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Week 12 Thoughts, Nov. 21
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-
Cirminiello & Johnson: RGIII's
Heisman Day
- Mitchell: So what's going to
happen next?
- Harrison: Montee Ball & the
Heisman
- Zemek: College football
needs a flex system
- Sallee: Arkansas, welcome
back to the fun
By
Phil Harrison
Harrison: Montee Ball and the Heisman?
Follow me on Twitter @PhilHarrisonCFN
Maybe we had this all wrong? Remember when Russell Wilson for Heisman was getting a groundswell of support? Then a loss to Sparty came, then another to Ohio State. In both of those losses, the NC State transplant looked good, but made enough mistakes to have his Heisman campaign de-rail.
What everyone failed to notice through it all, is the pace at which Montee Ball was racking up yards and TDs. It’s now high time people take notice.
In case you missed it, all Ball did on Saturday was run for 224 yards on 38 carries (5.9 ypc) for two TDs, and also caught a TD pass. For his efforts, Ball, who already leads the country in scoring, also took over sole possession of first place for the most yards gained on the ground in FBS. Above all, the 5-11”, 210 lb. junior is now just the fifth player in college football history to score 30 TDs or more in a season. Yet, Ball still remains on the fringe of the Heisman conversation.
Why? It’s time everyone hit the alarm clock.
Could it be because voters and media members see a Wisconsin running back as the product of a system? Is it because he wasn’t in the conversation in the pre-season hype machine and had to start from further back? Or could it be because Russell Wilson was taking the spotlight off of him from the beginning? If you are being honest with yourself, the answer has to be yes to one or a combination of these variables. But that doesn't make it right.
So what does a guy like “MoneyBall” have to do to get noticed this late in the mythical race that is the Heisman race? Hasn’t he done enough already?
Well, he’s certainly getting help. As the top teams with the top players (a.k.a Heisman contenders) fall, his chances only get better. Alabama and Trent Richardson took a hit with the loss to LSU, LaMichael James’ chances had already taken a blow with the early underwhelming stats in the loss to LSU, and with Andrew Luck and Brandon Weeden’s teams also going down in the BCS fog, in combination with a frenzy of wild upsets recently, the race has been thrown more wide open than an intramural sack race.
Enter stage left..Montee Ball
Helping his chances is the very good chance of Wisconsin getting a couple more games in prime time to showcase his talents. With a win over Penn State next Saturday, coupled by the possibility of a BCS game appearance with a win in the inaugural Big Ten Championship game, he’ll continue to get the needed exposure to make up ground. Wisconsin has to win, and he has to have a “Heisman moment” or two in order to ingrain his candidacy in voter’s minds, but he should have every opportunity. That sadly, is just the way things go in the popularity contest that is the Heisman vote.
The problem of course with all of this--is he shouldn’t have to sell himself. He leads the country in rushing and scoring, and his team is on a path to make a BCS game. most notably however--just to reiterate, he is only the fifth player in CFB history to score 30 TDs. He will more than likely finish number two on the list, with an outside shot at catching Barry Sanders (39) with three games still to possibly play (he's guaranteed at least two). That has to resonate somewhere in the cerebral cortex of Heisman voters doesn’t it? If there is any fairness to the most prestigious individual award in all of sports, then it has to.
So here we are in late November when things get interesting. The national championship race as well as the Heisman race are both coming down the home stretch, and there is one man looking to crash the party.
It’s just unfortunate that he was invited in the first place.
-
Cirminiello & Johnson: RGIII's
Heisman Day
- Mitchell: So what's going to
happen next?
- Harrison: Montee Ball & the
Heisman
- Zemek: College football
needs a flex system
- Sallee: Arkansas, welcome
back to the fun