Heisman Watch
Quarterback Edition
Favorite - Marcus Mariota - Oregon - The guy has not had the huge statistics of some of the other favorites simply because he has not had to play that much after wins. This week he showed what he could do against the 16th ranked Washington Huskies. 24-31 for 366 yards and 3 TDs, and 88 yards and 1 more TD rushing.
Johnny Manziel - Texas A&M - Still the betting line favorite, and as I stated last year, but as I stated last week, I am keeping him here until I see what he does against LSU game. Plus, 346 yards passing and 124 yards rushing is phenomenal from this week, considering it seemed to be an "off" week against Mississippi.
Tahj Boyd - Clemson - In a possible Heisman elimination game this week against Jameis Winston, but did not suffer a letdown against BC before that; 334 yards and 1 TD and another rushing TD..
Rising - Jameis Winston - FSU - 1,441 yards, 17TDs and only 2 Interceptions on the season, including an absolute pasting of the then 25th ranked Terrapins with 393 yards and 5 TDs. A bye week before his Heisman showdown against Tahj Boyd and Clemson.
Falling (1) - Aaron Murray - Georgia - Because he has literally lost everyone of his weapons. He put in as good a display as he could against Missouri, but even that was not enough.
Falling (2) - Teddy Bridgewater - Louisville - Given the Cardinals schedule, Bridgewater needed to put up huge numbers an win games by a lot of points.He did throw for 310 yards and 2 TDs against Rutgers, but also threw an interception in only a 24-14 win.
Running Back Edition
No change this week in the major runners - why? Nobody played anybody this week. The top 3, are simply the top 3 and that is it. More discussion in those rising/sleepers.
Favorite - Andre Williams - Boston College - Only 70 yards rushing, but kept Boston College in the game against Clemson. 846 yards total.
Bishop Sankey - Washington - 167 yards and 2 TDs against Oregon, for a total of 899 yards rushing on the season. He is the nations second leading rusher, and his name is Bishop. Seriously, the Fish that Saved Pittsburgh is awesome.
Rising - Antonio Andrews - Western Kentucky - His 1036 yards leads the nation by 137 yards. His only non-100 yard rushing game was the first game of the year, in which he rushed for 99 yards.
Sleeper - David Fluellen - Toledo - Had a bye week this week, so he had to move from "Rising" to "Sleeper".
Wide Receiver Edition
Brandin Cooks - Oregon State - Leads the NCAA in receptions with 63 and yards with 944 (next highest is 691), and receiving touchdowns with 11. To say that he is Sean Mannion's favorite target is an understatement.
Mike Evans - Texas A & M; - He only has 32 catches, but for 737 yards (23 ypc). Right now he is the best receiver in the SEC, and is projecting as a Top 10 pick.
Jordan Matthews - Vanderbilt - He has 70 catches for 709 yards, and has only had 1 game under 100 yards this season. He is giving Evans a run for best receiver in the SEC.
Sleeper - Nick O'Leary - Florida State - Only 11 catches for 132 yards - but 5 of those catches have been for TDs. That is a pretty good ratio, especially on a team that has so man offensive weapons.
Rising - Odell Beckham - LSU - 37 catches, 733 yards, and is one of the many weapons at Zach Mettenberger's disposal.
Falling - Jarred Abbrederis - Wisconsin - An injury may keep him from a stellar season, despite 35 catches for 646 yards.
Defensive Edition
3. Tyler Matakevich - LB - Temple - Has 82 total tackles average out to 13.7 tackles per game, but 65 of those tackles are solo tackles. I don't care what team you play for, and what teams you play - that is a ton!
2. Vic Beasley - DL - Clemson - He has 9 sacks, but now we get to see if he gets to Jameis Winston when they play Florida State.
1. Michael Sam - LB - Missouri - I had only heard about how good he was until I saw him play against Georgia. He is the best linebacker that I have seen play this year, with all due respect to CJ Mosley.
Player to Watch
Maty Mauk - QB - Missouri - The Freshman QB from Missouri is on here for one simple reason, his 3-3 against Georgia, and 6 total pass attempts in his career are now the starter for the remainder of the year because James Franklin has been lost for the rest of the season due to injury. Right now Missouri is undefeated at 6-0 and ranked 15th in the country, with consecutive games against Florida and South Carolina. How does Mauk perform?
My New Favorite Player Besides Baker Mayfield - the Walk On Freshman
Bryce Petty- QB - Baylor - Because he is like an orchestra conductor leading this track meet of an offense. Last week against Kansas State Petty was 12-21 for 322 yards. Yes 322 yards on only 12 completions.
Players of the Week
5. Bryce Petty - QB - Baylor - See above.
4. Melvin Gordon - RB - Wisconsin - Rushed for 172 yards and 1 TD against Northwestern, as Wisconsin won handily.
3. Davis Webb - QB - Texas Tech - 35-56 for 45 yards and 3 TDs as Texas Tech defeated Iowa State 42-35.
2. Michael Sam - LB - Missouri - Thoroughly dominated the game against Georgia, leading the way to a 41-26 victory.
1. Marcos Mariota - QB - Oregon - See above.
Goat of the Week (Player Edition)
Blake Bell - QB - Oklahoma - Had a total QBR of 4.2 as the Texas Longhorns thoroughly dominated the Sooners. Plus, I get to show another picture.
Goat of the Week (Coach Edition)
Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops - So, you are sitting at 5-0, ranked 12th, and you play Texas that is absolutely reeling. I know that it is a rivalry game, but 36-20 doesn't even come close to showing how bad Oklahoma was beat in this game.
Predicted BCS Championship Game Match Up
Alabama v. Oregon - More contenders falling out of contention, but Alabama and Oregon still going strong. This week's FSU/Clemson winner will be ready to pounce should the Tide or Ducks lose.
Rant(s) of the Week
Targeting. I am not going to get too in detail, as everything has already basically been said, but if you can review a video to see if a guy should be ejected for targeting and find out that there was no targeting, how do you still enforce the 15 yard penalty?
Interesting Fact of the Week (Even if only to me)
Missouri has forced a turnover in 36 straight games.
Under Performance of the Week
Easy - Oklahoma. And it isn't even close. Georgia might be some people's answer, but they have 147 injuries, and they lost to an undefeated SEC team. Texas - they stink.
Last Week's Trivia Answer
The two FBS conferences with three remaining undefeated teams were, and I stress were, the Pac-12 and ACC. Stanford's loss knocks the Pac-12 out of this neighborhood now.
Trivia Question of the Week
The Georgia-Vanderbilt game can see 3 conference records broken; Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray can break the records for TD Passes and total offense, while Vanderbilt receiver Jordan Matthews can break the record for career receiving yards. Who currently holds those 3 records, and how many TD passes, total yards and receiving yards do Murray and Matthews need to set the record?
Match up(s) to Watch
5. Auburn v. Texas A&M - It is time to see if Auburn is actually a good team, or if they are a pretender. They do have wins against Washington State, Mississippi State and Mississippi, which are all decent teams.
4. Florida v. Missouri - Thanks to Missouri beating Georgia, Florida has a better chance to win the SEC East, if they can beat the Tigers themselves. This is the second of three consecutive tough games for the Gators (LSU, Missouri, South Carolina), that could go a long way to determining if this is a good season or a bust for the Gators. Florida must find some offense to avoid Michael Sam and the Tigers opportunistic defense.
3. UCF v. Louisville - Central Florida's lone loss was a 3 point squeaker to South Carolina. Louisville pulled out a close one against Rutgers last week, and this could be the Cardinals' toughest game yet.. UCF's star running back was recruited by some big schools, and actually signed with Miami before transferring to UCF. Let's see how Charlie Strong's team handles the Knights.
2. UCLA v. Stanford - This should have been a battle of unbeatens, until Stanford's loss last week to Utah. UCLA has Rose Bowl aspirations - or at least Pac-12 championship game. Brett Hundley is one of the hottest players in college football.
1. Florida State v. Clemson - Any questions that this is the game of the week? Winner sits in third position waiting for Alabama and/or Oregon to slip up.
