College Football Report - Heisman Watch - Week 9

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

Last week: 10-16 passing, 86 yds – 28 rush, 217 yds, 2 TD – Beat LSU

Season: 90-138 passing, 1,364 yds, 13 TD, 5 INT – 157 rush, 1,077 yds, 14 TD – 1 rec. 22 yds

Newton is a bit of an untouchable at the top after what the junior has done in SEC play as of late. Against South Carolina Newton rushed for 176 yards. Against Kentucky he rushed for 198 yards. Arkansas felt the wrath of 188 yards. Last week, Newton saved his best rushing performance of the year against one of the nation’s best defenses, rushing for 217 yards against LSU. Auburn didn’t even need to use Newton’s arm to win the game. His 49 yard touchdown run in the third quarter against LSU showed speed, balance, vision, power and elusiveness on one play. Every attribute a coach could want in a player, let alone their quarterback.

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

Last week: 20 rush, 123 yds, 2 TD – 1 rec. 25 yds – Beat UCLA

Season: 114 rush, 848 yds, 7.4 avg. 9 TD – 3 rec. 96 yds, 1 TD

James put on another impressive performance against UCLA Saturday but was limited in the game following a stinger in the second quarter. He still managed 123 yards and two scores on the night. James currently leads the nation with 161.8 rushing yards a game. His performance, however, hasn’t been enough to knock Newton out of the top spot. Something that may be a hard task to accomplish. James will get his chance, though, this week against a porous USC rush defense.

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

Last Week: Bye

Season: 105-151 passing, 1,567 yds, 16 TD, 1 INT

Moore spent the week soaking up the will they or won’t they Boise talk surrounding his team. At this point there’s not a whole lot the Broncos or Moore can do at this point but continue to win games. Moore’s Heisman chances may be slimmer than the Broncos National Championship game chances, something I’m sure he’s fine with. Moore has played only two full games this season, against Virginia Tech and Oregon State and should continue to sit in the second half of many of the Broncos conference games.

4.) Justin Blackmon – Soph. – Oklahoma State – Wide Receiver

Last week: 5 rec. 157 yds, 2 TD – Lost to Nebraska

Season: 62 rec. 1,112 yds, 14 TD – 3 rush, 8 yds

Blackmon’s stock continues to rise on the field. As of Tuesday, the sophomore’s off the field stock is falling. Blackmon was arrested early Tuesday morning on DUI charges when the receiver was on his way home from the Dallas Cowboys Monday night game. On the field Blackmon had one of his more impressive performances of the year Saturday, not stat wise, but because of who he was facing. Against one of the country’s best cover men, Nebraska’s Prince Amukamara, Blackmon still managed 150+ yards and two scores. He’s putting together a better season than past Oklahoma State wideout Dez Bryant, who Blackmon was watching for the Cowboys Monday night. It remains to be seen, however, if Blackmon will serve any suspensions following the arrest.

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

Last week: 20-28 passing, 190 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT – 4 rush, 11 yds – Beat Washington State

Season: 133-200 passing, 1,728 yds, 19 TD, 5 INT – 35 rush, 253 yds, 2 TD

Luck had a big chance against Washington State last week to pile on the stats. He did just that with three touchdowns and a 71 percent completion percentage. It may take quite a bit more than Saturday’s performance for Luck to find himself moving up too far on the Heisman board. Luck is having a fine season, but in the PAC-10 right now, he’s a dime a dozen.

6.) John Clay – Jr. – Wisconsin – Running Back

Last week: 24 rush, 91 yds, 3.8 avg. 2 TD – 1 rec. 9 yds – Beat Iowa

Season: 160 rush, 887 yds, 5.5 avg. 13 TD

One week after rushing for over 100 yards against the tough Ohio State rush defense, Clay found himself being tested yet again, this time by the Iowa defense. The Hawkeyes are one of the nation’s best against the run and held Clay to 91 yards on the ground. He still managed to find the endzone twice, however. The problem as of late for Clay has been stolen carries and touchdowns by running back James White. Saturday, in a circumstance where Clay had been the primary back, running back Montee Ball was given a touchdown carry over Clay. As long as the Badgers continue to spread the yards and touchdowns out, Clay’s stock may continue to drop ever so slightly.

7.) Denard Robinson – Soph. – Michigan – Quarterback

Last week: Bye

Season: 97-143 passing, 1,319 yds, 9 TD, 5 INT – 137 rush, 1,096 yds, 9 TD

Robinson finally had a week off to rest. Before the Wolverines bye, it was becoming evident the burden of carrying the Michigan offense was becoming too heavy for his shoulders. He may benefit from a week off more so than any other player this season. With games against Penn State, Illinois and Purdue in the next three weeks, Robinson has a chance to bring in some of the stats viewers become accustomed to early in the season. He may just find himself moving back up many Heisman watch lists.

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

Last week: 16-22 passing, 270 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT – 4 rush, -2 yds – Beat Purdue

Season: 134-203 passing, 1,775 yds, 18 TD, 6 INT – 79 rush, 408 yds, 3 TD – 2 rec. 19 yds, 1 TD

Pryor revenged the 2009 loss to Purdue and took out a bit of anger from the Wisconsin loss on the Boilermakers. Terrelle Pryor the passer showed up against Purdue, a player we may see more towards the end of the season, as it’s believed an earlier quad injury continues to give the quarterback problems. Pryor has another chance this week to add to his impressive season statistics against Minnesota but it is at Iowa, Nov. 20, which should be circled on Pryor’s calendar.

9.) Taylor Martinez – rFr. – Nebraska – Quarterback

Last week: 23-35 passing, 323 yds, 5 TD – 19 rush, 112 yds – Beat Oklahoma State

Season: 66-111 passing, 1,046 yds, 14 TD, 5 INT – 100 rush, 870 yds, 12 TD

One week after being benched because of his passing and being dropped from many Heisman lists, Martinez shows he’s got an arm attacked to his body. Although the Oklahoma State pass defense has been exploited my numerous players this season, a 300 yard and five touchdown performance from Martinez Saturday, with his arm, was nice to see. His 66 percent completion percentage has to give the young QB confidence heading into later weeks, while the 112 yards on the ground gave Martinez a complete game. He’ll need every bit of confidence next week facing off against a Missouri defense that just gave the Sooners offense a headache.

10.) Edwin Baker – So. – Michigan State – Running back

Last week: 10 rush, 73 yds 7.3 avg. 1 TD – 1 rec. 13 yds – Beat Northwestern

Season: 115 rush, 779 yds, 6.8 avg. 7 TD – 2 rec. 15 yds

It seems every week since I’ve added Baker to the watch list I’ve been waiting for a breakout game. It wasn’t last Saturday against Northwestern and I would almost highly doubt it would be against Iowa this Saturday. If Baker does turn in his breakout performance against the Hawkeye’s consider him moved from the bottom of the list. The problem for the sophomore rusher as of late has been Michigan States slow starts. There haven’t been a lot of carries given out to the running backs when the Spartans passing attack has been used to get MSU back into games.

On the brink…Nick Fairley, Auburn, DT – Andy Dalton, TCU, QB – Robert Griffin III, Baylor, QB – Out of sympathy: whatever injury riddled quarterback faces the New York Giants defense next.

*Stock up – Stock down – Neutral

College Football Report: BCS Release and Reaction - Week 9

BCS Rankings - Week 9:

	Harris Poll	Coaches Poll	Computer Avg.
1. Auburn (8-0)	3	3	1
2. Oregon (7-0)	1	1	8
3. Boise State (6-0)	2	2	6
4. TCU (8-0)	4	4	4
5. Michigan State (8-0)	5	5	3
6. Missouri (7-0)	8	8	2
7. Alabama (7-1)	6	6	12
8. Utah (7-0)	7	7	10
9. Oklahoma (6-1)	11	11	5
10. Wisconsin (7-1)	9	9	9
11. Ohio State (7-1)	10	10	11
12. LSU (7-1)	12	13	6
13. Stanford (6-1)	13	14	14
14. Nebraska (6-1)	14	12	15
15. Arizona (6-1)	15	16	13
16. Florida State (6-1)	16	15	16
17. Oklahoma St. (6-1)	20	20	17
18. Iowa (5-2)	17	19	19
19. Arkansas (5-2)	18	18	21
20. South Carolina (5-2)	19	17	23
21. Mississippi St. (6-2)	23	23	18
22. Miami (FL) (5-2)	22	22	20
23. Virginia Tech (6-2)	21	21	28
24. Nevada (6-1)	24	NR	22
25. Baylor (6-2)	25	24	25

Fell from poll: Texas, West Virginia, and Kansas State

Voters get it right…? The voters put together a nice poll this week. Oregon still feels like a No. 1 team without a doubt. I think Auburn is currently a stronger No. 2 than the voter’s No. 2, Boise State, though. Auburns resume of wins at this point stacks up against anyone’s in the country. They’ve passed their early gauntlet of SEC games and even if many were close, they’ve beat four teams currently ranked within the BCS top 25. I don’t agree with Alabama receiving a No. 6 ranking over Utah. The Utes are a team being overlooked by the voters, in favor of the other top non-AQ teams in Boise and TCU. The Utes will have their chance to prove themselves in a couple weeks though, when they face off against TCU. Arkansas still dangling around the lower teens seems too high for me at this point. The offense hasn’t looked as dominant as it can be and the defense continues to struggle. The Razorbacks are a team moving down in my mind.

Computer Malfunctions…? Computer Malfunctions doesn’t seem harsh enough, someone may want to check these things for viruses. Again, the Oregon Ducks go overlooked by the computer polls. The Ducks beat UCLA 60-13 last week. They weren’t playing SMU; this was a Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow UCLA team coming off of a bye week. I’m not sure really what the Ducks are going to need to do. The Oregon offense operates faster than a professional pick-pocket, while the defense brings in turnovers every week like they’re facing a Mike Martz led system. Not even a win against USC will look great because the Trojans, although a very dangerous team, still sit unranked. Let’s hope the computers don’t turn out to hurt the Ducks in the end. Both Michigan State and Missouri were helped out by the computers again this week with No. 3 and No. 2 rankings respectively. Rankings I still think both teams need to earn in big games on the road this week. I’m still scratching my head over one loss Oklahoma and LSU bringing in top six rankings. But hey, if the computers calculate they could beat Oregon, then they must be able to. It appears the computers are holding the James Madison loss for the Hokies like a piece of evidence in a murder case. They’re currently the only team not ranked in the Top 25 by the computers.

Biggest Movers…Obviously LSU and Oklahoma had some big moves that were expected. Iowa took a hard fall, as well as Oklahoma State following their weekend losses. Believe it or not, the biggest move of the week I feel comes from Nevada. Their move back to the top 25 has implications for bigger things later in the season. Not only do they play Boise State later in the year, but if Nevada can hold on to their BCS ranking and the Broncos beat the Wolfpack later in the year, the win would give Boise State another win over a ranked team, pushing their total to three. If Virginia Tech continues to win as well, it may just give Boise enough push to get into the title game. So it’s the little moves like that, which may turn into bigger moves for the future.

Welcome to the Top 25…Three teams made it back to the AP rankings this week and made it to the BCS rankings for the first time this season. Miami (FL) beat North Carolina 33-10 at home, looking as if the Hurricanes had found their on-field confidence and leadership the team had been lacking throughout the year. Nevada, as discussed moved into the poll for the first time following a bye week, kind of a surprise there. The Baylor Bears moved into the BCS poll for the first time ever and became bowl eligible for the first time since 1994 with their win over No. 22 Kansas State. The Bears have a chance to continue to rise, facing Texas this week, then both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the future.

We were snubbed...! Ahh the snub card, a team only gets to use so many before they may be overlooking the fact that they are, well, snubs. That is unless you play for Oregon, then the BCS has given your team an unlimited number of cards. The current top 25 team that has used the most snub cards to date, has to be Michigan State. The Spartans have brought in an 8-0 record in one of college football’s better conferences, but still find themselves looking in at TCU and Boise State. Their signature win, against No. 10 Wisconsin, looks good, but it may mean nothing if the Spartans don’t bring in a win against Iowa this week. This may be the game Michigan State finally tosses their snub cards to the curb. Another team that may be looking to use their card this week is the Syracuse Orange. That’s not a typo; the Orange may be a team on a mission this season, shown last week with their win over No. 22 West Virginia on the road. It may be a week or two, however, before we see the Orange in the poll, if ever.

There’s always next week…Week nine of college football doesn’t offer up as many marquee top 25 games as previous weeks but it does stand as the biggest test yet for two top 10 programs. Michigan State heads on the road to take on a sure to be upset Iowa team. One week after knocking off No. 1 Oklahoma at home, Missouri heads to Lincoln to face Nebraska. The Cornhuskers will be a tougher test to the Tigers defense than the Sooners were and the black shirt defense will surely place Tigers quarterback Blaine Gabbert under more pressure. Florida State needs to be weary of North Carolina State on the road this week in a Thursday night matchup. Stanford is also on upset alert against Washington. The Huskies have won every other game this season, and are due for a win against the Cardinal. Having the backdrop of Husky Stadium behind them should help.