The 2009 Heisman Trophy Inside Track Debate – Colt McCoy Has the Best Chance to Win the 2009 Heisman Trophy

August 14, 2009

Read the Bleacher Fan and Loyal Homer’s arguments about which favorite they believe will win the 2009 Heisman Trophy.

If there is one thing we know about the Heisman Trophy, it is that the award does not always go to the season’s best college football player. It often goes to the college football player that most deserves it in that particular season. Just ask former Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne.

What does the story of Ron Dayne have to do with University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy? Precedent. Many believe Dayne was handed the revered trophy not because he was the best player in college football in the 1999 season, but because of the body of work he compiled during his four year college career. He ended his college tenure with 6,397 yards rushing. Impressive stuff. He was, however, not considered a Heisman favorite until his senior season because of those huge career rushing yards, breaking a once hallowed record Texas running back Ricky Williams has surpassed the year before. Whether the logic is correct or not, it is established Heisman voting criteria that once applied to Dayne, and will again apply to McCoy.

Besides the logical precedent, McCoy’s a pretty fantastic quarterback worthy of a Heisman Trophy no matter what logical criterion is applied to voting for the award. Let’s review some statistics.

McCoy has 9,732 career passing yards right now. As a true freshman he threw for 2,570, as a sophomore he tallied 3,303 passing yards, and last year as a junior he threw for 3,859 yards. Notice how he has added huge chunks to his total every year. If he throws for just 3,500 yards – which would be a step back from his traditional exponential growth in throwing yards – he would have a career total of 13,232 yards – or, the second most passing yards ever in college football. Not bad. In addition, McCoy currently has 85 career touchdown passes (29, 22, 34). If he again regresses his senior season (unlikely) and throws 30 touchdown passes that will give him 115 for his career – tying him, again, for second all time with former Louisiana Tech quarterback Tim Rattay.

Last point – McCoy amassed 1,604 votes for the Heisman Trophy last season and finished second. That amount of votes would have won the last eight Heisman Trophies. So close… just the wrong year.

Fortunately for him, 2009 will be the right year.

Bottom line – McCoy has the statistics and momentum to win the Heisman Trophy in 2009. It just makes logical sense. Or, it makes Heisman-logical sense… which is a different kind of logic.

Bleacher Fan no doubt has a great argument for Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford becoming another repeat winner, and Loyal Homer will argue strongly for Loyal Homer’s “boy”friend, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. But momentum is behind neither of those accomplished players. Momentum belongs to McCoy. And momentum counts for a lot in college football.

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Posted by Sports Geek

The Definition of Great Debate, College Football Edition – Made From the Best Stuff on Earth

July 9, 2009

Read Loyal Homer’s argument that swagger defines great and Sports Geek’s argument that statistical dominance defines great.



Recently, our friend Andrea Adelson at the Orlando Sentinel posed a question to her readers: Which college football team in the last nine years would currently ranks as the “Team of the Decade?”

There have been some outstanding teams over the past nine years, including the 2005 Texas Longhorns, the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes, the 2004 USC Trojans, and Adelson’s pick, the 2001 Miami Hurricanes.

During our production meeting last week we here at TSD discussed the merits of her list, and out of that discussion came an interesting debate topic for us…

What is the best criteria by which to measure the success of a college football team?

Sports Geek will argue that statistical dominance is the key (big surprise), and Loyal Homer will argue that swagger and attitude are what separates the men from the boys.

For me the answer is much simpler than stats or attitude. It all boils down to talent and success of the players at the next level, the NFL.

Keep in mind, we’re not debating what it takes to be a good college player, we are talking about choosing the “BEST” team, and just like gourmet meals are made from the best ingredients, the best team is made up of the best players.

Statistics and swagger are good, but they are merely by-products of talent, and they don’t always tell a true story. For example, the 2004 National Champion USC Trojans didn’t even crack the top-10 in total offense. You know who did? The Toledo Rockets and the Bowling Green Falcons, both out of the Mid-American Conference. Does that mean that the MAC actually had two schools that were better than USC that year? I don’t think so.

As another example, who was the best running back from the class of 2005? I bet you said Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, didn’t you? (That’s okay, so did I.) But, he wasn’t statistically the top rusher of the year. He was actually third behind DeAngelo Williams of Memphis and Jerome Harrison of Washington State.

Surely, then, he was at least the top scorer of 2005, right?! Wrong again. In this little statistic, he doesn’t show up until eighth on the list. In fact, he wasn’t even the top scoring running back for his own school! That title actually belonged to LenDale White.

My point here is that statistics can be misleading, or that quality is more important than quantity. What is not misleading is the ability for a player (or a group of players) to consistently do what needs to be done in order to remain competitive for extended periods of time, at ANY level of competition.

Think about the teams I mentioned above as some of the best from the past decade. What made them all great was the fact that they were populated by the best players of that time. The 2001 Hurricanes had Ed Reed, Jeremy Shockey, Andre Johnson, Clinton Portis, and Kellen Winslow Jr. The 2002 Buckeyes had Maurice Clarett (ahh, what could have been), A.J. Hawk, Michael Jenkins, Chris Gamble, Mike Doss, and Will Smith. The 2004 Trojans had Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Lofa Tatupu, LenDale White, and Eric Wright. The 2005 Longhorns had Vince Young, Selvin Young, Limas Sweed, Brian Orakpo, and Justin Blalock.

These players dominated in college, and (with the exception of Clarett) moved on to successful NFL careers as well, and those names only make up a fraction of the total number of NFL caliber players who contributed to the success of those respective teams. In fact, as Adelson point, the ’01 Hurricanes actually sent 38 players from the roster to the NFL, including 17 first-round picks! It’s no accident that this team became National Champions.

It isn’t about blowing out an opponent by 50 points, dominating total passing yardage, or having the flashiest plays. The one common thread that each of these teams shared is TALENT. They had the best players in the right positions to make the plays needed to win.

Think about the Texas vs. Ohio State game of 2005. In that game, The Ohio State Buckeyes were driving late in the game and were ready to go ahead by 10 points. Unfortunately for the Buckeye faithful, Tight End Ryan Hamby (who?) ended up dropping a sure touchdown pass from Quarterback Justin Zwick (who?) in the endzone, and the Buckeyes had to settle for a field goal, giving them only a six point lead.

In response, the Longhorns (led by the superior talent named above) were able to march down the field and take the lead from Ohio State with only 2 minutes left in the game, thanks to a TD pass from Vince Young to Limas Sweed. That touchdown ended up being the difference maker as the Longhorns would close out that game and go on to defeat the USC Trojans in the National Championship game later that year.

What made the difference? The Longhorn talent was able to execute under pressure where the Buckeye players could not. Texas didn’t dominate the game statistically, they just did enough to win the game, and at the end of the day, that’s ALL that matters.

The best teams are the ones that are made up of the best players… end of debate!

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Posted by Bleacher Fan

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