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September 27, 2010

College Football Report - Heisman Watch - Week 4

Tracking the Heisman contenders: Week 4

*1.) Denard Robinson – Soph. – Michigan – Quarterback

Last week: 4-4 passing, 60 yds – 5 rush, 129 yds, 2 TD – Beat Bowling Green

Season: 57-80 passing, 731 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT – 79 rush, 688 yds, 6 TD

Robinson’s stock is heading down following an injury that pushed him from the Bowling Green game. It wasn’t a serious injury and he was cleared to return, which is why he remains at No. 1. The decision to keep Robinson from the rest of the game was a smart one by Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. Big 10 play begins for the Wolverines this week with a trip to Indiana.

2.) Cameron Newton – Jr. – Auburn – Quarterback

Last week: 16-21 passing, 158 yds, 2 TD – 25 rush, 176 yds, 3 TD – Beat South Carolina

Season: 43-68 passing, 683 yds, 9 TD, 3 INT – 75 rush, 485 yds, 5 TD

Newton continues to rise in my rankings not only because Auburn continues to win much in part to Newton, but because of whom the star quarterback is putting up numbers against. Newton has now beat Mississippi State in Oxford and Clemson and South Carolina in back-to-back weeks. His five total touchdowns against the No. 12 ranked Gamecocks last week were one of the season’s most impressive performances so far.

3.) Terrelle Pryor – Jr. – Ohio State – Quarterback

Last week: 20-26 passing, 224 yds, 4 TD – 7 rush, 104 yds, 1 TD – Beat Eastern Michigan

Season: 71-107 passing, 939 yds, 10 TD, 2 INT – 43 rush, 269 yds, 3 TD

Pryor’s last week stats are a bit weighted down. Having Pryor play late in the third quarter in an already 45-14 game tells me OSU is letting the quarterback pad his stats. I never like to see players raking in huge numbers in hopes of making season numbers look better. This was a game Pryor and the rest of the OSU starters could have been out at halftime.

4.) Kellen Moore – Jr. – Boise State – Quarterback

Last Week: 19-27 passing, 288 yds, 3 TD – Beat Oregon State

Season: 62-95 passing, 873 yds, 8 TD, 1 INT

Moore continues to display the accurate passing that brings comparisons to Drew Brees. Unless a slip up comes later in the season, Moore could equal or surpass last season’s numbers in which the junior quarterback brought in 39 touchdowns and just three picks.

5.) Mark Ingram – Jr. – Alabama – Running Back

Last week: 24 rush, 157 yds, 6.5 avg. 2 TD – 2 rec. 27 yds – Beat Arkansas

Season: 31 rush, 308 yds, 9.9 avg. 4 TD – 2 rec. 27 yds

Ingram’s 308 yards in just two games shows how special the running back is. Against Arkansas, Ingram displayed the vision, power and balance that brought him the Heisman last season. A major reason Alabama still sits at No. 1 in the polls can be credited to Ingram’s performance against the Razorbacks.

6.) Andrew Luck – Jr. – Stanford – Quarterback

Last week: 19-32 passing, 238 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT – 4 rush, 23 yds – Beat Notre Dame

Season: 64-102 passing, 912 yds, 11 TD, 2 INT – 17 rush, 163 yds, 1 TD

Luck’s stock drop comes after throwing his first two interceptions of the season against Notre Dame. The Irish defense proved to be above average as they threw Luck out of his season grove, something no defense has been able to do yet. The junior quarterback has a chance to impress this week with a trip to Oregon in store.

7.) Colin Kaepernick – Sr. – Nevada – Quarterback

Last week: 16-25 passing, 196 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT – 17 rush, 82 yds, 1 TD – Beat BYU

Season: 73-106 passing, 924 yds, 7 TD, 1 INT – 56 rush, 451 yds, 8 TD

Surprisingly, last week’s performance against BYU was Kaepernick’s worst of the season and he still accounted for nearly 300 yards and two scores. He still remains one of the most exciting players in college football, however. With wins against Cal and BYU, Kaepernick has the Wolf Pack rolling this season.

8.) LaMichael James – Soph. – Oregon – Running Back

Last week: 28 rush, 114 yds, 1 TD – Beat Arizona State

Season: 58 rush, 475 yds, 4 TD – 1 rec. 9 yds

James has been impressive in three games this season following the one game suspension. The LaMichael James of 2009 remains to be seen yet, though. A big win and a Heisman like performance at home against Stanford this week will propel James up in the rankings.

9.) Ryan Mallet – Sr. – Arkansas – Quarterback

Last week: 25-38 passing, 357 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT – 3 rush, -7 yds, 1 TD – Lost to Alabama

Season: 95-138 passing, 1,438 yds, 10 TD, 5 INT – 2 rush TD

For three quarters against Alabama it looked as if Mallet was having his Heisman moment, while also knocking off the No. 1 ranked team in America. Two fourth quarter interception may have knocked Mallet out of any chances of the prestigious award. The three total picks were the most Mallet has ever thrown.

10.) Patrick Peterson – Sr. – LSU – Cornerback

Last week: 1 tkl, two punt returns (PR) – 86 yds, 1 TD – Beat West Virginia

Season: 11 tkl, 2 INT, 1 Blk kick, 9 PR – 253 yds, 2 TD

It’s never easy placing a defensive player in the Heisman rankings. In the case of Peterson, the senior corner and return man is without a doubt the best player on the LSU roster right now. A lot of quarterbacks won’t throw Peterson’s way, so don’t expect a lot of defensive stats. I would bet a lot of teams will stop kicking to the talented returner as well.

-On the brink: John Clay – Wisconsin RB, Nick Fairley – Auburn DT, Ryan Broyles – Oklahoma WR, Russell Wilson – NC State QB.

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