by HD HandshoeFounder—Block-O-Nation
Can someone please tell me how Tim Tebow is a legitimate Heisman contender?I could care less that his team is 9-0, or that his team is ranked No. 1, or that he's the best player on his team.
The only explanation is the ESPN lovefest with Tebow, and the SEC in general.
Three billion dollar TV contract deals with the SEC aside, ESPN has got to stop pushing the Tebow Heisman campaign nonsense. He is not even top three, yet ESPN is constantly hyping him as the Heisman front-runner.
Yes Tebow IS a great player, but Heisman worthy this year?
No, he's far from it, and as my title suggests, if he's a top contender, then so is Terrelle Pryor, and here's why.
Florida's schedule is easily one of the weakest schedules in the country, especially out of conference, but within the SEC as well. It's not the popular thing to say, but the SEC is overrated once you get past Florida, Alabama, and LSU.
Even with all these middle of the road opponents, Tebow's stats are far from impressive, and therein lies my problem with the whole Tebow for Heisman bologna.
Let's compare the numbers, shall we?
Tim Tebow
1531 passing yards, 65.9 completion percent, 11 touchdowns, four interceptions, 578 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns, 156.6 quarterback rating.
Terrelle Pryor
1668 passing yards, 54.0 completion percent, 15 touchdowns, nine interceptions, 604 rushing yards, 5.3 ypc, seven rushing touchdowns, 130.6 quarterback rating.
Before you say anything, yes, some Buckeye fans (myself included) entertained the idea in the preseason that Terrelle Pryor might be a potential Heisman candidate, but we have come back to reality. TP is NOT a Heisman contender this season, nor should he be.
That's not a knock on Pryor. He's had a pretty good year, but the bottom line here is that there are others more note-worthy, so we'll wait for next year when Pryor will very likely be in the running.
Is it really too much to expect the preseason Heisman hype and ESPN propaganda machine for Tebow to simmer down now that we see his production this year is not even as good as Pryor's, let alone deserving candidates like Houston's Case Keenum, Alabama's Mark Ingram, or Texas's Colt McCoy?
Florida is a very good team, perhaps even great, and they could absolutely win another BCS title this year—but the Heisman is an individual award meant for college football's most outstanding player.
So let's not let team accomplishments or BCS rankings cloud our judgment in awarding the 2009 Heisman Trophy to the most meritorious player.
I hope you're listening Heisman voters!
UPDATE
I was trying to make my point by comparing Tebow to a QB not in the Heisman race that has better stats, but I can also do it this way to make the point stick even more since some people are just not getting it:
Tim Tebow
1,531 passing yards, 65.9 completion percent, 11 touchdowns, four interceptions, 578 rushing yards, 3.7 yards-per-carry, nine rushing touchdowns, 156.6 quarterback rating.
Case Keenum
3.815 passing yards, 71.0 completion percent, 28 touchdowns, five interceptions, 95 rushing yards, 2.3 yards-per-carry, three rushing touchdowns, 158.9 quarterback rating.
Now if anyone can seriously look at that comparison, and still believe that Tebow is a Heisman contender more-so than Keenum, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you may not have a brain...
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ReplyDeleteI'm not disagreeing with you here, but I believe McCoy (if Texas continues to win, and he continues to be a major part of it) will win the Heisman this season. Good article though, and you are right about ABC/ESPN and their love fest for the SEC and Tebow. It gets disgusting listening to and watching it all the time.
As far as your SOS argument goes, I agree that Florida's SOS OOC is horrible, and in-conference SOS is inflated to a certain extent but one could also argue Houston's SOS as well. To be quite honest, Texas's SOS isn't that great either.
When you get a chance, compare OOC schedules (Div1AA and non-BCS conference opponents vs. BCS conference opponents) for the "Big 6" conferences since the BCS started, and that should shed some light as to why so many Big 12 and SEC teams have been represented in the polls and in the BCS championship games. The excuse I hear a lot that the in-conference schedule makes up for it is no longer flying for me. Cheers.
How about this for a comparison. I know CMU plays in the MAC, but they did beat MSU this year...
ReplyDeleteTim Tebow
1,531 passing yards, 65.9 completion percent, 11 touchdowns, four interceptions, 578 rushing yards, 3.7 yards-per-carry, nine rushing touchdowns, 156.6 quarterback rating.
Dan LeFevor, QB Central Michigan
2,189 passing yards, 70.0 completion percent, 18 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 567 rushing yards, 4.1 yards-per-carry, 13 rushing touchdowns, 149.6 quarterback rating.
The problem for LeFevor is he plays in the MAC, but even more so is the fact that CMU hasn't beaten anyone and they are not ranked.
ReplyDeleteHouston is in the top 12, and has 3 wins over teams from BCS conferences and Houston QB Case Keenum outperformed Colt McCoy against Okie State and Texas Tech, and also outperformed Tim Tebow vs Mississippi State, so Keenum has a shot, LeFevor doesn't.
LeFevor is a solid QB though, I agree with that!