Write On Sports LLC - "Strike the Pose" by Andrew Berg

Strike the Pose

2006-11-13 23:23:45 | By: Andrew Berg

I know that Troy Smith is the overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman Trophy as the best player on the best team in the country. As a very good quarterback who has not made any mistakes and has matured into a very good passer. He is even sixth in the country in QB Rating, which looks pretty good next to that number one team ranking and undefeated record. At the same time, every time I watch Smith, I get the impression that he is trying to stay out of the way of an exceptional supporting cast, sacrificing his play-making ability for safe plays- his four interceptions on the season to go with only 8.6 yards per attempt exemplify his excessive caution. I am also bothered by the fact that Smith refuses to find an equilibrium between running and throwing, either breaking down and scrambling after the first option each play, or never leaving the pocket under any circumstances. Moreover, ranking sixth in your best statistical category hardly makes you the best player in the country, which gets to a larger point that has always bothered me about the Heisman.

I want the Heisman to go to the best player in the country, or at least one of the two or three best players. In other sports, the best player usually wins the MVP, unless his team is terrible, then it goes to the best player on a contending team. In college football, there are so many contending teams on so many different levels- big conference or small, national title picture or late season resurgence- that it is hard to decide who should qualify. As a consequence, sportswriters typically do not worry about who is the best player, but who are the best teams, then picking the most dominant player from that very small pool. Today, I would like to look at a few players who I think have clearly had better seasons than Troy Smith, and who are more deserving of the Heisman, but who do not receive award attention due to a lack of exposure, weak competition, or sheer ignorance.

Colt Brennan, QB, Hawaii- In sports, players often receive disproportionate credit for receiving opportunities that are largely out of their control. Think of a so-so slugger in baseball who bats behind a couple of high-OBP guys and gets a reputation as a great RBI man. In football, there is the example of a red zone back who converts unusually many touchdowns, making the highlights, but not necessarily being the best rusher. Brennan is like Travis Hafner, a remarkable player whose circumstance causes him to be overlooked. Many college football fans dismiss Brennan as the product of a pass-happy system, one that got Tommy Chang the career passing yardage record even though he threw loads of interceptions and the team was never very good. However, Brennan has used the opportunity to throw so many passes to become the best passer in the country, outdistancing second place in QB Rating by a huge margin. The difference between Brennan’s 189.0 and second place Tyler Palko’s 173.8 is roughly the same margin as that between second and tenth. More impressively, even though defenses know what is coming with Brennan throwing the fifth most passes in the nation, he is first in the country in completion percentage and yards per attempt. In other words, he throws constantly, throws deep, and completes three out of every four attempts. Defenses simply cannot stop him. The 43-9 TD-INT ratio is quite nice, too, good for 9 TDs better than second place, and he has only been sacked 13 times. Altogether, the performance has been good for an 8-2 record, 6-1 in conference with only San Jose State remaining. The Warriors’ only losses were on the road against Alabama and on Boise’s smurf turf by a combined 15 points. On the flip side, they have scored 60+ in four out of five games, and they are +155 in their last three. Not in yards, but points. If I had a vote, this is where it would go.

Ian Johnson, RB, Boise St.- As long as we are in the WAC, we might as well look back to the contiguous U.S. at the top statistical runner in the country. Even though Johnson may not play again this year after his lung partially collapsed, he has done enough in his team’s first 10 games to warrant mentioning. Besides, his closest competition at the position, Northern Illinois’s Garrett Wolfe has collapsed in the second half of the season, failing to rush for 100 yards in a game in each of his last four starts. Overall, Johnson is second to Wolfe in yards and yards per carry among backs with at least 200 carries. What separates him from the pack is the fact that he has rushed for 21 touchdowns to go with those gaudy yardage totals. Only Texas A&M’s monstrous Jorvorskie Lane is close, with 19 TDs, but only 629 yards. Johnson does not catch many passes since the Broncos don’t throw many, and the risk of reinjury means that he probably will not produce much the rest of the way. Nonetheless, when the best running back in the country plays for an undefeated team with two games remaining, he deserves some serious attention for awards. Garrett Wolfe got some dap after his hot start, but he and his team have faded of late, and only WVU’s Steve Slaton gets any credit among the nation’s best running backs. Johnson deserves to fill that void, and he would do well to represent his wildly underrated team at the Downtown Athletic Club.

Pat White, QB, West Virginia- Even though Slaton is probably a better contender than White, and the loss to Louisville more or less killed off both of their hopes at winning the award, I think it is necessary to mention how good White has been this year. The 7-5 TD-INT ratio will not inspire anyone, and neither will the total of 1142 passing yards. On the other hand, he already has 837 rushing yards, and will push 1K in the last couple of outings. Fifteen rushing touchdowns and a 7.9 YPC average really set him apart from other scrambling quarterbacks. Again, consider the circumstances. Rich Rodriguez asks White to manage games and move the ball on the ground. Rushing for eight yards per carry certainly keeps the offense moving, and improving his completing percentage by 10% over last year to an elite 67% has helped keep the defense at least a little bit honest. He has also bumped his average yards per pass up from 7.3 last year to 9.1 this year, making him a pretty efficient passer, if not a frequent one. So maybe White does not have the same jaw-dropping numbers as Brennan, but 22 total touchdowns and only 5 turnovers (he has not fumbled once) and nearly 2000 total yards make White exactly the type of QB that West Virginia needs to be a contender for the national title. No, White should not win the Heisman over Slaton, nor should he win over Troy Smith, but White is a thoroughly electrifying player who has done more than get the job done for a very good team, and deserves to be recognized as such.

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