College Football Archives

The Matador’s 2009 Heisman Watch

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 4:09 am  
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Today is your lucky day! The Matador has his Heisman sleeper picks for you so get your money ready.

Now if you don’t recall, last year’s Heisman race was an anomaly in that Tim Tebow actually received the most first place votes, yet finished third in the overall ballot behind McCoy and Bradford respectively. If the voting took place after the BCS Championship game, there is no doubt in my mind Tim Tebow would have won after taking down the mighty Sooners, but unfortunately that’s not how the award is won. So with that in mind, The Matador is ready to unleash his favorites for the 2009 Heisman Trophy.

Below are probably your favorites, but The Matador doesn’t like them and thinks they are bad bets with little to no value:

1) Tim Tebow (QB, Florida) — Tebow is the favorite, but the voters and Archie Griffin don’t want a player to win this award twice. It’s clear that Urban Meyer’s game plan is to make his workhorses drive 80 yards down the field, then run the one yard QB keeper so the maharajah Tebow can get his coveted stats. Percy Harvin’s numbers should have been so much greater last year but the coach drew up all the red zone plays for Tebow. However, in the eyes of the public, Tebow is a saint and therefore he should be favored entering the season.

2) McCoy (QB, Texas) / Bradford (QB, Oklahoma) — These two are toss ups. Both were highly valued during the regular season, but as soon as they played teams with real defenses, their numbers plummeted. The voters will remember this when casting their vote. McCoy did throw for 414 yards in the Fiesta Bowl, but that was off of 58 attempts (abnormally high). With those numbers, he still only managed to throw for 2 TDs and had an INT against a stronger Buckeyes’ defense. In the BCS Championship game, Bradford threw for a paltry 256 yards off of 41 attempts with 2 TDs and 2 INTs. This is not the sign of a Heisman winner. If anything, Florida’s defense, who all return, should have collectively won the Heisman for shutting down the Big 12′s so-called elite offense and the SEC all season long. The Sooners scored an average of 55.8 points against Big 12 teams throughout the 2008 regular season, but only 14 against Florida’s dominating defense.

Instead, here are The Matador’s Top 3 Heisman candidates you may want to invest in:

1. Jahvid Best (RB, Cal) — Best is hands down the best running back in the Pac-10 and maybe in all of college football. He will put up monstrous numbers against some of the terrible Pac-10 defenses. If Cal can win some games and upset USC, this RB will be posing with the Heisman trophy come December.

2. Daryll Clark (QB, Penn State) not Terrelle Pryor (QB, OSU) — Clark will lead the Nittany Lions to its second consecutive Big Ten title. There is so much hype with Pryor and Ohio State winning the Big Ten, but frankly he shouldn’t be on your watch list. Pryor hasn’t individually proven anything and he had terrible games when it counted against Penn State and Texas (in the Fiesta Bowl, Pryor was shut out with no passing TDs and was held to 5 completions for a total of 66 yards). As a true freshman, Pryor played well but not up to the Heisman hype to be on your watch list. Clark, on the other hand, had an amazing debut as PSU’s starting QB, won the Big Ten, and in the Rose Bowl threw for 273 yards, had 2 passing TDs and one rushing TD against what some people said was the best USC defense in school history. I only see improvement with this guy. If he goes 12-0 or 11-1, step aside Tim Tebow so Clark can claim his much deserved trophy.

3. DeMarco Murray (RB, Oklahoma) — Murray is coming off an injury and the Sooners really — let me emphasize this — REALLY missed him in the BCS Championship Game. Murray will be a force to reckon with and will put up another 1000 yards easily this season. If he stays on his feet and out of the hospital, at the end of the season he can rest his sore hamstring on the Heisman trophy.

The dark horses: Jevan Snead (QB, Ole Miss), Zac Robinson (QB, Okla. State), Evan Royster (RB, Penn State), Jonathan Dwyer (RB, Ga. Tech).


If you are wondering why I did not pick any wide receivers, it’s because wide receivers just don’t win the Heisman. The last to do so was Desmond Howard in 1991. Look at the receiving core last year, none of them even came close. Eight out of the last ten Heismans went to QBs and the way the trend is going, that’s not going to change. SO DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. DO NOT PLACE ANY FUTURE ACTION ON ANY WIDE RECEIVER!!!!!

Next Up–The Matador will announce his Conference Championship predictions. First up, the SEC.

College Football Doesn’t Want You To Forget About It During March Madness

Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 4:38 am  
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College football always feels a bit unloved during this time of the year. Everyone’s paying attention to the hardwood and no one seems to remember the joy of football in the fall. Gridiron ambassadors JoPierre Davis and Adrian Clayborn want to remind you that the real action takes place outside.

Davis, a Hawaii cornerback, was slapped with a seven count indictment for sexually harassing a female Hawaii student after breaking in her room last September. Patron saint and best model in Iron City Najeh Davenport says there’s only one reason to break into a lady’s dorm room. That’s to drop a deuce like a Predator drone. Davis followed the break-in by knocking the same girl out on a club dance floor in January “after she slapped him for touching her inappropriately on the dance floor”. He also punched a club worker who tried to break it up.

Clayborn, an Iowa defensive end, was charged with a serious misdemeanor after punching a cabbie who honked at him in January. The incident might have looked a little something like this except the guy outside would have knocked out the guy in the car. Can’t get enough of that video. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz says he’ll allow the law to take its course before he attempts to cover up the incident and pretend it never happened. As Bobby Bowden says, “Boys will be boys! Ain’t that right, Warrick?”

There There, Oklahoma. There There

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 7:14 am  
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“You actually set a record. A record for being an asshole.”

Why You Don’t Want To Room With Charlie Weis

Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 2:16 pm  
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There’s no need to go into Peter King’s description of his weekend in Nashville. You want a review of that? Go to KSK for Big Daddy’s FJM-style breakdown. Unfortunately the stupid didn’t stop after he left town. For once, Lendale White may not have been the dumbest guy in Nashville. We have Pennsyltucky to thank for exporting the stupid down to Nashville this week.

Two football coaches from a Pennsylvania college were injured Tuesday morning after they fell four stories at Gaylord Opryland Resort.

Police said the two men, Scott Coy, 29, and Darren DeMeio, 23, were wrestling shirtless in their boxer shorts when they tumbled out a window from a room in the Delta Atrium section around 4:15 a.m.

“These are really substantial, weather-resistant, double-paned plate glass windows. So (it’s a) very strange, unusual occurrence for someone to literally come crashing through them and down onto the ground below,” said Kim Keelor, Opryland Hotel spokeswoman.

Wrestling? Sure. Whatever you say, guy. I’d like to see how they explained this one away when they landed half naked on the ground covered in sweat and breathing heavily. “You see what had happened was…” Westminister College should be proud.

Coy (who obviously wasn’t playing coy) has a fractured pelvis and femur while DeMeio has a broken vertebrae. If these two assclowns could do this much damage, imagine the collateral damage if Charlie Weis or Mark Mangino were involved. Presidential limo glass couldn’t contain the Bunker Buster. Bodies everywhere on the sidewalk. Medical response teams from Memphis. Just like another day in Gaza. What? Too soon? I am ‘tary.

Michigan Is Michigan Tech. Michigan Tech Is Michigan

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 1:43 pm  
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It just keeps getting better for Michigan and Rich Rodriguez haters. Michigan keeps losing, RichRod is losing his cool, players are making noise about leaving and former players are dissing their alma mater on the record.

Former Michigan star and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard laid the wood to Rodriguez and the Michigan program on a Columbus radio show this past Monday.

Question: In your post-Michigan career, have you ever dreaded a Michigan-Ohio State game more than this one?

Howard: “That would be the popular thinking after watching them lose eight games this season, and the way they’ve lost some of those games. I made a comment (Sunday) on our show that it’s not like they were trying to learn a spread offense (as much as) like they were trying to learn how to play football in some of those games, they looked so bad. This isn’t Michigan, this is like Michigan Tech.

Howard went on to say that he saw their potential for mediocrity before the season started. He also thought their bowl streak would be in jeopardy.

RichRod (or DickRod to West Virginia fans) could lose the fans and his job if things don’t get better next year. However he says Desmond and the rest of the Michigan faithful need to get a life. There are things that are more important in life. He should know since he’s obviously not focused on football. Alabama head coach Nick Saban suggests looking for a new employer and making them buy you out.