The Ole College Try

Welcome to the return of the almost weekly perspective of college football. For those that don't remember, I write this column as if every player is a Heisman Trophy candidate. Why? Because it is ridiculously ludicrous that the networks, including the World Wide Leader, nay, especially the World Wide Leader, emphasize the Heisman Trophy race this early in the season. After all, who knew who Jameis Winston was at this time last year.  Consider this my sarcastic homage to stupid reporting.

Heisman Watch

Quarterback Edition

Favorite - Marcus Mariota - Oregon - Has 806 yards passing with 8 TDs, plus an additional 3 rushing touchdowns.  Would likely have had more if game one was not such a blowout for the Ducks.  Most impressive was his 318 yard 3TD game against Michigan State.

Clint Trickett - West Virginia - First he comes out before the Alabama game and admits that he first kiss was Nick Saban's daughter, and then they almost win the game.  This past week he throws for 511 yards and 4 TDs against Maryland, in a performance in which he was almost unstoppable.

Rising - Kenny Hill - Texas A and M - He is trying his best to make the Aggies' fans and supporters forget Johnny Manziel.

Dark Horse - Brandon Doughty - Western Kentucky - Already 1,459 yards and 12 TDs, with only 2 interceptions.

Falling - Braxton Miller - Ohio State University - Injuries will get you every time.

Running Back Edition

Favorite - Todd Gurley -Georgia - 329 yards rushing in his first two games, including an impressive 198 against Clemson, a game in which he also returned a kick 100 yards for a touchdown.  131 yards in the loss to South Carolina.  To date he has not had more than 20 carries in a game.

Rising - D.J. Foster - Arizona State - 510 yards on only 54 carries, means that Foster is someone to watch in the PAC-12 this year.

Sleeper - Jacobi Owens - Air Force Academy - 431 yards rushing, for the Air Force Academy.  Plus, one of the academy players needs some love besides Navy Quarterback Keenan Reynolds.

Wide Receiver Edition

Amari Cooper - Alabama - 33 receptions, 454 yards, and easily the best wide receiver in the country.

KD Cannon - Baylor - The freshman has only 14 catches, but leads the NCAA with 471 yards and 5 of his 14 catches have been for touchdowns..

Nelson Spruce - Colorado - Has an NCAA leading 6 touchdown receptions.

Defensive Edition

3. Myles Garrent - DL - Texas A and M - The freshman has only 14 tackles so far, but 5 1/2 sacks, including at least 1 sack in each game!  Now that's production.

2.  Amarlo Herrera - LB - Georgia - So far, the leading tackler in the SEC.

1.  Nobody has really stepped up and separated themselves yet.  They will!.

Player to Watch

Maty Mauk - QB - Missouri - Missouri lost a lot of players off its SEC East championship team, but with Mauk, Missouri has a fighting chance to return to the SEC Championship game.

My New Favorite Player

Thurston Armbrister - LB - Miami - Playing next to Denzell Perryman Armbrister is quietly having a fantastic season to date, but that is not why he is here.  Armbrister is my new favorite player because when Arkansas State tried to fake punt, one of their receivers fell down like he was dead, even folding his arms before the fall.  The fake punt was intercepted, and the receiver, not knowing what was going on, got up, at which point in time Armbrister laid a hellacious block on the receiver. Serves him right for trying to be clever.

Players of the Week

This section will be more week specific as the season goes forward, but for the first week, it is hard to differentiate the players of the week from the players of the season, as the season has only lasted 1 week.

5.  Bo Wallace - Mississippi - The elder statesman among SEC quarterbacks threw for 316 yards and 4 touchdowns.

4.  Amari Cooper - Alabama - He had 8 receptions for 135 yards, and was virtually unguardable the entire game.

3.  Bryce Petty - Baylor - He threw for 416 yards and 4 TDs, along with 0 interceptions for the explosive Baylor offense.

2.  Tyler Murphy - Boston College - The quarterback ran for 191 yards in the Eagles upset of USC.

1.  Clint Trickett - West Virginia - See above.

Goat of the Week (Player Edition)

Kelvin Rainey - PR - Louisville - What looked to be shaping up to be a really nice season for Louisville, considering they lost Teddy Bridgewater and many others to graduation, now looks like it is going to be average at best.  Rainey's fumble at his own 25 lead to Virginia's game winning field goal.

Goat of the Week (Coach Edition)

Mark Richt - Georgia - How Todd Gurley only gets 20 carries is absolutely astounding.  I understand not wanting to wear him out, but the reason  you rest players during the season is so they are fresh for these close conference, nay divisional, games.

Predicted Playoffs/Championship Match Ups

Oregon (1) v. Baylor (4)/Alabama (3) v. Florida State (2)
Oregon (1) v. Florida State (2)
To be honest - I am not confident in any of these, as I can easily see any or all of these four teams stumbling.

Rant(s) of the Week
No real rant at this point - BECAUSE COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS BACK.

Under Performance of the Week

USC - Still on some scholarship probation, which hurts depth, but for a team some picked as the dark horse to win Los Angeles, and some even thought they had enough talent to compete for the PAC-12, this weeks stinker against Boston College is the easiest under performance of the week.

Last Week's Trivia Answer

N/A this week.

Trivia Question of the Week

Since I have mentioned Clint Trickett twice already in this blog, I will bring him up again.  He threw for 511 yards in the match up against Maryland.  Which West Virginia QB holds the record for most passing yards in a game, and which Mountaineer Quarterback holds the record for career passing efficiency?  This could be the same QB for both, or could be 2 different quarterbacks.  No cheating ...

Match up(s) to Watch

4.  Oklahoma v. West Virginia - Two throw first quarterbacks, especially with Oklahoma's starting running back injured.  More importantly for this game is watch the stands.  Should be some very good scenery from both schools there.

3. Auburn v. Kansas State - A Thursday night game on the road in Manhattan, which is a pretty tough place to play.  Should provide a really good test for the Tigers/Plainsmen/War Eagles.

2. Miami v. Nebraska - Miami's second big road test, but its first big game since opening on the road at Louisville.  Has true freshman quarterback Brad Kaaya truly developed in the last month as much as Miami's coaches say he has?  We shall see.

1. Clemson v. Florida State - Clemson is not the team they were last year after losing Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins, but neither is Florida State.  This game just became more interesting with Heisman Trophy winning Quarterback Jameis Winston suspended for the first half of the game.