AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 10 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USTebow won Heisman on Nov. 10 at South Carolina
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three things we learned over the weekend:
1. Tebow won the Heisman with his performance at South Carolina: On Nov. 10 Florida went to South Carolina for a game most thought would be competitive because Steve Spurrier was at home and coaching against his alma mater. With Florida WR Percy Harvin out, everybody in the ballpark knew that Florida would ride Tim Tebow all night long. South Carolina had a beaten up, weak defense. But it was still an SEC defense and the Gamecocks still couldn’t stop him. Tebow ran for five touchdowns and threw for two more.
That night even Florida coach Urban Meyer, who had laughed at the notion of a Tebow Heisman in May, admitted that his quarterback was doing something none of us had ever seen. Tebow’s numbers are unprecedented in SEC history. Darren McFadden is a magnificent football player but Tim Tebow had a Heisman Trophy season.
2. Michigan is like a little old lady: You remember the one down the street who had a good, reliable Chevy in the garage for all those years? It wasn’t fancy but it got her to the grocery store and to church and back. But finally the old Chevy gave out she had to go buy a new car and got a huge case of sticker shock. That’s Michigan as it tries to hire a new football coach.
The market has changed dramatically since Lloyd Carr took over in 1995. On principle, Michigan feels it shouldn’t have to pay north of $2 million for a football coach. That’s admirable and a little arrogant. But that attitude ain’t going to beat Jim Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes who are now 6-1 against the Maize and Blue.
You didn’t ask but I’ll share this. The best fit for Michigan, and the guy who could out-Tressel Jim Tressel, is coaching at Wake Forest. Jim Grobe, who has told friends that he probably has one more move left him, would be perfect for Michigan.
3. Arkansas looks to NFL: Media reports out of Little Rock have Arkansas perhaps looking to the NFL to find a head coach to replace Houston Nutt. We’ll see how many of those guys Arkansas can help get raises. They’ve already helped four households named Tuberville, Bowden, Davis and Grobe have a very Merry Christmas.
Here’s a hint to my Arkansas friends: If you want a good coach who knows offense better than anybody, hire Norm Chow of the Tennessee Titans. He should have been a head coach long ago. If you want an energetic guy to compete with the big boys of the SEC in recruiting and reunite the fan base, hire Will Muschamp from Auburn or Charlie Strong from Florida.
Comments
By Will
December 10, 2007 12:02 PM | Link to this
Personally, While the Fla-SC game was impressive, I thought the day that Tebow won the Heisman was the night that kid(Dixon) from Oregon got hurt. If Dixon finishes the season, Oregon goes to the Rose Bowl & possibly to the BCS Championship. The Heisman people love candidates that are on championship teams and I think he would have won it by a close vote.
By SECCoachnDallas
December 10, 2007 12:04 PM | Link to this
With the turmoil that has been going on at Arkansas, who would want the job. Do you remember the 5 candidates that turned them down last year when they were looking for a basketball coach? It is a disfunctional school with a divisive fan base located in a geographically undesireable area. I know. I have to go there on a monthly business trip and it is not the highlight of my career!
By SECCoachnDallas
December 10, 2007 12:05 PM | Link to this
With the turmoil that has been going on at Arkansas, who would want the job. Do you remember the 5 candidates that turned them down last year when they were looking for a basketball coach? It is a disfunctional school with a divisive fan base located in a geographically undesireable area. I know. I have to go there on a monthly business trip and it is not the highlight of my career!
By SECCoachnDallas
December 10, 2007 12:05 PM | Link to this
With the turmoil that has been going on at Arkansas, who would want the job. Do you remember the 5 candidates that turned them down last year when they were looking for a basketball coach? It is a disfunctional school with a divisive fan base located in a geographically undesireable area. I know. I have to go there on a monthly business trip and it is not the highlight of my career!
By UFrank
December 10, 2007 12:38 PM | Link to this
I think the FSU game was the Heisman clincher for Tebow. After being called out by the trash-talking Noles, and enduring a couple of cheap shots on the first drive,he basically shoved it down their throat. Granted FSU isn’t what they once were, but their defense is still respectable. What Tebow did this year was all the more remarkable because he did it against good defenses for the most part
By braveswin
December 10, 2007 12:48 PM | Link to this
With all due respect,Tebow won this award over 12 games.I am a Bulldog until they plant me 6ft under but there was not a more consistent performer in college football this yr.I’ve seen the 1 and 2 yd runs but they all count 6pts I don’t like it but he proved me wrong by being able to pass as well as run.I tip my hat to the young man and hope we beat his hind end again next yr.If he stays healthy enough to play us…
By bdawg
December 10, 2007 12:54 PM | Link to this
I think it was set in stone when he did that jump pass against Kentucky
By hop
December 10, 2007 1:00 PM | Link to this
tony, after you stated paul joHnson would select SMU OVER GEORGIA TECH , One has to wonder how connected you really are! yet, you are MR.COLLEGE FOOTBALL!
IN YOUR DREAMS, YOU HAVE BEEN SO WRONG in so many of your views, one has to wonder how much longer will the AJC put up with your phony articles!
your depth of football knowledge is a disgrace to your profession!
the ajc readers deserve so much more thasn you can aparrantly deliver!
By SneakyDawg
December 10, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this
Your comment that Tebow won the Hypesman versus SC might be taken seriously but McFadden’s performance versus the same team was largely ignored. Bottom line, the Heisman is just a beauty contest and ESPN wanted it that way. …The same ESPN that was ape-s^&T over Tebow before he even signed. Meyer has put Tebow in a role to carry that offense, and he did. Right to 9-3 and a non BCS bowl. Whoopee-&^**. See it for what it is. Whatever.
By Ob
December 10, 2007 1:12 PM | Link to this
Is it just me or is anyone else tired of opening ESPN and seeing four or five photos of Tim Tebow?
I was hoping this love fest between ESPN and Tebow would be over by now.
Let’s move on and talk Bowl matchups.
By Ob
December 10, 2007 1:23 PM | Link to this
I want to know everything about the other superman “Colt Brennan”.
Let’s hear how great they are. Tell us everything about their defense. Their run defense, pass defense.
How will they match up to Georgia on a position by position basis?
Tell us about their depth. Can their depth handle ours?
By Eric1
December 10, 2007 1:45 PM | Link to this
Tebow didn’t win the Heisman any more than dubya won the presidency. He was awarded the Heisman by voters who decided early in the season that they wanted him to have it. He Heisman Trophy should be awarded to the player who has had the time and opportunity to amass a body of work. Sophomores don’t qualify. The award is much cheaper today than it was a week ago.
By shane #1
December 10, 2007 1:59 PM | Link to this
1-tebow won the heisman because he put up big numbers,period.most heisman voters are like the BCS poll voters,other than highlight films they know very little about who they are voting for,most have not watched the games. 2-espn screwed michigan out of their coach,by leaking the news on the eve of the seccg,though miles hadn’t officially been offered the job.i remember lsu giving um permission to talk with miles AFTER the game!miles’s was backed into a corner by espn,if not for that um’s search would be over. 3-out of control and divided fans and boosters are the problem at u of ark.untill someone can get a handle on that program,like a very strong president and ad,no coach in his right mind wants that job.a coach would always wonder from what direction the knife was coming,and who would be the brutus.
By connorsgp
December 10, 2007 2:22 PM | Link to this
Hey Eric1 the heisman is not awarded for the “body of work” it is awarded to the most outstanding college football player this year, and only this year. Learn a little about football novice. And all you bullpups get ready for J’ville in 2008..remember this name Will Hill. The gators will go back to normal against the dogs IE kicking butt. 2008 score prediction Gators 55 Bulldogs 17
By SunDawg
December 10, 2007 2:54 PM | Link to this
With the understanding that I’ll get attacked by the Tebow faithful for whining, can one of you statistical types tell me how many scores the Baby Rhino had after the games had already been won - you know, the point at which the coach lets the bench-warmer play? Say late in the game with a 2 or 3 touchdown lead?
I think Urban Meyer is truly an evil genuis; he kept the Gator Nation satisfied this year, not with an NC, not with an SEC divisional or overall championship, but by keeping his best athlete in the game. Heisman Trophy, not bad.
And yes, I have the Tim Tebow poster the Miami Herald so generously delivered to my doorstep this morning prominantly displayed.
By Ol Ball Coach
December 10, 2007 3:00 PM | Link to this
Since the Big 10 and Notre Dame didn’t have a candidate, then I guess the SEC gets to win it once in a while. Let’s give the election back to the Downtown Athletic Club and meke the award truely irrelevant.
By shane #1
December 10, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this
conorsgp,IMO uga and uf will be the big wheels in the sec east next year no doubt.the wlocp will decide the sec east,probably the sec title.i do not see uf running up big scores on uga’s defense,which will be much improved next year,the lb rotation is settled,the dbs will have more experence along with uga’s young d line.i see a hard fought,low scoring game next year,but if anyone scores 40 pts or more it will be uga.
By TallahasseeDAWGGRAD
December 10, 2007 3:18 PM | Link to this
Obviously,I am not a UF fan. Can’t stand them actually. They make me physically ill at times, as do their fans. But I am a fan of college football. And you have to admire and appreciate this 20 yr old kid. He is a genuinely good person. And what is my favorite thing about Tebow is that this boy is a lifelong Gator fan. He so appreciates the fact that he is a Florida Gator. He loves that school, bleeds orange and blue. He cries when they lose and I love that emotional tie he has to his football team. That is special quality in a player. I remember Chris Weinke crying when he broke his neck that year. You don’t see that often with these kids. Know$hit Moreno and Matthew Stafford are great football players, but they don’t bleed red and black like Pollack and Greene and Walker did. Stafford’s parents went to FSU and Moreno couldn’t even name one former dawg other than Herschel. It’s refreshing to me to see a player THAT excited about being on a certain team. It’s like McCann and Francouer at Atlanta. They LOVE that team and have for years, just like Tebow. I just love that about him. And appreciate that quality in him.
By Tim Tebow
December 10, 2007 3:22 PM | Link to this
Ya, I won the Heisman and I’ve got a hot girlfriend! But I am fortuntate especially what happended after the Georgia Bulldogs kicked my butt on that dreary October day. Those guys are fast, athletic and will hit you hard. I really wished I had signed with Georgia to be their tight-end or punter. But that’s my fault. I really dread playing those guys next year, that Rennie Curran guy intimidates me. I was so scared the week of the UGA game, I had my head coach- Oscar Meyer leak out to the press that my ribs, shoulder, something was sore. That was a front for me not having to run much against that Geno Atkins guy. Oh well, I’ll probably win the award next year b/c I am the ESPN darling, but those darn UGA Dawgs will win the SEC! I wonder if Oscar will let me transfer?
By kevin
December 10, 2007 3:37 PM | Link to this
Danny Warpheul=Gino Toretta=Tim Tebow…..he will never make it in the NFL. The heisman has become an ESPN popularity contest…what a joke…Tebow isn’t even the best player on the Gators.
By GT
December 10, 2007 4:06 PM | Link to this
I understand Michigan. It is kind of like the wife that thought 4 inches was 14 inches. When you have been told you are this and you are really that, the world as a whole gets a little confusing. The Big Ten getting picked over Georgia for the Rose Bowl is just one more misdirection play by the PR people of that conference. Forget Michigan was assassinated last year in the Rose or what Ohio State looked like in the national championship game last year. With rose colored bias reporting of ESPN and several other alumni affiliates reality has been bought and replaced by popular vote, much spun up by this PR machine that owns ESPN and a lot of northeastern pundits. Even Lou H. comes from Ohio and coached in the Big 10 before he tested the waters of real football. That jerk that puts on the mascots heads to predict a winner like his input in anything more than a coin toss, may have played at FSU but there is not a southern bone in his body. He has that neurotic personality only found above the Mason Dixon. And what is up with our radio talk shows being hijacked by Northeastern rejects. I am sick of listening to what Philly or Pittsburg is or isn’t. Our moral compass each morning is feed to us by a bunch of mobster sounding thugs, who one moment are talking about my daughter like she is a cheesecake and the next lecturing the audience on some holly than thou subject like they are the model to live by. Who cares what goes on in Russia or China or Pittsburg, go home
By old gold engineer
December 10, 2007 4:08 PM | Link to this
Michigan or Arkansas should hire Chan Gailey.
By Matthew Sanders
December 10, 2007 4:10 PM | Link to this
No, HERE’S a tip to Arkansas: no one will want the job when fans access the coach’s cell phone records
By Reality
December 10, 2007 4:37 PM | Link to this
75% winnning percentage as starter. He is the only great player at Florida. Without him that would have become a losing percentage.
By mart
December 10, 2007 5:05 PM | Link to this
Tebow won the Heisman when photos of him and that full figured “coed” got plastered all over the internet.
By TJ
December 10, 2007 5:27 PM | Link to this
So Tim Tebow won the Heisman..so what. If anyone believes he is better than Herschel was in his freshman or sophmore year then I wish they would share some of the rope they are smoking with me, The truth is that this year did not have a true Heisman candidate. Someone had to win it, so it may as well have been him. Who gives a s..t anyway?
By addicted
December 10, 2007 7:29 PM | Link to this
As a GT fan, and a true Dawg hater (THWG) I will agree that Michigan, and by extension, all of the Big 10, are living in a different age. Unfortunately, the decision makers dont seem to have moved into the present either (Illinois over UGA is a joke. Especially since we have seen what happens to Big 10 teams at the hands of USC in many Rose Bowls prior to this. Get those stinkin West Coasters to play some real southern football. No an unprepared TN at the beginning of the season does not count.). I am worried that UGA wont be as pumped playing Hawaii as they should be, and will actually lose the game, thereby lending credibility that more teams that schedule only patsies should be getting into BCS games.
By Max Sizemore
December 10, 2007 7:31 PM | Link to this
To ob, here’s a scouting report on Hawaii (I taped and perused their last three games). First, if Georgia plays well on offense (no turnovers and some appropriate QB checks when Hawaii inevitably loads the box), there is no way Hawaii can stop Georgia. Bobo understands that a sound rushing attack can control a game. On defense, Georgia will have more speed than anything Hawaii has seen. BUT, if the Dogs sit back, rush 3 or 4 and give Brennan time to throw, Hawaii will consistently move the ball. Washington blitzed early, took control of the game 28-7, and than went zone. They never stopped Hawaii again. So the key is Martinez. Will he take enough chances? Can the players recover from the inevitable blown coverages? Brennan is not mobile at all. Get to him early and Hawaii is finished. Georgia 41, Hawaii 24.
By Mikey
December 10, 2007 8:17 PM | Link to this
If I had a vote, I would have voted McFadden. Tebow has 2 more years….
By Scout Dawg
December 10, 2007 8:45 PM | Link to this
Connorsgp, why don’t you learn a little about college football you Moron Novice. Only someone who jumped on the bandwagon yesterday would say that career output never comes into play in the Heisman voting, especially considering Tebow is the FIRST SOPHOMORE EVER to win the trophy thereby proving my point, AND YOUR UTTER IGNORANCE you wannabe. I really don’t have a problem with Tebow winning the trophy, just with your DUMB A$$. Oh yeah by the way I love your prediction for next years COCKTAIL PARTY and recognize your right to your opinion, But, why don’t you quit running your punk beaaatch mouth and put some green on your 38 point spread. Finally, in retrospect all I have to say to you you Silly A$$ Wannabbe Girly Girl is 42-30 you ?unk ?ss ?itch.
By quaildawg
December 10, 2007 9:34 PM | Link to this
You can’t spell Heisman without ESpN (the P stands for Publicity) and it pretty much was a foregone conclusion Tebow would win when you continue to have a love fest with FL, Meyer, and Tebow as ESPN has had for over a year. Seems pretty uneven when your ads say “Watch Tim Tebow and a host of OTHER candidates make their claim for the Heisman.” I’ve grown so weary of the whole lot at ESPN from the one week touting UGA for BCS possibilities as Herbstriet did on Nov. 25th then do a 180 on the next Saturday. (Obviously when the impossible happened and WVU lost, which he didn’t see coming and therefore could play politician to UGA fans on Nov 25th, he had to bail himself out.) Hey, I am a DAWG fan through and through and I don’t think UGA deserved to be in the BSC Championship and am glad things turned out as they have. But this type cr#p needs to be called out. The Les Miles deal on the day of the SEC Champ. as well and Cowherd had the audacity to go on the air and get his back was comical. I liked Herbstriet but someone needs to step in and tell the E(SPN)mporer he has no clothes.
By quaildawg
December 10, 2007 9:46 PM | Link to this
Speaking of ARK. they could one up Ole’ Miss and hire David Cutcliffe. That would make for an interesting Saturday in October!!!
By Mike T.
December 10, 2007 10:47 PM | Link to this
. The gators will go back to normal against the dogs IE kicking butt
Things have gone back to normal baby 47-37-2 Georgia
By Mike T.
December 10, 2007 10:51 PM | Link to this
.remember this name Will Hill
remember this name Caleb King
By Pago Pago
December 10, 2007 10:59 PM | Link to this
I didn’t think the Heisman was about a player having a future in the NFL? It’s about what he did in college.
By Mike T.
December 10, 2007 11:05 PM | Link to this
*By addicted
As a GT fan, and a true Dawg hater (THWG)….
…I am worried that UGA wont be as pumped playing Hawaii as they should be, and will actually lose the game,*
Uum.addicted is a GT Fan and A Dawg hater BUT He’s worried that Georgia won’t be pumped up against Hawaii and they might lose.Oh well I guess addicted is the key word here.
By GT
December 11, 2007 9:18 AM | Link to this
Southern football needs a serious Georgia playing Hawaii. One of the reasons Gailey is gone is he didn’t get it and kept losing to underdogs. I pull for southern teams and even more so for my home state. If Georgia beats us every year and then loses to a bunch of guys in flowered shirts with cocky mouths we all lose a little. Somewhere this gets in the mind of the poll makers and suddenly the west coast is getting attention they don’t deserve. Tenn. didn’t do us any favors not being prepared for Cal. I been listening to that all year as a measure of SEC football which it is not. If they think it is a measure why the dodge of Georgia in the Rose Bowl. They should call this game dodge ball instead of football and in that the Big Ten and Pac are truly powers.
By Atlanta Gator
December 11, 2007 9:23 AM | Link to this
Greeting, all.
I posted a much longer post on the topic of Tim Tebow’s Heisman Trophy on the earlier AJC blog on this topic, but, in succinct fashion, here is the key reason Tim Tebow won the Heisman over several other deserving candidates——strength of scheduled played:
Florida SOS 8th
Oregon SOS 19th
Georgia SOS 21st
LSU SOS 26th
Ohio State SOS 44th
Arkansas SOS 63rd
Southern Cal SOS 75th
Hawaii SOS 118th
Source: CBS Sports. As for you fans of Colt Brennan and his rather impressive numbers, please keep in mind that Hawaii’s strength of schedule rating of 118th was among the 119 Division I programs. Quite rightly, Heisman voters took into account the quality of the several candidates’ opponents, too.
By gdawginkalamazoo
December 11, 2007 10:27 AM | Link to this
Sounds like Michigan is waiting for Miles. Press up here is still talking that UM is in contact with Miles. Nobody else is on the radar right now. Carr might have to come back next year if they don’t find anybody. If they have open try outs I guess I could drive over to Ann Arbor, load up on Ambien then do the interview. Maybe take a nap right before the interview. Tony forgets that UofM is the all-time winningest program ever. Now they have to pay up. Tressel will get embarrassed again.
Atlanta Gator, been awhile. How bad do you think you guys will beat Michigan? Congrats to Tebow, good kid.
By Atlanta Gator
December 11, 2007 1:16 PM | Link to this
gdawg~zoo——Our AJC blog paths have crossed several times, but feeling bound by the spirit of the Jacksonville Convention, that left little room to disagree with much, if any, of what you wrote. : ]
As for young Mr. Tebow, he is a great person, a unique taelnt and the real deal. I am happy that he has received this well deserved honor, and mildly disappointed that a few others cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the rare set of talents that Tebow brings to the college game.
As we have discussed on other occasions, I would like to see Tebow run fewer times per game on average, save it for when it may really make a difference, and reduce the wear and tear on him. With the arrival of Southern Cal transfer tailback Emmanuel Moody in Gainesville, I expect Tebow to average fewer carries per game, but his average yards per carry to go up. It can’t hurt his already very good passing stats, either, to have yet another legitimate offensive threat on the field. If I were a knowledgeable Dawg fan, I would not pencil in a “W” for the ‘08 Cocktail Party just yet.
As for the bowl games, I would urge your fellow Dawg fans to focus their energies on the Sugar Bowl. More focused practice by the Dawgs, and less whining by their fans, would both help. Notwithstanding Hawaii’s lackluster strength of schedule (118th of 119), their boy Brennan knows how to chuck the ball 40 yards down the field and hit his receivers on the run.
As for Florida vs. Michigan, the same advice may be given to the Gators: focus on the Wolverines, and take care of business. Michigan is a better team than they played this year, and they will want to send Carr into retirement with a win. In my Gator alumni circles, I’m not hearing a lot of disappointment or whining about this season or our bowl, but everyone has very high expectations for the ‘08 season. Prediction: Gators over Wolverines by 10.
By gdawginkalamazoo
December 11, 2007 2:14 PM | Link to this
As always, well said Atlanta Gator. The load put on Tebow this year probably wasn’t a good thing. At worst case he got the Heisman out of the way, he has the NC ring courtesy of Chris Leak (how old is that name now). I haven’t penciled in a win at the Cocktail for a while now but 2 of 4 is okay by me with a promising future. Could be #1 v. #2 next year if you guys get past Auburn and we get by UT.
Hawaii’s quick strike O has me concerned. I think we need to bump the WR’s at the line to disrupt the timing as much as we can. Timing is everything from what I have seen from that O. They will definitely come out with guns ablazing. I just hope we don’t come out flatfooted like we can sometimes do. I will be able to tell when they come out of the tunnel. I don’t think that will be the case but we need to rip them a new one and score a lot of points. It will have an effect on the preseason next year. This is an important game for us.
I don’t think the true dawg fans are doing a lot of whining. As I have said I don’t think we deserved to get to the BCSCG, not with the loses we had. As I have mentioned the ranking I think was more a courtesy ranking. Richt had to say what he said about the process because he is highly paid to do so and we couldn’t expect anything less from him. I also know that the Sugar had first shot at us instead of the Rose and who we are playing isn’t a disappointment. We can knock off another Heisman canidate and an undefeated team. We have a lot to prove to the country.
I think you guys are going to win by more than 10 but I like your conservative estimate.
By Mikey
December 11, 2007 3:33 PM | Link to this
Wow….Tebow won the Heisman on Nov 10 against SC, so Saint Steve rewarded him with his first place vote. By the way, he left D Mac off his ballot. Guess he figured he saw enough of him on the field in 06 and 07…
Heisman is nothing but a popularity contest anyway-
Yours truly,
Gino Toretta Chris Wienke Troy Smith Andre Ware Jason White Eric Crouch etc…etc…etc…
By Atlanta Gator
December 11, 2007 5:20 PM | Link to this
Mikey——For your benefit and future growth as a knowledgeable football fan, I will repeat those strength of schedule (SOS) rankings:
QB Tim Tebow; Florida SOS 8th
RB Darren McFadden; Arkansas SOS 63rd
QB Colt Brennan; Hawaii SOS 118th
When one candidate is playing one of the ten most difficult schedules in the country, another is playing a schedule at the fiftieth percentile, and the third is playing one of the two easiest schedules in the country, a win is NOT a win. A win against Tennessee or FSU is NOT the equivalent of a win against Wyoming or Fresno State. That’s not a popularity contest, that’s called well-informed voting.
As for your second comment, please keep in mind that the Heisman Trophy has absolutely zero to do with NFL potential. The only official Heisman criteria is “the most outstanding college football player in the country.”
Your third comment about Steve Spurrier’s ballot is valid. Spurrier is, of course, only one of over 900 eligible voters, and he earned his vote the hard way (he won the Heisman in 1966). I also note, for the record, that several sports journalists in the southwestern region (the only Heisman voting region of five in which Tebow placed 2nd, McFadden placing first) also omitted Tebow from their ballot altogether. Strategic voting does happen, but the injustice of one voter’s ballot is not that big a factor, and the final 2007 Heisman vote tally wasn’t that close.
BTW, in the future, you may want to consider acknowledging the various strengths of your team’s opponents. It only makes the Dawgs look better if and when the Dawgs beat them on the field. Otherwise, playing football in the SEC means nothing more than playing in the WAC. Food for thought.
By quaildawg
December 11, 2007 8:30 PM | Link to this
ATL Gator: Your SOS theory doesn’t hold water when you don’t win against the three best opponents you played. If your theory is true then a player on a 0-12 team with an SOS of #1 could win the Heisman. Looks like Notre Dame could be in line for the next Heisman! I have nothing against Tebow…seems to be a fine young man with his priorities in order but Tony’s constant comparison of Tebow’s numbers versus Bo, Hershel, Emmitt, etc. is blasphimous when you lay their respective work beside Tebow’s. Rarely was Tebow asked to run outside the opponents 20. It makes it very convenient when others are asked to set the table so that you can reap the spoils. It would be sick the number of TD’s the above could have rung up if they were only called upon once the team reached inside an opponents 20.
By Atlanta Gator
December 12, 2007 12:33 AM | Link to this
quaildawg——Several points to be made …
First, with star WR Percy Harvin out for several games, and the starting TB Kestahn Moore fumble-prone in big games, it’s hard to say that other players “set the table” for Tebow. Here are the top five rushers for the Gators:
QB Tim Tebow, 838 yards
WR Percy Harvin, 599 yards
TB Kestahn Moore, 571 yards
TB Brandon James, 133 yards
QB Cameron Newton, 103 yards
Bottom line: Tebow set the table for himself to score those inside-the-20 touchdowns, either through his passing or his own rushing. When your top 2 rushers are your starting QB and star WR, and three of your top five rushers are not even running backs, that speaks volumes. Tebow ran the ball because, for most of the season, he was the best available rusher for the team. Without Tebow, the Gators’ running game would have been horribly anemic. (FYI, that will change next season.)
Second, your statistic that Tebow mostly ran the ball inside the 20 is simply factually incorrect. Try again——there is no data to support your position. Good luck finding it.
Third, playing a WAC schedule versus an SEC schedule is very different. The defenses in the SEC are far faster, far more athletic, and far better conditioned than anything Hawaii QB Colt Brennan saw in the WAC. Hawaii probably would not have won 8 games in the SEC.
Fourth, as for Arkansas RB Darren McFadden and Arkansas’ strength of schedule, I will again point that Florida’s strength of schedule was 8th, and Arkansas’ was 63rd of 119. Not relevant you say? Okay, how about the fact that the Gators and the Razorbacks had seven common opponents——against whom the Gators went 5-2, while the Hogs went 4-3 (both losing close games to Auburn)?
Fifth, McFadden was practically invisible in the 7-9 loss to Auburn and in wins over Florida International and Mississippi State. In Florida’s three losses, Tebow turned in solid performances that kept the Gators in those games.
BTW, your theory of an 0-12 Notre Dame with the highest rated strength of schedule qualifying the ND QB for the Heisman is an exaggeration, but ND QB Paul Hornung did beat out Johnny Majors for the ‘56 Heisman when ND was 3-8. Go figure.
AG
P.S. I’m the “Atlanta Gator.” (TM) ATL Gator is some other guy who is infringing on my tradename.