Brett Ludwiczak
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You’re Nuts: Which two players should join C.J. Stroud as Heisman Trophy finalists?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
With every team in the country now having played at least half of their regular season games, the Heisman Trophy picture is starting to come into view. One finalist from last year looks like a lock to make the trip back to New York City in December, and it isn’t the player that raised the trophy last year.
Repeating as winner of the prestigious award is almost impossible to do, which is why Archie Griffin is the only player to accomplish the feat. Alabama quarterback Bryce Young has been good this year, but it’s difficult to make a case for Young to repeat, especially with the Crimson Tide coming off a loss to Tennessee on Saturday and Young having missed a game with an injury.
C.J. Stroud has picked up right where he left off last year, heading into this week’s game against Iowa with 24 touchdown passes. The Ohio State quarterback has been able to put up monster numbers this year without favorite target Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was injured early against Notre Dame in the season opener, and has barely been on the field for the Buckeyes since.
Now the fun question the rest of the regular season is going to be who joins Stroud at the Heisman Trophy ceremony? With more undefeated teams starting to go down this season, the field is starting to thin out. Today we are going to each pick two other players around college football that we feel should also be finalists for this year’s Heisman Trophy.
Today’s question: Which two players should join C.J. Stroud as Heisman Trophy finalists?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answers: Hendon Hooker and Chase Brown
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker has been nearly flawless this year, throwing 15 touchdowns and just one interception, while also adding three rushing touchdowns. The Virginia Tech transfer saved his best performance for the biggest game of the season in the biggest game in Knoxville in quite some time. On Saturday, Hooker threw for a season-high 385 yards and five touchdowns in the 52-49 win over Alabama.
With Hooker taking the snaps for then Volunteers, Tennessee is primed for their first 10-win season since 2007. Even though many might say that Hooker already had his “Heisman moment” with the win over Alabama, he’ll get another chance next month to further influence voters when the Volunteers square off with Georgia, with both teams likely to be ranked in the top-three if they stay undefeated.
Hendon Hooker is a favorite to be a Heisman Trophy finalist, but Illinois running back Chase Brown should also be in consideration to at least be invited to the event. Even though many will champion Tennessee as the most improved team in the country, Illinois might be more deserving of the praise. The Fighting Illini are 6-1 so far this season. The last time Illinois won more than six games in a season came back in 2011 when Ron Zook was the head coach.
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Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Chase Brown has been a workhorse for Illinois this year, rushing for at least 100 yards in each of the first seven games. Head coach Bret Bielema has really leaned on Brown of late, calling on the running back to carry the football 31 times in a 9-6 win over Iowa, followed by giving Brown 41 carries in this weekend’s win over Minnesota.
With five regular season games left, Brown is within striking distance of setting the school record for most rushing yards in a season, currently held by Mikel Leshoure, who rushed for 1,697 yards in 2010. If the Fighting Illini are able to win the Big Ten West and earn a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game, there will be a lot more talk about Brown being deserving of a spot in New York City. Even though he has done it quietly, Brown is currently leading the country in rushing.
Meredith’s answers: Bryce Young and... surprise
In what’s fast becoming a dark horse pick, I feel like Bryce Young did himself a lot of favors against Tennessee Saturday. While we were all celebrating the downfall of Bama, Young did everything he needed to do to keep the Tide in a position to win throughout the game in ways that were increasingly frustrating for those of us cheering against Alabama.
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Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images
With Young, he really didn’t wrap up the Heisman until a marvelous performance in the SEC Championship last year. In all likelihood, even with what we saw Saturday, Alabama remains the favorite in the SEC West (despite upcoming trips to Baton Rouge and Oxford) and we might see another such performance from Young in November.
Young completed 67% of his passes for 455 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. He proved slippery against a Tennessee defensive line, which was only able to sack him once, and made plays, especially down to the wire, that kept Alabama alive in what turned out to be a second half shootout. As much as we were cheering against him, we had to admit that he is really good. You know, if already having won a Heisman wasn’t enough of an indicator.
For my second pick, while I’m ecstatic that there are some running backs in the early Heisman mix, I’m frustrated that the watch list continues to penalize receivers who don’t touch the ball every down. So, I’m going to cheat and go with my composite receiver Marv(Ja)lin Hyatt-arrison Jr. This freakish wide out, of course, is the best of Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt.
The pair are Nos. 1 and 2 in the nation in receiving touchdowns with 10 for Hyatt and nine for Harrison. Both are also top-20 in receiving yards per game in the FBS. More importantly, both are just absurd athletes. Harrison has week after week hauled in acrobatic catches that are impossible to defend. Then, Saturday, Hyatt had five (count ‘em, five) touchdowns against Bama from his quarterback, fellow Heisman contender Hendon Hooker.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
With every team in the country now having played at least half of their regular season games, the Heisman Trophy picture is starting to come into view. One finalist from last year looks like a lock to make the trip back to New York City in December, and it isn’t the player that raised the trophy last year.
Repeating as winner of the prestigious award is almost impossible to do, which is why Archie Griffin is the only player to accomplish the feat. Alabama quarterback Bryce Young has been good this year, but it’s difficult to make a case for Young to repeat, especially with the Crimson Tide coming off a loss to Tennessee on Saturday and Young having missed a game with an injury.
C.J. Stroud has picked up right where he left off last year, heading into this week’s game against Iowa with 24 touchdown passes. The Ohio State quarterback has been able to put up monster numbers this year without favorite target Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was injured early against Notre Dame in the season opener, and has barely been on the field for the Buckeyes since.
Now the fun question the rest of the regular season is going to be who joins Stroud at the Heisman Trophy ceremony? With more undefeated teams starting to go down this season, the field is starting to thin out. Today we are going to each pick two other players around college football that we feel should also be finalists for this year’s Heisman Trophy.
Today’s question: Which two players should join C.J. Stroud as Heisman Trophy finalists?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answers: Hendon Hooker and Chase Brown
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker has been nearly flawless this year, throwing 15 touchdowns and just one interception, while also adding three rushing touchdowns. The Virginia Tech transfer saved his best performance for the biggest game of the season in the biggest game in Knoxville in quite some time. On Saturday, Hooker threw for a season-high 385 yards and five touchdowns in the 52-49 win over Alabama.
With Hooker taking the snaps for then Volunteers, Tennessee is primed for their first 10-win season since 2007. Even though many might say that Hooker already had his “Heisman moment” with the win over Alabama, he’ll get another chance next month to further influence voters when the Volunteers square off with Georgia, with both teams likely to be ranked in the top-three if they stay undefeated.
Hendon Hooker is a favorite to be a Heisman Trophy finalist, but Illinois running back Chase Brown should also be in consideration to at least be invited to the event. Even though many will champion Tennessee as the most improved team in the country, Illinois might be more deserving of the praise. The Fighting Illini are 6-1 so far this season. The last time Illinois won more than six games in a season came back in 2011 when Ron Zook was the head coach.
Chase Brown has been a workhorse for Illinois this year, rushing for at least 100 yards in each of the first seven games. Head coach Bret Bielema has really leaned on Brown of late, calling on the running back to carry the football 31 times in a 9-6 win over Iowa, followed by giving Brown 41 carries in this weekend’s win over Minnesota.
With five regular season games left, Brown is within striking distance of setting the school record for most rushing yards in a season, currently held by Mikel Leshoure, who rushed for 1,697 yards in 2010. If the Fighting Illini are able to win the Big Ten West and earn a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game, there will be a lot more talk about Brown being deserving of a spot in New York City. Even though he has done it quietly, Brown is currently leading the country in rushing.
Meredith’s answers: Bryce Young and... surprise
In what’s fast becoming a dark horse pick, I feel like Bryce Young did himself a lot of favors against Tennessee Saturday. While we were all celebrating the downfall of Bama, Young did everything he needed to do to keep the Tide in a position to win throughout the game in ways that were increasingly frustrating for those of us cheering against Alabama.
With Young, he really didn’t wrap up the Heisman until a marvelous performance in the SEC Championship last year. In all likelihood, even with what we saw Saturday, Alabama remains the favorite in the SEC West (despite upcoming trips to Baton Rouge and Oxford) and we might see another such performance from Young in November.
Young completed 67% of his passes for 455 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. He proved slippery against a Tennessee defensive line, which was only able to sack him once, and made plays, especially down to the wire, that kept Alabama alive in what turned out to be a second half shootout. As much as we were cheering against him, we had to admit that he is really good. You know, if already having won a Heisman wasn’t enough of an indicator.
For my second pick, while I’m ecstatic that there are some running backs in the early Heisman mix, I’m frustrated that the watch list continues to penalize receivers who don’t touch the ball every down. So, I’m going to cheat and go with my composite receiver Marv(Ja)lin Hyatt-arrison Jr. This freakish wide out, of course, is the best of Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt.
The pair are Nos. 1 and 2 in the nation in receiving touchdowns with 10 for Hyatt and nine for Harrison. Both are also top-20 in receiving yards per game in the FBS. More importantly, both are just absurd athletes. Harrison has week after week hauled in acrobatic catches that are impossible to defend. Then, Saturday, Hyatt had five (count ‘em, five) touchdowns against Bama from his quarterback, fellow Heisman contender Hendon Hooker.
Continue reading...