By Alex Stemkovsky, filling in until Matt Minucci is done celebrating the Yankees winning the World Series. You know it's their 27th. it's getting old.
Now to the task at hand. All these players are crucial to their respective team’s success, they all have great numbers but it’s the intangibles that separate these players from the rest of the pack. Here at Sportvent we want to crunch the numbers and go beyond the statistics to determine who is the best of the best.
Jeremiah Masoli
Jeremiah Masoli – Does it all at a very high level, 1461 passing yards and 17 total TDs, but has two loses on his record. The loss to the BIG brains from Stanford is a big one. Despite the fact that Masoli played well amassing 334 yards in the air and 55 on the ground as well as scoring 4 TDs total the Ducks lost and that weighs a lot with the voters. This loss as significant as it is can not be attributed to the offense and Masoli. Oregon simply forgot to bring their defense to the stadium.
Masoli did all he could against Stanford but the defense gave him no stops thus forcing him to play from behind all game. Out of all the QBs who run the read option, he looks the best doing it, this is a great player.
Colt McCoy
Colt McCoy – Solid, tough and may be undefeated this year but doesn’t have spectacular numbers, 2447 yds, 17 total TDs and 9 INTs. I think McCoy has a tremendous job this year. He and Tebow are the toughest QB I’ve seen this year. McCoy has great numbers although he has 9 pics his completion percentage is so high he can give half of it away and it would still be respectable. Colt has only been below 60% once, 53.8% against Oklahoma.
It was in the Red River Rivalry a.k.a. The Big Deal in Dallas where he really shined. Now you may say, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! The guy had 127 yards, only 1 TD and 1 INT. But that was an all out war. I have not seen a QB get beat up as much as McCoy got beat up in that game and he kept coming back. To use a line from ROCKY II Apollo's trainer said it best, “I saw you beat that man like I never saw no man get beat before, and the man kept coming after you.” And just as Balboa won in Rocky II, McCoy beat Oklahoma. Wins are what matters most and McCoy doesn’t lose often. This should be enough to qualify for an all expense paid trip to New York.
Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow – the undisputed leader of the Gators. He is your clutch go to guy, he does it all. He has the SEC record for most rushing TD, he also has an undefeated record in the SEC. The voters love the SEC, they think it’s the toughest conference. That is debatable, what is not debatable is how good a player Tebow is. Regardless of what I personally think of Tebow as QB he is a tremendous college player. Tebow does not throw often but when he does he is completing 66% of his passes with only 4 INTs.
The reason you invite Tebow to N.Y. is because he refuses to lose. If the Gators are in a third and short Tebow will get the first down, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him not get it, he’s clutch. The guy is effective, if he can’t throw it, he’ll run it. If he can’t do either he’ll get it to someone who can. If you’ve seen Florida this year you know they do not have the same offense as last year but they are still undefeated because #15 will find a way. Breaking Herschel Walker’s TD record doesn’t hurt either.
Jimmy Clausen
Jimmy Clausen – Has some big numbers, 2770 yds. And 20 total TDs, 3 INTs but he lost the big games and now he lost to Navy. Clausen is playing well, the 3 interceptions is fantastic for the number of times he throws in this offense. So far this season Clausen has attempted 308 passes and has 3 pics and he’s playing against some pretty good competition, these are BCS schools we’re talking about. In games against Michigan and USC he has no interceptions, but he doesn’t have a win either and ultimately that’s what the voters consider.
The loss to Navy has most likely taken Clausen out of the running especially considering the rest of Notre Dame’s schedule. The last three games are against Pitt. Uconn and Stanford, The Cardinals just beat Oregon. It’s likely that the Irish will lose all three. Only if N.D. wins all three games will Clausen have a shot at the trophy.
Mark Ingram
Mark Ingram - solid but not spectacular, over 1140 yards rushing and 11 total TDs. Ingram is averaging a whopping 6.6 ypc in the SEC. If you are not familiar with the SEC, let me write that it is a ultra defensive league. That is to say they do not play much offense there with the exception of Florida and Arkansas. Compared to say the PAC 10 that plays some offense from top to bottom.
In the SEC, they play defense from top to bottom, the teams are built to stop the run. This makes Ingram’s average even more impressive. The 246 he ran up against South Carolina is a tremendous effort for up to that game South Carolina was stout against the run and was playing very well defensively. Against LSU Ingram had 144 yards, the numbers speak for themselves.
Ingram can also catch the ball, he has 19 receptions on the season so far. In order to start for Alabama the RB has to pick up the blitz, and Ingram does. This is a complete back. We should see him in New York.
C.J. Spiller
C.J. Spiller - Mr. Can Just Do it all. You just have to look at how this guy shows up for the big games. Against TCU, 112 rushing and 79 receiving, against Miami, 81 rushing and 104 receiving and versus FSU, 165 rushing and 67 receiving. The only knock on Mr. Everything is that he is inconsistent. Against Maryland Spiller had 72 rushing yards and 7 receiving. Against B.C. 77 rushing and 2 receiving and against Georgia Tech 87 rushing and 69 receiving. This is not entirely his fault, there are times he simply is not called upon. It is the times he is called up on that he is special. He single-handedly dismantled the Seminoles' defense.
Toby Gerhart
Toby Gerhart is the reason behind Stanford’s success this season. He, like Ingram of Alabama, is carrying this Stanford team. So far this season Gerhart has 1395 yds and 19 tds, and a 5.3 ypc average. WOW! The total states are better than Ingram’s 1297 and 13 and this is the PAC 10 where Gerhart has faced Arizona, Oregon and USC.
Oh by the way, against Oregon Gerhart had 223 yds and 3 tds. and versus USC, 178 yds and 3 tds. This kid is 6’1” 235 and he is hard to bring down. This is basically a full back putting up the kind of stats half backs put up and he aught to be invited to Manhattan.
