Guess who's the new #2 Heisman Candidate?

[tedwick]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/heisman06/index?lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos2

just thought i'd point out that Brady Quinn has jumped over everyone save troy smith to the #2 spot of ESPN's sportswriters heisman poll. climbing the ranks again. one can only hope for troy smith to get demolished by those gigantic UofM tackles like Drew Tate and Anthony Morelli... well, more figuratively demolished, but still. that line can clearly impose havok on ANY line. not just ours.

 

[Clotho]

It helps that besides not being very impressive statistically (at least in my opinion), Smith is splitting votes and attention with Ginn. There was concern Brady might have a similar star power problem with Shark and Zibby, but those were unfounded, as those two have fallen comfortably into contributor roles.

 

[TheIrishHammer]

Ray Rice should be #1. Rutgers undefeated? Are you kidding me? The man is on pace for 2100 yards. Here's an early tip.....wager your next five mortgage payments on Rutgers over Louisville. Not only will they cover, they will win this game outright. #1 scoring defense in the land, and #2 ranked defense overall. Those mofo's are fast to the ball.

 

[Clotho]

Also check out this rationalization by a-hole OSU alum Robert Smith, who doesn't even have Brady in his top 5:

I voted for Quinn early on, but he has not performed like a Heisman winner.

Quinn: 19 total TDs, 1933 total yds, 4 ints, 62.9 completion %
Smith: 21 total TDs, 1841 total yds, 2 ints, 67.9 completion %

They're nearly dead even statistically, with a slight edge to Smith, and that's with Quinn having faced the toughest portion of his schedule already, and Smith not having faced Michigan.

Quinn has been hurt by his offensive line but also has been lucky to pull off the come-from-behind wins.

So his putting up similar numbers to Smith's, despite having a porous o-line, somehow makes him a less impressive candidate? And "lucky" to pull off come from behind wins? What the hell? Was Joe Montana just lucky? Was John Elway lucky? Robert Smith is dumber than a damn rock, and biased, and a jackass.

 

[Clotho]

Ray Rice should be #1. Rutgers undefeated? Are you kidding me? The man is on pace for 2100 yards. Here's an early tip.....wager your next five mortgage payments on Rutgers over Louisville. Not only will they cover, they will win this game outright. #1 scoring defense in the land, and #2 ranked defense overall. Those mofo's are fast to the ball.

If Rutgers was undefeated cause of their offense, you'd have a point. Their D is why they're unbeaten, and frankly, whether or not they can compete with a Louisville or a WVU is still to be seen. Their "statement games" to this point have been Navy and Pitt.

 

[tedwick]

I think Ray Rice is going to get stuck being the "Larry Johnson" to Brady Quinn and Troy Smith's "Carson Palmer" and "Brad Banks" (it's yet to be seen which quarterback is which). Statistically amazing season, but was a one-season wonder, and couldn't build up enough hype until the very end of the season. Ray Rice is on pace for 1900, he'll get to 1500 no problem and just build from there, but his stats won't be enough.

 

[TheIrishHammer]

If Rutgers was undefeated cause of their offense, you'd have a point. Their D is why they're unbeaten, and frankly, whether or not they can compete with a Louisville or a WVU is still to be seen. Their "statement games" to this point have been Navy and Pitt.

Hell, whether any team can compete with a future opponent is still to be seen. I suppose you'll have to trust me on this one. The kid is a freak.

 

[Clotho]

No, he's perfectly legit, but they don't hand out Heismans on merit, or it would always go to a top 5 draft pick, or the best player statistically- usually it doesn't go to either, but to the most notable player on the best team.

 

[TheIrishHammer]

I think Ray Rice is going to get stuck being the "Larry Johnson" to Brady Quinn and Troy Smith's "Carson Palmer" and "Brad Banks" (it's yet to be seen which quarterback is which). Statistically amazing season, but was a one-season wonder, and couldn't build up enough hype until the very end of the season. Ray Rice is on pace for 1900, he'll get to 1500 no problem and just build from there, but his stats won't be enough.

Agreed except about the one-season wonder since he had over a 1,000 yards as a freshman. However, if Rutgers pulls off the unthinkable, and goes undefeated, Rice has to get some major attention. Afterall, this IS Rutgers we're talking about.

 

[Clotho]

Even if Rutgers beats the odds and goes unbeaten through the Big East (actually a possibility), they'd get smoked in their BCS game, same as WVU or Louisville. The Heisman vote takes place before the championship, but you have to consider the competition, and I think voters will. Garrett Wolfe in his career has run miles on the OSU and Michigan defenses. Rice doesn't have that on his resume, to the best of my knowledge. He's playing in a bad conference and his program doesn't schedule huge OOC games, because they're rebuilding and trying to build confidence.

 

[luckofirish8]

IMO, Troy Smith will win/lose the Heisman in the UM game. If he plays well, he wins. If he doesn't play well and Brady does against USC in LA than who knows.

 

[TheIrishHammer]

Even if Rutgers beats the odds and goes unbeaten through the Big East (actually a possibility), they'd get smoked in their BCS game, same as WVU or Louisville. The Heisman vote takes place before the championship, but you have to consider the competition, and I think voters will. Garrett Wolfe in his career has run miles on the OSU and Michigan defenses. Rice doesn't have that on his resume, to the best of my knowledge. He's playing in a bad conference and his program doesn't schedule huge OOC games, because they're rebuilding and trying to build confidence.

Perhaps, which is why they put ND on their schedule starting in 2010. I understand Florida is negotiating with them and I believe the other team is Michigan, but I could be wrong on that one.

 

[tommy]

if its close i think brady gets snubbed . its sad how nd gets treated .

 

[tedwick]

if it's close, brady's going to get snubbed because he had a terrible game against michigan, not because of any percieved bias. Really. If an ND quarterback is anywhere close to being the best player in the country, he's going to get the Heisman. there isn't a media bias against the irish. if anything, there's a media bias for the irish. the stories about the golden boy ND quarterback, going through the tough times of Willingham and having a resurgence under weis and turning the '06 season around just write themselves.

i'm really tired about hearing how ND gets shafted. i can understand about the gripe when nd falls following wins 3 times this year, but i don't understand the rest of the "the whole world hates us" thinking. does anybody remember the media slobbering all over ND before the season? the media DOES NOT HATE ND.

that is all.

 

[NDgettysburg]

i'm really tired about hearing how ND gets shafted. i can understand about the gripe when nd falls following wins 3 times this year, but i don't understand the rest of the "the whole world hates us" thinking. does anybody remember the media slobbering all over ND before the season? the media DOES NOT HATE ND.

What annoys me about the media is that they can't mention ND and a bowl game without making the payout the feature of the story. It's the first or second sentence every damn time. With no other school do they mention money. You want to mention the payday, fine...go on to show some examples of what the money was used for the previous season. Then COMPARE it to other schools who had to split the take with their beloved conference.

For instance....this dimwit at ESPN, Mark Schlabach:

Which comeback meant the most?

1. Notre Dame -- When quarterback Brady Quinn threw a 45-yard touchdown to Jeff Samardzija with 27 seconds left, the Fighting Irish saved themselves about $3.5 million. That is the difference between the $4.5 million they'll receive for playing in a BCS bowl game and the $1 million they'll get if they're not in a BCS bowl.

no, don't focus on the prestige of staying alive for a BCS game or what it might mean to the players and fans...the ONLY reason this comeback meant the most was THE MONEY. Not a SINGLE mention of money in the remainder of the article. What a jagoff.

 

[tedwick]

the dumb thing about that reference is that, now, ND gets pretty much the standard Big East bowl revenue sharing agreement. The big deal about it last year was, because ND didn't enter into that dumbass deal with the Big East yet, the payout was something like $16 million. The guy is reiterating last years story, just find-and-replace-ing stanford with every team ND will play and changing the numbers. This year, however, it's not a story.

 

[jiggafini19]

1. Troy Smith
2. Brady Quinn
3. Mike Hart
4. Steve Slaton
5. Ray Rice

 

[Guest]

Hart's good, but I think he really benefits from having a very good oline, and a very good overall offense. I'd probably put Slaton ahead of Hart, I'm not sure if he's better or not because of the competition he plays, but the media types would look at his incredible numbers.

I wonder what will happen if Smith has an awful game against Michigan, and Quinn has a bad game against USC, I guess that would open the door for one of the Big East players, but the media seems too hesitant to give those guys any credit. This is a strange year for the heisman IMO, no one really stands out to me.

 

[chadder20]

Whoa cowboys

Whoa cowboys

If you look at total performance, not just stats, BQ has been outplayed by almost every QB Notre Dame has faced. In the MSU game, BQ had the ugliest 300 yard 5 TD game I have ever seen. I was so shocked to see the final stats because I was swearing up and down and so pissed off at BQ the whole game. The entire first half he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn from 2 yards away. ND was in the position of being down so much because of BQ and his horrible passing. Same thing in the Michigan, UCLA, & GT game. Being an honest ND fan, I would not have BQ in my Top 5 either. I will even go as far as to say BQ has moved way down on the draft list of many teams. If he cannot handle a weak O line in college, what is he going to do with a NFL defense with a weak line when he gets drafted to a bad team? Picture BQ on the Lions or the Raiders with the Bears D coming at him? Come on and be honest ND..... Actually, Wake up America! (say that with the old Earl Pitts way!) I hate putting down a player because they are the ones out there, but there is no way BQ should be in the talk of the best player in college football.

 

[Irish Envy]

If you put Quinn on Ohio State, they'd be a much better team IMO. Smith is blessed by playing with superior talent.

 

[jiggafini19]

Brady Quinn is the guy holding this mess together. Without him, this football team is 3-4 right now. They don't beat GaTech, MSU and UCLA without him.

 

[IrishfaninLA]

Brady Quinn is the guy holding this mess together. Without him, this football team is 3-4 right now. They don't beat GaTech, MSU and UCLA without him.

You are 100% right. Without Quin ND is at best 3 wins.

 

[jerseyborn1971]

If you look at total performance, not just stats, BQ has been outplayed by almost every QB Notre Dame has faced. In the MSU game, BQ had the ugliest 300 yard 5 TD game I have ever seen. I was so shocked to see the final stats because I was swearing up and down and so pissed off at BQ the whole game. The entire first half he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn from 2 yards away. ND was in the position of being down so much because of BQ and his horrible passing. Same thing in the Michigan, UCLA, & GT game. Being an honest ND fan, I would not have BQ in my Top 5 either. I will even go as far as to say BQ has moved way down on the draft list of many teams. If he cannot handle a weak O line in college, what is he going to do with a NFL defense with a weak line when he gets drafted to a bad team? Picture BQ on the Lions or the Raiders with the Bears D coming at him? Come on and be honest ND..... Actually, Wake up America! (say that with the old Earl Pitts way!) I hate putting down a player because they are the ones out there, but there is no way BQ should be in the talk of the best player in college football.

Yeah, since when do stats and wins & losses mean anything? It's the subjective opinions of amateurs that really matters.

 

[grantland]

No Calvin Johnson on any list?

 

[marv81s]

Clemson game really set him back in the race, i would guess he is 4 or 5, more likely sitting at the 5th spot. He doesn't have the QB that can get the ball to him.

 

[grantland]

Clemson game really set him back in the race, i would guess he is 4 or 5, more likely sitting at the 5th spot. He doesn't have the QB that can get the ball to him.

I agree but the ESPN list has 15 players on it and no Calvin Johnson?

By the way, how friggin' good did CJ Spiller look?

 

[luckofirish8]

Brady Quinn is the guy holding this mess together. Without him, this football team is 3-4 right now. They don't beat GaTech, MSU and UCLA without him.

So your saying that next year could be a long year? J/K. I do however think that you are correct in this statement.

Everyone don't freak out we have plenty of time to improve before next season!

 

[domerfor life]

Clemson game really set him back in the race, i would guess he is 4 or 5, more likely sitting at the 5th spot. He doesn't have the QB that can get the ball to him.

Calvin Johnson suffers from the Reggie Ball syndrome. Ball is an extremely mediocre quarterback. He was horrible Saturday. He threw so many bad passes Saturday. He either threw off his back foot or fading away from the receivers. There were only a few times where he actually stepped into the throw. He was scared. He sucks and that's why Johnson will not win any awards even though he is "the best" WR in the country. He'll make millions though.

 

[jiggafini19]

Next year, Notre Dame will probably have more offensive line talent than it does now.

This crop of freshmen is very very good. They will have their growing pained moments, but they will be quite stable.

 

[LuckoftheIrish86]

As Mentioned Previous The Heisman race boils down to this...Smith Vs. Quinn
OSU loses to UM
ND beats USC
Quinn Wins.

OSU Wins regardless of Smith's play and the outcome of the ND/USC game, Smith will win the Heisman.

The skunkbears must beat the Buckeyes for Quinn to have a chance.