HEISMAN: Troy's Myth

Twoback, you don't think I would actually have a voice here not having seen these guys play, do you?

I loved watching Smith at Texas, at which point he looked like a guy who merited the hype. He didn't look like the same quarterback when I watched the Penn State and Illinois games. He rushed things. He made poor decisions. He didn't do much to help his team win. They won in spite of the offense.

Junkie, I'm well aware Smith has run in the past, but the past doesn't translate into the Heisman, which rewards the best single season from the current season -- not 2005, not 2004, this season. Those stats you rattled off are meaningless in this discussion.

As for Quinn, yeah, Smith is no question the better runner there. But why do you have to run to be a Heisman quarterback? Was Leinart a great runner? Was Carson Palmer? Was Jason White, Chris Weinke or Danny Wuerffel? What does it matter if he's still a good quarterback?

Bottom line, Smith is the quarterback on the best team in America (at the moment). Does that mean he merits the Heisman? In the NFL, they hand out MVPs. Last I checked, Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and Trent Dilfer didn't have MVP awards to their name, so I know it's possible for the nation's best player in a sport not to come from the best team in the country.

And actually, come to think of it, maybe that's why I haven't been sold on Smith this season. He compares closer to Roethlisberger, Brady and Dilfer -- the college version, of course -- in their Super Bowl seasons than he does Michael Vick, circa 1999. He manages and win games. Nothing wrong with that, that's what quarterbacks are supposed to do. I just don't know whether that means he's the best player in the country, like Heisman voters once deemed Gino Torretta to be under very similar circumstances.

 

There are, of course, lies, damned lies and statistics.

Notre Dame fans can roll out all of the numerical parlor tricks they want, but you would think that they would understand that the Heisman will come down to each candidate's final game.

Oh - "Troy's Myth" is about 14 points ahead of Quinn in passer efficiency. Didn't see that stat here at ND Nation.com Annex.

 

Darren McFadden is the best college football player in America. He won't win the Heisman, but he should. If you watched him against Tennessee Saturday or the Gamcocks two weeks ago, you should understand why. The guy's amazing.

 

Thanks for bringing him up. As stated on another thread, I'm very impressed with Arkansas, and McFadden might be the best player I've seen this year.

 

If it's about the best college football player, I'm not sure Smith wins it. He's probably not the best player on that team.

Oh, but wait. How could I forget, Smith quarterbacks for the best offense in college football history.

 

Actually, this is where I think Saturday could be telling (sarcasm in above post noted )

If Smith does it against this Michigan defense, if he leads the Buckeyes to 25-30 points (which I think he has next to no chance of doing), then you might have to look at him with renewed respect.

As far as the running factor goes, maybe his stats aren't that impressive. But it absolutely amazed me that Jimmy Olson could go through four posts without MENTIONING the running part of the game. Just as a Heisman quarterback doesn't have to be a runner, he just as assuredly doesn't have to be a pocket passer, either. Seems to me Smith gives you the best of both worlds. And you CERTAINLY can't compare these two guys just by spitting out passing lines.

Question: If it's between Quinn and Smith, which one has come closer to giving the award away this year?

 

Local and regional media might hate ND, but national media just l-o-v-e-s the Fucking Irish

 

There are about 5-6 quarterbacks a year that can do all that. The Buckeyes would probably still be 11-0 with Zwick as the QB.

 

Ummmm yesss.

 

Respectfully but wholeheartedly disagree. Boeckman, maybe. But Zwick is awful.

 

Here is a link to the bastion of paranoia where Jimmy Olsen and his ilk gather:

http://www.ndnation.com/boards/showpost.php?b=football;pid=250693;d=this