Ten Heisman Voters Surveyed – Very Little Support for Shonn Greene

Oklahoma's Slingin' Sammy Bradford

If the Rocky Mountain News’ most-recent survey of 10 Heisman Trophy electors is a good sampling, Iowa running back Shonn Greene won’t be one of the five Heisman finalists.

Here is what Monday’s Rocky reported:

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford is the new leader in this week’s Rocky Mountain News Heisman Trophy poll, just barely ahead of Texas QB Colt McCoy. Likely dazzled by Bradford’s four touchdown-pass performance in Saturday night’s 65-21 rout of Texas Tech, Bradford earned five of 10 first-place votes to jump from third to first with 42 total points. McCoy, who was off Saturday, remained in second place with 41 points that included three first-place votes.

The leader the previous three weeks, Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell, fell two spots to third, with defending Heisman-winner Tim Tebow of Florida remaining in fourth. The Heisman will be awarded Dec. 13 in New York City.

In its 22nd year, the Rocky poll is the longest-running weekly Heisman ranking in the country. The final poll, taken in December, has predicted the Heisman winner correctly in 18 of the previous 21 seasons. Ten voters select five players each week. The tabulations are made on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis, with five points for a first-place vote, four points for second, etc. First-place votes are in parentheses.

The Hlog notes: Heisman voters only list three players. Greene got either one fourth-place vote or two fifth-place votes. Which means he would have received zero votes had these 10 people — which include some well-known names in sports journalism — sent their Heisman ballots today.

This week’s Rocky poll, with statistics from last week:

Player, position	School	Last week	Points
Sam Bradford, QB	Oklahoma	14-for-19 passing, 304 yards, 4 TDs	42 (5)
Colt McCoy, QB	Texas	Did not play	41 (3)
Graham Harrell, QB	Texas Tech	33-for-55 passing, 361 yards, 3 TDs	27 (1)
Tim Tebow, QB	Florida	9-for-11, 201 yards passing, 3 TDs	23 (1)
Daryll Clark, QB	Penn State	16-for-26 passing, 341 yards, 4 TDs	4
Chase Daniel, QB	Missouri	Did not play	4

Others receiving votes: Knowshon Moreno (RB, Georgia) 3; Michael Crabtree, (WR, Texas Tech) 3; Shonn Greene (RB, Iowa) 2; Jeremy Maclin (WR, Missouri), 1.

Voters: Kirk Bohls, Austin (Texas) American-Statesman; Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Dennis Dodd, CBSSports.com; Vahe Gregorian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Mike Griffith, The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel; Michael Lewis, Salt Lake Tribune; Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News; John Lindsay, Scripps Howard News Service; Tom Luicci, The (Newark) Star-Ledger; John Rohde, The Oklahoman.

The link: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/nov/24/heisman-poll-sooners-qb-bradford-soars-top-tech-tr/

Odds Still Seem Against Greene Becoming a Heisman Finalist

Probable future U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Heisman pose

This will be edited as more information filters in, but early returns Sunday show it will be an uphill run for Iowa’s Shonn Greene to become a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2 1/2 weeks.

From sportingnews.com Sunday: “He has the numbers to get to New York, but the name recognition still isn’t there.”

In Heisman watches in the Denver Post and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Sunday, four players were listed. None were Greene.

Before Saturday’s games, a McClatchey Newspapers panel of nine Heisman voters listed the way they would fill out their ballots (you only get to vote for three players). Only Jeff Shain of the Miami Herald listed Greene, and at No. 3. Quarterbacks Graham Harrell of Texas Tech, Colt McCoy of Texas, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and Tim Tebow of Florida had every vote covered by the third-place vote for Greene and a third-place nod for Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree.

Greene’s 1,729 rushing yards lead all of Division I-A football, but it’s the Year of the Quarterback. Not that a running back with a dozen straight 100-yard games wouldn’t be a shoo-in for the Heisman ceremony had he played for a team headed for a BCS bowl, but an unranked 8-4 club has a harder time getting drum beats sounded for a Heisman candidacy.

It doesn’t help, either, that Greene isn’t glib or eager to do any self-promotion. Normally, the latter is a good thing.

Nonetheless, Greene will be making the rounds in December when national awards are handed out. He absolutely has to win the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back. There will be other honors, and a first-team All-America spot. Those aren’t bad consolation prizes if he isn’t invited to New York.

Then there’s a bowl game. You know, Greene is only a 271-yard game from a 2,000-yard season …

In an unrelated matter, congratulations to former Iowa defensive lineman Howard Hodges for being a member of the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders. Hodges played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last year, they went 3-15, and Hodges got waived. He hooked on with the Stampeders and played a significant role for the league champs.

Shonn Greene for Heisman Consideration a Campaign With Odds Stacked Against It

People in Iowa Hawkeye Land see no reason why Iowa running back Shonn Greene wouldn’t get included in the Heisman Trophy conversations at this point in the season

Their logic is reasonable. Greene is already over 1,000 rushing yards. He is averaging 162 yards and 6.5 yards per carry in Big Ten games.

But at this stage, just getting his name into the “also receiving votes” end of it is a tough enough hurdle. Reasons:

1. Iowa is 5-3.

2. Though his numbers are tailing off a bit and his team got walloped by Ohio State Saturday, Michigan State running back Javon Ringer is still mentioned in Heisman talk. It’s just out of politeness now, but Ringer’s name was in a lot of Heisman watches around the country Sunday, and Greene’s wasn’t. It doesn’t help that the Spartans beat Iowa when they met, though Greene was the more prolific back that day.

3. It’s a quarterback year. With a national television audience, Texas’ Colt McCoy was superb against Missouri. McCoy, already a national name, completed 29 of 32 passes as the Longhorns dissected Missouri, 56-31. He is the frontrunner after consecutive sterling efforts in wins against Oklahoma and Missouri. Greene has to go off against Penn State in three weeks to make a remotely similar impact.

On top of that, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford would probably be No. 2 to McCoy were the voting done today. Bradford has been tremendous week after week, even in OU’s loss to Texas.

4. Iowa hasn’t defeated a Top 25 team. It hasn’t played on national TV. Some Big Ten fans are just starting to get acquainted with Greene, so you know they aren’t in the South, East or West.

5. The Hawkeyes don’t play this week. The momentum Greene has with Heisman voters who are aware of his exploits will stall until things resume at Illinois next week. Iowa has to win that game, by the way, for Greene to be more than a novelty nationally. Then you worry about Penn State.

6. Greene had zero preseason buildup or name-recognition. It’s probably the reason why Iowa’s Brad Banks finished second to  USC”s Carson Palmer instead of vice versa for the 2002 Heisman. Never mind that Palmer probably deserved it. Had America known Banks and had Palmer come from nowhere instead of the other way around, Banks would have been Iowa’s second Heisman winner.

So … Greene for the Heisman is a long, long longshot. So what? It doesn’t diminish a single thing he’s done, and it certainly doesn’t dampen any of the warm feelings Hawkeye fans have about his play. And if he continues on his current path and gets that national love in the final month of the season, it’s unexpected gravy.

Hlist: Everything That Happened Last Week in College Football and So Much More

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Opening kickoff

“Northwestern is not ready for this, not yet. It was 5-0 and ranked Nos. 22 and 23 in two of the three major polls. But it had beaten up on nobodies and one sort-of, Iowa.” — Greg Couch of the Chicago Sun-Times, on the Wildcats’ 37-20 loss to Michigan State

First downs

1. Schooling His Old School: Minnesota Coach Tim Brewster was the captain of Illinois’ 1983 Rose Bowl team. In his first game at Illinois’ Memorial Stadium, his 12-point underdog Gophers shocked the Fighting Illini, 27-20.

“It’s hard. I have mixed emotions,” Brewster said. “I care about my alma mater. But I also have tremendous feelings for this Minnesota team. We came here on a mission to win. We have a philosophy: ‘Why not us? Why not now?'”

The 6-1 Gophers were 1-11 last year, Brewster’s debut season as their coach.

“We’re already bowl-eligible. This is very exciting for me, very exciting for the seniors,” said Minnesota linebacker Steve Davis. “We just want to keep pushing and get to that Rose Bowl.”

Uh, Minnesota did allow 550 yards to the Illini, 462 of those passing. Don’t make Pasadena plans just yet, Gopher fans.

2. JoePa’s Got Jump: Every Wisconsin home game, UW students spend the time between the third and fourth quarters jumping to House of Pain’s “Jump Around.”

Penn State linebacker Nate Stupar jumped to the music Saturday, too. Nittany Lions defensive tackle Jared Odrick broke into a dance.

You’d dance, too, if you’d beaten the Badgers 48-7 in their Camp Randall Stadium. It’s normally a house of pain for visitors.

Are the 7-0 Nittany Lions in the national title picture?

“We certainly deserve to be considered,” said their coach, Joe Paterno.
3. Imperfect Storm: Oklahoma and Missouri supposedly were on a collision course to meet in the Big 12 title game, maybe both with 12-0 records. Then they faced Texas and Oklahoma State, respectively.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy hadn’t liked the way he played the week before at Colorado. He told Longhorns Coach Mack Brown, “I didn’t play very well tonight, but next week is my week.”

McCoy was a prophet. He completed 28 of 35 passes and expertly steered the Horns to a 45-35 win over the No. 1 Sooners. Now Texas is No. 1.

Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy’s players are 20 (and 21 and 22). They are men. They won at No. 3 Missouri, 28-23.

The $165 million that oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens donated to Oklahoma State in 2006 to transform the school’s football stadium and training areas is bearing fruit.

“Boone, he was there (in the OSU locker room after the Missouri win) and he was excited,” Gundy said. “He hadn’t had a lot to be excited about lately.”

Pickens filed suit last week against Lehman Brothers, claiming the investment bank owes him and four of his energy funds $59.9 million.

As the Hlist always says, $59.9 million here and $59.9 million there, pretty soon it adds up to some real money.

4. FIU is AOK: The Hlist and others in Iowa had their fun with Florida International in early September. FIU did nothing to help its football reputation by losing 42-0 to the Hawkeyes.

Look who’s won three in a row, the latest a 33-21 handling of Middle Tennessee State.

True freshman T.Y. Hilton caught a 63-yard touchdown pass against MTSU. Hilton is nicknamed ”T.Y. Goodbye” by FIU fans. The well-known AOL signoff “Goodbye” was played on the stadium speakers after he scored.

Twice, when Middle Tennessee punted out of bounds to avoid him, Hilton turned to the FIU student section and turned his thumbs down. That got the students booing the MTSU punter.

Who knew FIU football was so fun?

Fumbles

1. Badgered Bret: “When you get into the coaching profession you know there are going to be good days and bad days,” Wisconsin Coach Bret Bielema said. “Today …”

That was said Saturday night in Madison after a 48-7 loss to Penn State, Wisconsin’s third straight loss and its worst since a 51-3 pounding from Miami 19 years ago.

Bielema, a former Iowa player and assistant coach, began this year with a 21-5 mark, 12-4 in the Big Ten. Things have gotten harder.

This was a preseason Big Ten title contender? Now it’s a dazed and confused outfit that is coming to Iowa on Saturday.

“I would have put a house up saying we’ll never start 0-3, even with the three games we had,” junior linebacker Jaevery McFadden said.

That’s why the NCAA doesn’t let its players gamble.

2. Wasted Juice: Illinois Coach Ron Zook feared his team would have a letdown after its 45-20 win at Michigan the week before. It did. Now 3-3 Illinois has as many losses as it did all last season.

“Just because you go to Michigan and win a game there, that doesn’t mean (anything),” he said. “Everybody in this league is out to get you.”

Illini quarterback Juice Williams set a Memorial Stadium record with 503 total yards. Illinois entered Gopher territory 10 times, for an average of two points per visit.

Note to the Illini: You don’t get many Juice Williamses. You may want to stop wasting the one you have.

(AP photo)

3. Michigan’s a Mess: Michigan lost 13-10 to Toledo, a team that had been 1-4 and got clobbered at home by Florida International. Which is in worse shape in the Detroit-Ann Arbor area, Ford Motor Company or Wolverines football?

Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press: “The Big House has become a big joke. There is no safe sanctuary for what’s quickly crystallizing into the worst Wolverines season in more than 40 years.

“The Rockets’ 13-10 stunner drove another stake through the guts and pride of a Michigan program that must wonder this worrisome morning if there’s actually another win somewhere on its schedule.”

4. Picks, Not Kicks: Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes picked off two passes in the Gators’ 51-21 pasting of LSU. He returned his second interception 52 yards for a touchdown, then weakly punted the ball into the end zone stands.

“Just the passion for the game kinda took over,” Spikes said. “(Punter Chas Henry) said ‘You kinda shanked that thing.'”

Florida Coach Urban Meyer on Spikes’ 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty:

“I’m going to kill him. But that’s all right.”

Final gun

“Texas is better than OU.

“Go ahead. Read it to yourself. Read it aloud. Scream it if you want. Tell the neighbors. Text someone. Write your congressman.

“It’s true. Texas has a better football team than Oklahoma. Savor it, Longhorn fans. Feel it, take it in, believe it.” — Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman.

Kirk seemed a bit giddy.