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 Johnny Manziel was at this time last year.  Consider this my sarcastic homage to stupid reporting.

Heisman Watch

Quarterback Edition

Favorite - Teddy Bridgewater - Louisville - The legitimate front runner for this award after last season ended, did not disappoint against Ohio, throwing for  355 yards and 5 TDs, all while showcasing his pinpoint accuracy.

Tahj Boyd - Clemson - Absolutely shined during the game of the week; 270 yards and 3 TDs passing, 2 more TDs rushing - all against the defense that gave Alabama all that it could handle in the SEC Championship game.

Rising - Jameis Winston - Florida State - The number 1 ranked quarterback recruit out of high school showed why in his first start.  The red shirt freshman was 25-27 for 356 and 4 TD, while also running in another score.

Dark Horse - Vernon Adams - Eastern Washington - The sophomore quarterback led the upset over #25 Oregon State by passing for 411 yards and 4 TDs, and rushing for 107 yards and another 2 TDs.

Falling - Football Johnny - Texas A & M - Because some voters will hate his attitude.

Running Back Edition

Favorite - Duke Johnson - Miami - 186 yards rushing with a TD, and another 38 yards on one reception.His big test is this week against a generally stout Florida Gators defense.

Todd Gurley - Georgia - 154 yards and 2 TDs on only 12 carries.

Rising - Mike Davis - South Carolina - 12 carries or 115 yards and a long 75 yard TD run.  Could the Ole Ball Coach be turning into a running team?

Sleeper - Jordan Hall - Ohio State - Yeah, right.  Like since when is an Ohio State running back a sleeper.  Ever since Braxton Miller was given all of the pre-season, hype, that's when.  Hall finished with 159 yards.  Let's see if he can keep that up against real teams.

Wide Receiver Edition

Rashad Greene - FSU - 8 catches for 126 yards, almost all of them in the first half.  Despite playing opposite the more physically gifted Kelvin Benjamin, Greene seems to be Winston's favorite target.  If Winston is close to what he was against Pittsburgh, Rashad Greene will have a huge season.

Jordan Matthews - Vanderbilt - 10 catches for 178 yards and a TD, despite being Vanderbilt's only real offensive weapon.

Jared Abbrederis - Wisconsin - 2 catches for 122 yards and 2 TDs.  Now that is efficiency.

Defensive Edition

3.  Kyle Fuller - CB - Virginia Tech - Fuller looked like he is the real deal, having an interception and making several other fantastic passes defensed in the Hokies loss to Alabama.  Alabama only scored 2 offensive touchdowns.

2.  Anthony Harris - S - Virginia - Very few defensive players had a game like Harris; 11 tackles, 1 sack and an interception.

1.  Khalil Mack - LB - Buffalo - Very few players had a game like Harris, except Buffalo's Mack, who had 9 tackles, 2 1/2 sacks and 1 INT, which he returned for a touchdown.

Player to Watch

Christion Jones - WR/Ret - Alabama - Scored three touchdowns; 1 receiving, 1 punt return and 1 kick-off return, and was the difference maker for Alabama over Virginia Tech.  And, he managed to stand out on an offense that includes A.J. McCarron, T.J. Yeldon and Amari Cooper - among others.

My New Favorite Player

Baker Mayfield - QB - Texas Tech - The walk-on Freshman quarterback - yes, you read that correctly, WALK-ON FRESHMAN, started for the Red Raiders leading them to a 41-23 victory over SMU and finished the game 43-60 for 413 yards and 4 TDs, and ran in another score.  He finished the game 15-18 for 175 yards in the fourth quarter.  I guess he was not overwhelmed by the situation.  He apparently was also telling jokes to the other Tech players in the huddle during the opening drive.  Did I mention that he is a WALK-ON FRESHMAN.  I imagine Kliff Kingsbury will find him a scholarship at some point.

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.  Teddy Bridgewater - Louisville - See above

4.  Christion Jones - Alabama - See above

3.  Jameis Winston - FSU - See above; would have been higher if the game was against somebody other than Pittsburgh.

2.  Khalil Mack - Buffalo - Very impressive performance generally, but even more so considering it occurred against Ohio State.

1.  Vernon Adams - Eastern Washington - A victory of ranked FCS Oregon State will do that for you,

Goat of the Week (Player Edition)

Malcolm Mitchell - WR - Georgia - The Bulldogs leading returning receiver tore his ACL and is out for the season.  His injury occurred while attempting to celebrate a touchdown with a full body bump - a touchdown that he did not even score himself.  He landed awkwardly, and will not play again this season.

Goat of the Week (Coach Edition)

Frank Beamer - Virginia Tech - Beamer is here not so much because of anything specific, but as the head coach that supposedly stresses special teams harder than any other coach, how can he let Alabama run away with the game through two special teams touchdown return.  If not for those scores, Virginia Tech is right in that game with Alabama.  Perhaps it is time that Beamer hired a special teams coordinator, and not try to do everything himself.

Predicted BCS Championship Game Matchup
Alabama v. Ohio State - For those that forget, this is not what I think the game should be, but rather, at this point, what I think the game will be.  Way too early to take this seriously though.

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

Under Performance of the Week

Georgia - Yes they were away; yes they played a quality opponent and yes they did not play particularly bad.  However, for the team that is supposed to be the most likely to knock off Alabama in the SEC, they sure had their national championship aspirations undercut really early in the season.

Last Week's Trivia Answer

N/A this week.

Trivia Question of the Week

None - why?  Because I forgot that I did trivia questions, so I forgot to have a good one for this week.  Hopefully I will remember next week.

Match up(s) to Watch

3. Syracuse v. Northwestern - OK, so I don't really want to watch this football match up, but this is one helluva match up for the school's sports broadcasting departments.

2. South Carolina v. Georgia - Georgia needs this win badly after the Clemson loss, and South Carolina looks to  bury Georgia in the SEC East standings early.  A Georgia win keeps them in the SEC (which means national) championship hunt.  Should be a hard hitting game.

1. Florida v. Miami - In what could be the last game in an intrastate rivalry in a long time, Miami has their best chance against Florida in a long time.  With Duke Johnson, Miami has the best single player on the field.  Can he play against the Gators vaunted defense?  Can Florida find their offensive identity against a defense that struggled much of last year, but looks to be much improved?  Can Stacy Coley hold onto the football?  All important questions to be decided at noon on Game Day.  Oh yeah - and I will be in attendance.  Did I mention that I will be in attendance?  Because I will.

Everybody's All-American

As college football has concluded its 2012 campaign and we are 1 step closer to a playoff to decide the national champion, this seems as if it is the right time to name the Pepster All-Americans.  This is my reflection of the best players from college, and by no means is meant to indicate who will be high draft picks, or as my prognostication as to which players will become good or great professionals.  It is simply who I thought played the best last year.  Although there are more than 11 offensive and defensive players listed, the team is selected to account for the various offenses and defenses used around the country (trip receivers, spread, 3-4, 4-3, etc.). I also choose some backups to account for different styles of players. I chose to explain my picks in some instances, and not in others. Why? Because I feel like it. Now here are the Pepster 2012 All-Americans.


Offense

QB - Johnny Manzell, Texas A & M;  Jordan Lynch, Northern Illinois; Geno Smith, West Virginia- Manzell needs no explanation.  Lynch set the record for most rushing yards by a quarterback and Smith put up ludicrous numbers - which he had to do because his defense was ludicrously awful!

RB - Kenjon Barner, Oregon; Montee Ball, Wisconsin, Stefphon Jefferson, Nevada - If you are asking why Barner and Ball, then you are not a true college football fan.  Stefphon Jefferson because he was second in yards, second in touchdowns scored and first in "he spells his name, How?"  Duke Johnson will be on this list next year - Guaranteed!

WR - Marquise Lee, USC; Stedman Bailey, West Virginia; DeAndre Hopkins, Clemson; Terrance Williams, Baylor - Lee had 118 receptions for 1721 yards; Bailey had 114 receptions for 1622 yards and 25 TDS!!!!  Hopkins had only 82 catches for 1405 yards, but 18 TDs, while Williams had an astounding 1832 yards - on 97 catches - after losing Robert Griffin III.

TE - Zach Ertz, Stanford - and since nobody uses TEs anymore, no Tyler Eifort.

T - Luke Joeckel, Texas A & M; Cyrus Kuandijo, Alabama; D.J. Fluker, Alabama.  Joeckel is by far the best offensive lineman in the country, and well, did you see Alabama's running game?

G - Chance Warmack, Alabama; Cyril Richardson, Baylor - Once again - Alabama's offensive line and as for Richardson, just watch the Kansas State tape, with Lache Seastrunk constantly running up the middle.

C - Barret Jones, Alabama - Seriously, they were that good.

Defense

DE - Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina; Damontre Moore, Texas A & M; Bjoern Werner, FSU - Clowney - just for the bowl game hit.  Yes THE Bowl Game HIT!  Moore because A & M played a lot more than just offense.  Werner is most people's starter, but I thought he just took too many plays off.

DT - Star Lotulelei, Utah; Sharif Floyd - Lotulelei might have been the best player of which you have never heard.  Floyd was a beast that anchored a darn good Florida Gator defense this year (and to appease the Gator fans before they see that I did not include Matt Elam on my team).

OLB - Jarvis Jones, Georgia; Khaseem Greene, Rutgers; C.J. Mosley, Alabama - Jones needs no explanation - but he did lead the country in sacks, and the only reason Greene needs an explanation is because nobody watches Rutgers.  Mosley is phenomenal, and to be honest, the only reason I have Greene ahead of him is that I really like watching Greene play.

ILB - Manti Te'o, Notre Dame; Arthur Brown - Kansas State - Te'o received most of the acclaim and all of the apostrophes, but Arthur Brown can flat play defense as well.

CB - Dee Milliner, Alabama; Johnthan Banks, Mississippi State; Jordan Poyer, Oregon State - Milliner was my MVP of the BCS Championship game, and Banks allowed Mississippi State to play an extra safety in the box against all of the tough SEC offenses.  Poyer had 7 interceptions.

S - Phillip Thomas, Fresno State; Ed Reynolds, Stanford; Eric Reid, LSU - Thomas led the country with 8 interceptions, while Ed Reynolds anchored a tough, tough Cardinal defense.  Eric Reid is included because the LSU defense was way too good to not have someone on the team, and I personally found Barkevious Mingo incredibly disappointing - and I can give lots of examples, if you prefer.

Now for my Matt Elam aside.  I attended 3 Florida games and watched at least a portion of every other game.  While Elam is a talent, (he was a consensus All-American for everyone else and is the highest rated safety in the draft - to date), he often runs himself out of plays, is often out-of-position, over pursues way too much, is way too eager to make the big hit/play rather than make a tackle and takes stupid - and I mean STUPID - penalties, often personal fouls.  I personally saw that in the LSU game there were times where Elam was on the bench in the second half for several plays - and not for an injury or equipment reasons either.  In fact, his signature play, running the receiver down and causing the fumble in the LSU game, only happened because he bit horribly on the play-action fake and was WAY out of position.  I will give him credit for not giving up on the play, though.

Special Teams

K - Cairo Santos, Tulane - 47 - 48 on the year, and that miss was on an extra point.  Plus, my Palm Beach County brethren, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, felt he was the best kicker in awarding him the Lou Groza award.  This was a category that should have, and was, fought over by the 3 Florida kickers, Dustin Hopkins, Caleb Sturgis and Jake Wieclaw, but Santos rose above them all.

P - Kyle Christy, Florida - Although Christy only finished seventh in punting with a 45.8 yard (Ryan Allen of Louisiana Tech had an astounding 48 yard average, Christy affected each and every game with his punts, giving the Gators great field position on subsequent drives after pinning the opponents deep in their own endzone, and the Gators desperately needed the short field with their offense.

R - Marcus Murphy - Missouri - He had a 24.1 yard kickoff return average with 1 touchdown and a 13.9 yard punt return average with 3 touchdowns.  I would love to put Duke Johnson here, but he didn't return any punts  I could divide the return duties, but then I would just be playing favorites.