli, QB, Oregon–1

Dexter McCluster, RB, Mississippi–1

About the Poll
 
The HeismanPundit.com Heisman Poll is made up of 13 Heisman voters from across the country. They vote for five players each week. Tabulations are made on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis, with five points awarded for a first-place vote, four points for a second-place vote and so on.  Last year’s final Heismanpundit poll was the most accurate in the country, picking five of the top six finishers in the Heisman vote, including the winner.

Members of the panel include: Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, Teddy Greenstein and Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune, Olin Buchanan and Tom Dienhart of Rivals.com, Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman, Bruce Feldman of ESPN.com, J.B. Morris of ESPN the Magazine, Austin Murphy, B.J. Schecter and Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated, plus Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News. 

Chris Huston of HeismanPundit.com coordinates and also votes in the poll.
 
HP’s Thoughts

It looks like this twisting and turning race has finally come down to Ingram and McCoy.  Whichever of these two can finish strongest will win the Heisman.  While Gerhart, Tebow and Spiller aren’t in position to take the top prize, they can still influence the outcome based on how they close out their seasons.  To wit: A vote for Gerhart or Spiller could be a vote otherwise meant for Ingram, while a vote for Tebow might’ve gone for McCoy.  This one is going down to the wire and could be the closest Heisman race since 2001.

Heisman Game of the Week

Texas vs. Texas A&M–The nation will tune in to the annual battle between the Aggies and Longhorns while stuffed on turkey and mashed potatoes.  It’s the only college game on Thanksgiving Day, so McCoy will have the Heisman spotlight to himself.  He’d better get off to a fast start in this one before the tryptophan kicks in.

Player to Watch

Mark Ingram–Mr. Ingram, get ready for your Heisman close up.  While McCoy takes center stage on Thursday, the big game on Friday will be between Auburn and Alabama.  Heisman ballots have been sent out, so many of the voters will be taking a close look at Ingram for the first time.  If they like what they see, he’ll be set up to clinch the Heisman one week later against Florida in the SEC title game. 

This Week in Heisman History

Playing with two broken ribs on his 23rd birthday, Auburn’s Bo Jackson ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns…all to no avail as the Tigers lost, 25-23, to Alabama on a last-second, 52-yard field goal by Van Tiffin in 1985.   Jackson would go on to win the Heisman by the smallest margin ever–a mere 45 points over Iowa’s Chuck Long.

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Who Will Win the Midwest?

By on November 23, 2009 in General CFB

The Midwest was the only Heisman region Colt McCoy won in 2008 and it was his second-strongest bastion of support outside the Southwest.

McCoy picked up 292 points in the MidWest, finishing ahead of Sam Bradford (281 points) and Tim Tebow (259 points).

His success in the region was most likely due to the extra exposure McCoy received thanks to the Texas-Ohio State matchup in 2006, as well as the Big 12′s reach into portions of the MidWest.

McCoy should once again do well there in 2009, but there are a few factors that could prevent him from winning the region. 

Namely, his main competition for the Heisman–Mark Ingram–hails from Flint, Mich.

Because of this, I expect Ingram to do much better than usual in the Midwest for an SEC candidate and maybe even win the region.  How well he does will depend largely on the depth of lingering support for McCoy and how players like Golden Tate and Jimmy Clausen fare with voters down the ballot.

With Ingram expected to do well in the South and Mid-Atlantic and McCoy figuring to do well in the Southwest and Far West, the outcome of the MidWest and NorthEast votes could well determine the Heisman winner.

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Ingram For Heisman Video

By on November 23, 2009 in General CFB

Alabama has produced a Mark Ingram for Heisman video.

Check it out here.

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How Will The Heisman Winners Vote?

By on November 23, 2009 in General CFB

There are 55 living Heisman winners with votes that need to be cast by the Dec. 7 Heisman voting deadline.

It’s always fun to speculate how the past winners will vote. 

I think a lot of former running back winners–everyone from Bo Jackson to George Rogers to Eddie George–will be psyched to vote for Mark Ingram.  

Of course, Tim Tebow can count on at least two votes from past Gator winners.   But will he vote for himself?

Colt McCoy will get votes from Ricky Williams and Earl Campbell.  But he also might get support from the likes of Jason White, Sam Bradford and Eric Crouch–all former Big 12 quarterback winners.

There are 11 living Heisman winners from the West Coast.  Most of them will probably go with Pac-10 candidates like Gerhart and Jacquizz Rodgers, though Reggie Bush might see a little bit of himself in C.J. Spiller.

All purpose whizzes like Desmond Howard, Tim Brown and Johnny Rodgers could also go for Spiller.

In a tight race, the votes of the former winners could be crucial.

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The HP Heisman Watch

By on November 23, 2009 in Uncategorized

The Heisman usually goes to the player who best represents the spirit of a given season, the one who captures the zeitgeist of what has transpired.   Naturally, we tend to want to anoint that player who has been the most exciting, or the most dominating.   But the 2009 season hasn’t been exciting.  It hasn’t featured any dominant teams.  On the contrary, it’s been a bit disappointing.  So it’s possible that this rather ho-hum season is meant to end up with a rather ho-hum Heisman winner.  Either of the two remaining candidates would fit that bill.

So here are the players with the best chances of actually winning the Heisman:

Colt McCoy, Texas–McCoy continued his hot streak with a huge game against Kansas, going 32 of 41 for 396 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.  In his last five games, he is 130 of 169 (77 percent) for 1,487 yards with 12 touchdown passes and two interceptions.  On the year, he has 3,024 passing yards with 23 touchdown passes and nine picks, while completing 73 percent of his passes.  He is on pace to have 3,574 yards, 27 TD passes and 11 interceptions by the time of the Heisman vote.

McCoy now has the NCAA record for most career wins by a quarterback with 43.  He has nearly 13,000 passing yards and has accounted for 126 touchdowns running and throwing in his four years playing for Texas.  From a career standpoint, he’s been truly outstanding.

McCoy has two games left to seal the deal with Heisman voters.  The first will come on Thanksgiving Day against Texas A&M, when he’ll have the national spotlight to himself.  The second will come in the Big 12 championship matchup against Nebraska, where he can help his team clinch a berth in the BCS title game.  Given how he has been playing the last month or so, I like his chances of finishing the season strong.   He is almost certain to have Heisman-worthy statistics by the time the votes are due and his status as the returning Heisman runner up and senior on an undefeated traditional power that is vying for the national title will be alluring to many voters.  I give him a slight edge in the race right now.

Mark Ingram, Alabama–Ingram racked up 102 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries against Chattanooga, putting his season rushing totals at 1,399 rushing yards (6.8 avg) and 12 touchdowns (with another 25 catches for 225 yards and three scores).  He is on pace to have 1,653 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns by the time the Heisman votes are due.    Like McCoy, he isn’t setting the world on fire, but he’s the top player on a team challenging for the national title, so he’s got a good chance to win.

Ingram finishes up his season with a game against Auburn on Friday, then the mega-matchup against Florida in the SEC title game a week later.  If he keeps playing well and ‘Bama wins out, then he will win the Heisman.  But if the Tide loses to Florida or Auburn and Texas wins out, then McCoy is likely to win.   

Will not win: Tim Tebow, Toby Gerhart, C.J. Spiller

Putting up good numbers against Florida International isn’t going to save Tebow’s candidacy.  Voters have pretty much decided that Ingram is the main SEC Heisman hopeful and the best Tebow can hope for at this point is to play the role of spoiler. 

It wasn’t Gerhart’s fault that Stanford lost.  He rushed for 136 yards and four touchdowns against Cal and his season numbers are outstanding.  But he will be penalized for his team losing and, though he can still get to New York, he won’t win the Heisman.

Spiller was pretty quiet in Clemson’s win over Virginia and whatever shot he had at a late-season run at the Heisman is gone.

If the vote were held today

1. Mark Ingram

2. Colt McCoy

3. Toby Gerhart

4. Tim Tebow

5. C.J. Spiller

6. Case Keenum

7. Kellen Moore

8. Ndamukong Suh

9. Jacquizz Rodgers

10. Ryan Mallett

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