Thursday, December 31, 2009

DAWGBEASTS **BOWL EDITION**



INDEPENDENCE BOWL
TEXAS A&M vs. GEORGIA

WooHoo, Reader! The final game of the DAWGS 2009 campaign was a case study in my kind of football. I think it’s safe to say that all of us would have rather seen the Georgia offense find their groove a bit earlier, but that was worked out with a few halftime adjustments to our blocking schemes. Beyond that though, this was the way I like to see the game played….stiff defense that forces the offense to beat you and takes advantage of their mistakes (and the DAWGS didn’t cash in on every opportunity to say the least), game-changing special teams play and an offense that imposes it’s will and dictates the flow of the game. This game, this victory, leaves me with a great feeling heading into the off-season and I am looking forward to seeing what happens between now and September 4th against the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns.

DAWGBEASTS

SPECIAL TEAMS UNITS – Nothing seems to turn a game the way a big play on special teams can. Georgia’s special teams units all deserve a gold star for their performances versus Texas A&M. Blair Walsh and Drew Butler did their parts and the coverage was solid, but that in no way completely tells the tale.

GENO ATKINS – Early on, Atkins blocked an Aggies field goal attempt that kept the game scoreless. This turned out to be huge as it gave the DAWGS some fire on the defensive side of the ball and seemingly steeled their resolve to continue to play hard, even with all of the questions surrounding that side of the ball coming into the game. Their teammates would pick them up eventually.

BRANDON BOYKIN – the Georgia sophomore, a repeat offender here at the BEAST, had a 81 yard punt return for touchdown. Boykin set a school record and tied the SEC record with three kickoff returns for a TD in a season in the process. Number two now shares the SEC record with Willie Gault (Tennessee, 1980).


Courtesy Patricia Spaulding/Onlineathens.com

BACARRI RAMBO – Rambo blocked a punt late in the 2nd quarter that led to Georgia’s go-ahead touchdown. I thought Vance Cuff was going to score on the play, but the DAWGS eventually cashed the big play in for seven.

GENO ATKINS – I know the DAWGS senior defensive tackle is mentioned above, but in addition to the blocked field goal, Atkins also finished with three tackles and one sack and earned the game’s MVP (defense). What’s more, every time I looked up it seemed #56 was channeling Nebraska Heisman Trophy finalist Ndamukong Suh as he man-handled any Aggies interior linemen that dared challenge him, driving them into the backfield, stuffing the run and pressuring the quarterback with apparent ease. Atkins’ game clearly passed the eyeball test and his performance in the Independence Bowl epitomized what it means to be a BEAST…totally dominating the game whether his final numbers reflect his impact or not.

CLINT BOLING – Texas A&M’s Von Miller came into the game leading the nation in sacks (17), but Boling absolutely shut down the Aggies playmaker holing him to just four tackles in the game.


Courtesy UGASports.com

RUSS (interim mascot) – Two starts, two wins…and swagger wins at that. A thumping of the in-state Techies and a bowl victory…that’s pretty good stuff.

THE PROGRAM – No, there has not been a national championship for the DAWGS since 1980, but there very easily might have been with a just a bit of luck along the way during a near-miss seasons and there have been division and conference championships. In case you missed it, there has also been a staggering run of consistency in Athens that is unmatched in the rest of the college football world. With the win, Georgia (8-5, 4-4 SEC) leads the country with 13 consecutive seasons with eight or more wins. Not Southern Cal, not Ohio State, not the HATED Gators. Texas and Virginia Tech rank second with 12 each.

MARK RICHT – Even in a season where expectations of the team and the fans fell short, Georgia still managed the aforementioned eight wins and a bowl victory. Under Richt, the DAWGS own a 38-4 record against teams from outside the Southeastern Conference. In bowl games under Richt, Georgia is 7-2. Overall, Richt is 90-27 in his nine seasons. Successfully carrying the banner for the conference and owning consistent bragging rights over our neighbors and friends, heading into the off-season with a full head of steam and averaging 10 wins a year as a head coach…not to mention running a program boasting high graduation rates and consistently turning out fine young men. That, my fellow DAWGS, is about as much of a BEAST as a head coach can be.


Courtesy UGASports.com

Finally…

the SENIORS – You are a bunch of Damn Good Dawgs and we here at the BEAST would like to thank you for all that you have given to the University of Georgia and to each of us as fans over the last few years.

GO DAWGS!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Didn't see this one coming...honest.



Just a heads up on this blog entry Reader, I am firing this one straight from the hip without any of the normal research and long-formed opinion that I usually attempt to offer you.

I never thought that I would really get into the speculation about possible candidates for the Defensive Coordinator position at the University of Georgia here at the BEAST, but that is exactly where I find myself right now.

How does this one strike you….Brent Venables, Oklahoma?

Here is some quick red meat for you:

Brent Venables
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas Brent Venables (born December 18, 1970) is an American college football coach.

Born: December 18, 1970 (age 39)
Annual Salary: $260,000

Playing career:

1989-1990 Garden City CC
1991-1992 Kansas State

Coaching career:

1993-1998 Kansas State (asst.)
1999-present Oklahoma (DC)

He is currently the associate head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the University of Oklahoma Sooners football team. In 2006, he was one of five finalists for the prestigious Broyles Award for the nation's top assistant coach. He coached with Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops at Kansas State University and was brought to Oklahoma by Stoops.

As a player he played at Kansas State under Coach Bill Snyder. He would later become an assistant on Bill Snyder's staff at Kansas State.


My initial thoughts are that Venables is a fiery, detail oriented coach and his defenses have players that attack their individual match-ups. Like it. He is used to the big stage in a BCS conference and competed for and won championships. Really like it. Venables played under and worked for a tremendous teacher and head coach in Snyder during his time at Kansas State and has worked right alongside Stoops (whom I have tremendous respect for even with his Gator ties) at Oklahoma. Absolutely love it. And who wouldn’t give up the twisters of Oklahoma for the rolling hills of Athens, Georgia? To top it off, it looks as though Georgia would be in position to offer Venables a significant pay raise for his services (assuming the number quoted above is accurate) and a nice title to go along with it.

As with any of these possible candidates for the Georgia Defensive Coordinator, this means about as much as an answer you might get from a magic 8 ball. I will say, at first blush I am as excited about this name as any I have heard so far in this very cloudy (from our perspective) process. I would be thrilled with the hiring of Brent Venables at Georgia. Now whether or not this is even a possibility, your guess is as good as mine.

You can peruse Venables' official bio HERE.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

It's all about the G



I really, really, really am so very ready to watch the DAWGS play football again. The Aggies of Texas A&M await the DAWGS in the Independence Bowl and game time cannot get here fast enough for this Georgia fan. Call it a mid-level bowl game if you like, I don’t care.

So much has happened since our last game. It was AWESOME to see us whip the Techies to finish the regular season. Make no mistake…we do run this state…but it has been a tumultuous time since the DAWGS reminded everyone of that fact. Coach Richt has seen fit to make changes on his staff, it has come to light that high school coaches have had to be bouncer and bodyguard to keep the Tennessee temptresses and their boobies off prospective recruits, Saban won = suck, the Gators lost and Timmy cried = fantastic and then it was all blown out of the water by the circus at Florida brought on by the Urban Meyer faux resignation attention grab. It’s exhausting and enthralling all at the same time and like so many car accidents, we just can’t look away. As for Meyer, I really don’t care, but I do tend to agree with the views expressed HERE (be sure to check out the Pat Forde article link too) and HERE. I was actually sad when I heard he may be leaving because I felt we all had been deprived of the inevitable glory that will come when CMR and the DAWGS put another @$$ whipping on the Gators in the very near future. At least now I can look forward to that joyous moment again and I can rest well each night knowing that we are still Georgia and you still are not.

Bottom line, I just wanna see the DAWGS. I am just so tired of hearing about everybody else and their business. I just wanna see my guys play. I love the bowls and I love the DAWGS. Strap ‘em on tight boys and sic ‘em! GATA!!!

Friday, December 25, 2009

A BIG BOWL OF INDEPENDENCE



Hello Reader! We find ourselves still basking in the warm seasonal glow of another Christmas come and gone. Hopefully you have all been able to overcome your holly jolly hangover brought on by a bit too much merriment and one too many trips to the kitchen for just one more yummy something. So now we turn our attention toward the upcoming year and embrace all the hope that it brings. That means several things…winter finally comes to Georgia, the gym dogs go after yet another national championship, Mark Fox and his DAWGS will be finding their way through the SEC schedule on the hard courts, the diamond dogs take the field soon and a new season of DAWGS football too. All of that will be great, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves just yet. Just in case it may have slipped your mind, our DAWGS have still got a bowl game to play in Louisiana on Monday. That’s right…2009 isn’t over just yet.

I’ve heard and read a lot since the bowls were announced about a lack of interest in the DAWGS game and how the Georgia people won’t travel well to Shreveport because we’ve somehow gotten spoiled the last few years with flashy bowl destinations and prime time game slots. In a very self-fulfilling prophecy, the more I have read and seen on television about the sad state of affairs over at the football offices of Butts-Mehre that I have noticed the thick malaise that is strangling the life out of everything that is associated with the red and the black.

Well, I for one refuse to be a part of it. For me, this time of year, it starts with the bowls in general. I have always loved the bowls and I still do. I have memories of watching the Orange, the Cotton, the Sugar, the Citrus, the Gator and the Liberty bowls and loving them all the same. Granted, I could do without all of the sponsorships that have made the bowls open to easy ridicule by some in recent years, but I understand that it is just a sign of the times in which we live and I simply opt to not mention them when I talk about the bowls. I enjoy all the pageantry of the bowls, the weird schedules that they are played on, the unusual locales in which they are played and the widely varied match-ups that they present. I am a fan of the bowls and that has not and will not change. I am excited that Georgia will be playing Texas A&M in the Independence Bowl on Monday and I will be cheering just as hard as I ever have for a DAWGS victory. This game is a fantastic treat that will help our little group bridge the gap from Christmas to the New Year’s Eve and we will celebrate it as we do most everything this time of year. This Georgia team has earned my respect and they deserve my support regardless of where or who they are playing. I cannot be in Shreveport in person because I will be working…that is the nature of this 24 hour business that I am a part of…but that doesn’t mean that my point of view is any less credible than that of any other DAWG fan. My friends and I…true DAWGS every one…will be cheering full throat from the first whistle to the last on Monday because it is who we are and it is what we do.

Soon enough we can turn our sights towards all things football that the new-year brings…national signing day, spring practice, summer workouts and the 2010 season. But for now, I would like use this very modest forum to humbly suggest that you take advantage of the opportunity to cheer on the 2009 edition of your DAWGS one last time because changes are absolutely coming in 2010…for better or worse.

GO DAWGS!!!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

SANTABEAST!? Abso-holly-jolly-lutely.



I absolutely love Christmas. Love everything about it. Of all the wonderful and mysterious symbols associated with Christmas and the season, I have a wonderfully particular affinity for that jolly old elf, Santa Claus. Now that we know where I'm coming from, here's the BEAST of the week...

BEAST - SANTA CLAUS

I have read that about 1/3 of the world's population celebrates the Christmas holiday....that's a little over 2 billion people! Imagine it...making that list (must be a whopper)! Checking it twice (that's gotta mean some late nights)! Keeping track of who's naughty and who's nice (can you imagine the stories?)! And probably the most impressive of all, whizzing around the globe in an open sleigh with THE bling-bling associate leading the way while bringing 2 billion-plus people presents and joy in one 24 hour period...!?!?!?! If that doesn't get you some votes as a BEAST then nothing will. Congratulations Santa Claus (each and every one of you...*wink*), you claim the title of BEAST of the week....SANTABEAST that is.

Seriously READER, we here at the BEAST wanted to take just a minute and wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. We hope the holiday season is healthy and bright and that 2010 brings you all nothing but the very best.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

“See, here’s the thing…” INITIAL THOUGHTS ON BRIAN KELLY TO NOTRE DAME




Let me start by saying I think Brian Kelly is one hell of a football coach, and I fully expect him to be successful at Notre Dame. That’s about all the good I have to say about that. Now that he is at Notre Dame I will be forced to root against him and I will continue to root against the Irish because of their totally b***s*** backdoor into the BCS and their national television network...among other things. So, there that is.

Now that my personal feelings out of the way, that has nothing to do with why I’m banging away at the keyboard this Thursday evening. My problem comes with the inevitably ugly dance that always takes place every time a “hot right now” coach leaves one newly successful program to take over at an old, used to be successful program and the trail of broken promises and cracked realities that are left behind. Listen, I know it’s just business for these head coaches and the schools that hire them away from now longing programs. Personally, I believe that any one of us that has the opportunity to better our personal situation and the situation of our families should do so. However, that does not mean that all is okay. There is always a very real human impact on the players that are left behind. It is absolutely unavoidable, and there is a right way to go about it leaving and there is a wrong (and way too often embraced) way of leaving.

The young men that choose to play for a head coach and program and represent one university over another do so, in large part, because of the fact that they trust the man in charge of leading that program. No building on campus, adoring fan base or professor in a lecture hall sat in their living rooms, ate dinner with their families and promised their mothers, fathers or grandparents that they would take care of them and return them a better man than they received them. Do not kid yourselves into thinking anything different. What could make a bad situation for the jilted worse?? How about if that same head coach that had promised you he would be there for you throughout your journey is now disrespecting you by being misleading and less than truthful on his way out the door for the big bucks? That would do it for me.

Well, it sounds like that is exactly what has happened this time around on the coaching carousel with Kelly leaving Cincinnati for Notre Dame. Just a day or so ago, Cincinnati -wide receiver Mardy Gilyard was quoted as saying Kelly had addressed the team and told them that the Notre Dame job opening was a non-issue because he wasn’t going anywhere. But that was then. Now, not so much….

From @AP_Top25 via Twitter:

Whoa. #Bearcats WR Gilyard unhappy with #Kelly going to #NotreDame, tells AP: '"He went for the money,. I'm fairly disgusted'. Agree?

More from #Bearcats WR Gilyard on #Kelly: 'I feel there was a little lying in the thing. I feel like he'd known this the whole time.' Ouch.

And this from #Bearcats TE Ben Guidugli on #Kelly: 'We weren't giving him a round of applause. It's like somebody turned their back on us.'

If you missed it: #Cincinnati's Brian Kelly wins Home Depot Coach of the Year award about the time he told team he's leaving for #NotreDame.


Again, I get it. I don’t need to hear about Kelly’s side of things. For this piece, it simply doesn’t matter. I am talking about how tough it must be for the guys in that Bearcats locker room tonight and going forward. They’re all big boys and they will get over it. The question is…when? Kelly probably won’t stick around to coach in the Orange Bowl against Florida given his past track record when it comes to coaching moves. So the question becomes, “Will the Bearcats be road kill for a ticked off bunch of Gators all hopped up on their last hit of Tebow juice or will the men from Cincinnati rally together and fight as if their world is ending?” I don’t know, but it sure will be fun to watch and find out.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

I TRUST THIS GUY ABOUT AS MUCH AS ANYONE



As you can tell from my recent blog posts and comment threads, I have no idea who the next DC will be in Athens and the process overwhelms me and I'm not even involved. All I know is I trust Coach Richt to make the right moves here. With that said, when Tony Barnhart speaks SEC football I listen. It seems Kirby Smart might be available...for a price...and I guess if that's the guy you want as a Georgia fan you have to be somewhat hopeful. I was particularly interested in this line from Barnhart:

"Everybody in the college football community agrees that he is ready to move on."


You can find the rest of Tony's quick thoughts HERE.

GO DAWGS!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

ME, KIRBY AND THE GATORS



Kirby Smart was a four year letterman for our DAWGS from 1995-1998. I’m pretty sure you already knew that part. What you probably didn’t know is Smart and I shared our time at Georgia until I graduated from Grady in the spring of 1998. Now while I shared an afternoon bus with Mike Bobo three days a week in 1997, I had no such (meaningless) relationship with a young Kirby. Why does any of this matter? Well, 1997 was a nice year for the Georgia football team. It was Jim Donnan’s best Bulldogs team and Kirby was a major contributor to that squad. What’s more, the DAWGS beat Florida and Steve Spurrier that year 37-17 after entering the game as 20 point underdogs. This is relevant because I was at that game, my first Georgia/Florida experience, and it is justifiably my first, greatest first person memory as a DAWGS fan and Kirby played a big role in the win. Therefore, according to my bourbon influenced connectivity chain, Mr. Smart and I are eternally linked.

In 1997 a group of fellow Georgia fans and I headed south to the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party with more tickets to the game than we knew what to do with and no idea what we were in for. We spent the night before the game partying deep into the night and sleeping on the floor at a friend’s house in Valdosta only to wake early on game day feeling bouncy, bright-eyed and bushy tailed as if we knew it was going to be a great day. As soon as we got to Jacksonville and got parked for some alcohol-based tailgating we ran into some good ole boy strangers from south-Georgia and they readily offered up shot after shot of some libation I remember only as Hot Damn. Needless to say, by the time we wobbled our way to the stadium and found our seats, we were well oiled and wide open.

We cheered and body-surfed and talked trash to every Gator within shouting distance as Bobo threw to Hines and Corey Allen, Robert Edwards ran for touchdown after touchdown and…this is where Kirby comes in…the DAWGS picked three Gator quarterbacks off a total of four times in the game, of which, Kirby had two and should’ve had another. The Georgia defense was great that day coming up with big stop time and again and Mr. Smart played smart and was seemingly always around the action. Kirby would go on to lead the Bulldogs with six interceptions in 1997 and that was while sharing the same field as future NFL Hall-of-Famer Champ Bailey.

This is clearly the memory zenith of football fandom during my college daze and while it may not be the first thing I recall about that day, that game, that glorious victory over the HATED Gators or even that trip, Kirby’s contributions to the win absolutely rank as my favorite memory of the current Alabama defensive coordinator’s time as a DAWG.

That was then. This is now. Who knows? There may be a memory or two that have yet to be crafted by Smart at (for) the University of Georgia, just in a different role. I have no idea, but I will be keeping a keen eye on the goings-on in Athens in the coming days…just in case.

FAITH REWARDED



I have been silent up until now about the recent coaching upheaval on the football staff at the University of Georgia. I’ve kept quiet for several reasons. For one, I’ve tried to be respectful of all the efforts that the departing coaches made during their time at Georgia to make the program one that we could all be proud of. These men were part of a staff that led our DAWGS during arguably the greatest run in the history of the football program and that deserves my respect. However, in the end, I felt a change needed to be made.

You have not read here that I thought any coach should be fired, although I have voiced my opinion about the direction the defense was headed from time to time. I kept quiet because no matter how much I ranted or raved, it was implausible to think that any major changes would be made during the course of the season. I kept quiet because I believed that nothing I or anyone else outside the program could say would have any impact on Coach Mark Richt’s ultimate decision about the direction of his program. As it turns out, I was exactly right on this point as Coach Richt was quoted as saying that the noise surrounding his team this season had absolutely “zero” impact on his decision making process. But most of all I kept quiet because I have absolute faith in Coach Richt, both as a head coach and more importantly as a man, to do the right thing and to make the moves necessary to lead Georgia in the right direction both on and off the field and to take the DAWGS back to the top of the conference.

During the times of the greatest tumult, I had a hard time reading where others were questioning whether or not Coach Richt had the vision and the strength to honestly look at the state of his program and make the appropriate moves to achieve the type of success we all had become accustomed to during his tenure. No one bleeds for the Georgia football program more than its head coach, and at the end of the day Coach Richt made those very difficult moves that needed to be made. That too deserves my respect.

I have sat with Coach Richt in his office and discussed football and life. I have been in the meeting room with the team and I have seen his passion as he talks to recruits and tells them about the Georgia way. So you see, this is why I have faith in Coach Mark Richt. This is why I believe he is absolutely the right man to have leading our beloved DAWGS on the field. This is why I know he is the right person to guide these young men and prepare them for life after football. I am proud of Coach Richt and the program he has built and I am confident in the future of the program. I have faith that Georgia’s head coach will make the appropriate hires in the coming days and that we will all be shouting glory, glory again very soon. My faith has been rewarded at every turn in the past and I expect nothing less going forward.

GO DAWGS!!!

Monday, December 7, 2009

BEASTS: Championship weekend edition




Ndumakong Suh

Suh had one of the great games in Big 12 championship game history, producing a career-best 4.5 sacks (Nebraska had 9 sacks total) among his team-high 12 tackles -- seven of which were for a loss.

You can read more about this dominant performance HERE.

C.J. Spiller

Spiller was absolutely dominant for the Clemson Tigers in the ACC Championship game versus Georgia Tech. Seemingly every time the Tigers needed a play, they would just hand the ball to number 28. No wonder they’re going to retire his jersey as soon as he’s done with it. Spiller finished with 20 carries, 233 yards and 4 TDs. With four touchdowns against the Techies, Spiller set the Clemson record for touchdowns in a single season (20).

Mardy Gilyard


The Cincinnati Bearcats' Gilyard caught five passes for 118 yards and a touchdown, a 68 yard strike from Tony Pike, as the Bearcats rallied from 21 points down for the victory over Pittsburgh to give Cincinnati the outright Big East title. He also racked up 256 kickoff return yards, the most in one game in the FBS this season, including a 99 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

**Honorable mention from this game has to go to Pittsburgh Freshman running back Dion Lewis. The Panthers tailback finished with three touchdowns and 194 yards rushing on 47 carries.

LaMichael James

Oregon’s Redshirt freshman running back ran for 166 yards and three touchdowns Thursday night sending No. 7 Oregon to the Rose Bowl with a 37-33 victory over Oregon State (No. 16 BCS, No. 13 AP) in the Civil War as Pac-10 champions.

Greg McElroy


McElroy threw for 239 yards and a touchdown to claim the MVP award as Alabama owned Florida 32-13 to claim the SEC Championship. The player that was only at Alabama because Tim Tebow opted not to go there handed the Florida quarterback what was quite possibly his most painful defeat as a starter and denied the Gators a shot at their second straight national title and third in four years.

HEISMAN BALLOT



HEISMAN BALLOT

The wording on the ballot reads “The Most Outstanding College Football Player.” It doesn’t say “Most Valuable” or “Most Likely to be an All-Pro” or “Best Player on the Best Team.” Voters often get that confused, or just don’t care. This is the very reason I have grown to have a great deal of animosity towards the process that chooses the award winner each year. In recent years I have even wondered if the award should even be handed out each December. My rationale being that it should not be dictated by school driven campaigns or talking head “expert” spin, but strictly by a player’s performance on the field. Full disclosure, I have had Colt McCoy as my odds on favorite to win the award this year since the preseason and he stayed pretty much on track until his performance in the Big XII Championship game. However, other candidates had already forced their way into my head for consideration before the game and McCoy’s performance the other night just was too much to ignore and my deck has been shuffled.

I believe in “Competitive Greatness” which means that players play at their very best when their very best is what is called for. There is no better example of that than when a player comes through on their team’s biggest stage and this weekend’s championship games provided such a stage and I cannot overlook the performances turned in under the glare of the season’s brightest lights.

My ballot reads as follows:


1. Toby Gerhart

Stanford’s senior running back and American Football Coaches Association All-America Toby Gerhart rushed for a Stanford single-season record 1,736 yards and 26 touchdowns this season.

From Stanford’s official website:

“Gerhart ranks second in the nation in rushing, averaging 144.7 yards per game, and he leads the nation in scoring (13.33) and touchdowns (26). He has rushed for 100 or more yards in 10 of Stanford's 12 games this season, including three games in which he rushed for 200 yards or more.

Gerhart was at his best down the stretch, as he averaged 185.5 yards a game and scored 13 touchdowns over Stanford's last four contests against No. 7 Oregon (223), No. 11 USC (178), California (136) and Notre Dame (205). The Cardinal posted a 3-1 record in those games to finish the regular season with an 8-4 overall record, its most wins in a single-season since the 2001 campaign.”

2. Ndumakong Suh

Ndumakong Suh has been absolutely dominant this season and took full advantage of the big stage the other night in the Big XII Championship game. Time after time I watched as Suh tossed the Texas offensive linemen and Colt McCoy around like they were rag dolls.

Suh started all 13 games for the Huskers and finished with 82 total tackles (50 solo), 23 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, an interception, 10 passes broken up, 24 quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and three blocked kicks.

Between a stat line like that and what I saw on the field all season, I came within a hair of giving the Nebraska defensive lineman my first place vote as the Heisman Trophy winner.

3. C.J. Spiller

C.J. Spiller has been the driving force behind Clemson’s success this season and he has done impacted the game in each of the three phases as a runner, a pass receiver and as a kick returner. Spiller finished 1,145 rushing yards, 445 receiving yards, 210 yards on punt returns and 708 yards on kick-off returns and 20 total touchdowns and averaged 192.9 total yards per game on his way to 2,508 all-purpose yards for the Tigers.

4. Mark Ingram

Alabama’s Mark Ingram has had a fantastic season for the Crimson Tide this year highlighted by his 200+ yard rushing performance against South Carolina. However, Ingram’s back-up Trent Richardson is very productive making the two players virtually interchangeable in the Tide’s offense and that takes a lot of shine off of Ingram’s apple for me. You cannot say that about the players I have listed above Ingram on my ballot.


Rushing gp-gs att gain loss net avg td lg avg/g
Mark Ingram 12-11 221 1447 18 1429 6.5 12 70 119.1

Receiving gp-gs no. yds avg td lg avg/g
Mark Ingram 12-11 28 246 8.8 3 31 20.5