A MAN NAMED SUH

I was a little buried in it this weekend with the NHL and NBA playoffs getting under way and MLB hitting it's stride and I missed something that I would like to share with you now. On Saturday, Bulldog in Exile posted a link to a wonderful story about former Nebraska Cornhusker standout and soon to be NFL first round draft pick Ndamukong Suh. Suh plans to donate $2 million dollars to the University of Nebraska Athletic Department and and an additional $600,000 to the UNL College of Engineering to endow a scholarship. Suh simply wanted to give back to the school and University family that has given him so much saying...

"I had a fantastic football career at Nebraska and thanks to my coaches and support staff, I have learned the value of hard work, teamwork and life skills. These skills will help me tremendously as I prepare for my career in the NFL." Suh also added "This incredible facility helped me earn all the honors I was so privileged to receive this past season, and I believe this gift can help make this facility the very best in the country. This is my way to honor my teammates, coaches and fans by giving back to a program and a university that has given so much to me."

You can read the official release HERE.

I declared Suh a BEAST after his performance in the Big 12 Championship game against Texas, but he was dominant throughout the season singing his praises HERE and HERE. This young man is pure class, not to mention being one hell of a football player. If I had a first round pick in this week's NFL draft, I can guarantee that I would take Ndamukong Suh.

Best of luck young man.

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