The Heisman Race

The Downtown Athletic Club will be presenting its Heisman Trophy to the "best" player in college football tonight. Four finalists have been selected and flown into NYC for the ceremony. This years race is so intriguing for a few reasons. First, there is no clear cut winner. We can narrow it down to four guys but once you get there it gets a little dicey. Second, the leading candidate in many peoples mind is an underclassman on a three loss team. This is how I think they'll should finish up.

4. Chase Daniel. Great player. Definitely deserves to be considered. He completed 70% of his passes and threw for 4170 yards. He had 33 touch downs and 10 picks. He had a passing rating of 151 and only lost to one team. But he lost to them once. And when your competition in this race is two other unbelievable quarterbacks your gonna need to have to do something amazing to separate you from the pack and Chase just doesn't have that. He's a great player who I would love to have on my team. But he's not gonna be the winner.

3. Darren McFadden. He could be the best player in college football. He rushed for 1725 yards and had 15 rushing touchdowns. He averaged over five yards a carry and ran for 143 yards a game. Who can forget his amazing performance against LSU. He rushed for 3 touchdowns and threw one. But at the same time how can you forget what he did against Auburn, Florida International and Mississippi State. In each of those games he was held under 90 yards and against Auburn he only mustered 43 yards. Maybe teams were piling players in the box but a Heisman winner should do better against his weaker opponents.

2. Tim Tebow. Amazing season. 68% pass completion, 29 touchdowns, only 6 picks! That doesn't include his rushing stats. 838 yards rushing, over 4 yards an attempt, 22 touchdowns, NO FUMBLES. He's an amazing player who deserves all the praise he getting. Most would say he's the front runner going into tonight's event. Here's my problem: He lost three games. When trying to find a Heisman trophy winner I think one of the most important factors is how well did your team do. I realize a great player can be on a not so great team and get great stats that blow away others. But the object of the game is to win, and if you don't win games while others in the Heisman race do I can't justify giving you the award. Tebow is an amazing player who is going to be scary good next year. They might as well give him next years Heisman tonight.

1. Colt Brennan. 71% pass completion, 4174 yards passing, 38 passing touchdowns, 8 rushing touchdowns and 380 passing yards a game. Who is more valuable to their team. If Hawaii didn't have Colt they wouldn't be anywhere near where they are now. Last season Brennan threw 58 touchdowns which is more than Tebow combined for this season. Let's not forget Brennan's most important stat, 0 losses. As in zip, nada, zilch. In a season where so many great teams had bad games and lost, when Hawaii had a bad game they won. They won because Colt Brennan picked apart opposing teams defences. There were a couple times this season when Hawaii looked down for the count. Down 21-0 to Washington in the last regular season game Brennan rallied his troops and came up with the win. The only knock I have heard about Brennan is his lack of schedule. Granted that's an important factor when deciding who gets to go to a BCS bowl game (cough, Kansas, cough), but Brennan could have performed like McFadden against Florida International or Mississippi State. The fact is he did what he had to do to win his games. And he put up some astounding numbers doing it.

So there's my take on how this years Heisman race should go down. In a few hours all this speculation will mean nothing and well know the winner. But until then lets debate.

P.S.- Where's Kevin Smith out of UCF. Not only did he pound the Wolfpack rushing defence but he's about to break Barry Sanders single season rushing mark. He should definitely be on the list.