We are only a month away from awarding the 74th Heisman Trophy to the "most outstanding college football player" which is usually loose terms for the best player(offensive) with the most hype on the best team at the end of the season. Colt McCoy looked to be the runaway winner a few weeks ago until they got beaten by Texas Tech in Lubbock behind masterful performances from both Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree. Since then the order has been shaken up and knocked around quicker than a Larry Johnson whore target in a bar. So with that being said here is my top 5 candidates going into this weekend's games and what they need to do in order to secure a trip at the very least to New York City for the Heisman banquet dinner.
1. Graham Harrell-Harrell has thrown for 13 touchdowns and 0 interceptions while completing almost 80% of his passes the last three weeks in wins over Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma State. He has the Red Raiders on the brink of being #1 in two weeks if they can beat Oklahoma in Norman. Some can argue he is a product of Mike Leach's system in Lubbock and I would agree with it to a point but you can't argue his ability to come up huge in big games and big moments this year. If he beats Oklahoma and keeps putting up his typical numbers then he will win the award in my opinion. He is currently on pace to throw for 43 TD's and only 6 INT's while completing over 71% of his passes.
2. Michael Crabtree-Harrell might be my #1 Heisman contender right now but I think Crabtree is the best player on his team. I don't have a doubt in my mind that Crabs is the best wide receiver in the country as he was last year and he continues to come up big for the Red Raiders. Harrell grabs the spotlight because he is the quarterback but Crabtree will be the better pro by far and might be the best college receiver since Larry Fitzgerald(whom I thought should have won the Heisman over Jason White). Crabtree is on pace to match last year's touchdown record of 22 TD catches but his receiving yardage will be cut by more than 25% because of defenses double teaming him. He deserves a trip to New York City because he is the best wide receiver in the country.
3. Colt McCoy-The Real McCoy's numbers are staggering. He is completing 78% of his passes. He runs(7 rushing TD's)with the best of the college QB's including Tim Tebow. He is one play away(dropped INT by his safety) from being the clear cut #1 guy right now on what would have been the clear cut #1 team. But fate wasn't on his side or the Longhorns when Gideon let the game winner slip between his fingers. The good news for him and Texas are both could be back to #1 if a couple of things happen between now and his eventual trip to NYC. Texas Tech needs to lose to Oklahoma next Saturday and Alabama needs to lose to Florida in the SEC Championship and then Colt McCoy and Texas are back on top of the college football world.
4. Shonn Greene-Greene is the guy who receives the least attention because...well, he plays in Iowa. But after last week's performance against previously undefeated Penn State he deserves some recognition as the best back in the nation. Greene has run for over a 100 yards in each game this season along with scoring a touchdown in every game with the exception of the Michigan State contest (ran for 157). He is not a real flashy back like a Knowshon Moreno but he gets yards on an offense that features him and against a defense that keys into him every single game. This is a big IF but if only Iowa could have won the 4 games they lost(all by 5 points or less) then the Hawkeyes would be undefeated and everybody in the nation would be talking about Greene as the Heisman frontrunner. In order to secure a trip to NYC he needs to finish strong against Purdue and Minnesota along with leading the Hawkeyes to victories.
5. Sam Bradford-Plain and simple for Bradford to secure a trip to NYC for the Heisman ceremony: BEAT TEXAS TECH. Bradford is putting up Jason White type numbers this year and is on pace to throw for 46 TD's with only 7 INT's. But if he doesn't beat Texas Tech in Norman he will go down as only the third best quarterback in the Big 12 South division. If he beats Texas Tech and Oklahoma State the next two games then the Sooners could slide into the Big 12 Championship game over Texas and right away it would vault him up to the top into Heisman voter's minds.
Just missed the cut: Tim Tebow, Chase Daniel, Knowshon Moreno, Javon Ringer, Kendall Hunter, Jeremy Maclin
Feel free to put down the beer bong and/or Sebastian Janikowski roofie and give me your opinions on the Heisman candidates and who you think should win or whom I should consider if I left somebody off the list.
