Under The Radar: A New Heisman Favorite, Kicking Woes, Heisman Darkhorse and Big Ten Imbalance
A New Heisman Favorite: It is not often that Stanford RB Bryce Love is the second fastest runner on the field but on Saturday night that happened during his team's game against Oregon. Jack Rabbit Slim broke into the open and unofficially amassed over 100 yards and crossed the goal line three times before finally being corralled on the Oregon sideline. Being that this was California it's likely that representatives of PETA were on hand and ready to throw flags for any unnecessary roughness after the play (and not the rabbit) was whistled dead. Jack Rabbit Slim possesses the nation’s best breakaway speed and elusiveness. Said one player “Not only does he have great vision, but it’s like he’s all ears and can hear defenders before he even sees them.”
Speaking of Heisman Dark Horses: After the Oklahoma loss Ohio State QB JT Barrett was written off as a Heisman candidate. Don’t look now but the senior QB has racked up Heisman-worthy numbers. Barrett is hitting nearly 67% of his passes for 1838 yards 21 touchdowns and just 1 interception. He's also run for 359 yards and 5 touchdowns. Add it all up and he is averaging nearly 4 TDs per game and over 313 yards per game in total offense. While Baker Mayfield , Bryce Love and Saquon Barkley have emerged as favorites, JT Barrett has an off week and three marque games to state his case. A great game and win against #2 Penn State in two weeks could jump start him a dormant campaign. He also has a strong closing schedule including games against Iowa, #19 Michigan State and #15 Michigan to state his case.
Kickers—You Can’t Live With them…. Saturday as Washington was being upset by Arizona State 13-7 they missed two field goals that by the game’s end were the difference between losing and having a chance to win. For the season Washington’s kicker is 4/9 and as they found out those can kill you in a close game. Washington is not alone among the Nation’s top teams. Other top teams that should be nervous include #2 Penn State (6/13) and #16 NC State (6/11).
Big Ten East versus The Big Ten West: While Wisconsin has jumped out to a 2-game lead in the Big Ten West, the detractors have pointed to the huge perceived imbalance between the Big Ten East and West as though it was gospel fact. The historical numbers do not bear that out. Since the Big Ten added Rutgers and Maryland it has been fairly even. In 2014 and 2015 the inter-division series split evenly. In 2016 the West was actually 1-game better than the East. In 2017 the gap seems to have opened as the East is 6 games better than the West, but there are a number of games left.
Army Is On The March: Army has marched to a 5-2 record after stopping Eastern Michigan just inches from a game-winning score. The Black Knights boast the nation’s second-best ground game and are one game from bowl eligibility for just the third time in the past 21 seasons. With another win they will be Bowl eligible in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1984/85 seasons.
Screen Shots of The Day: This isn’t really a screen shot but is a picture from The Texas State Fair just outside the OU/Texas game last Saturday. It’s not every game where you can get a milking demonstration on your way to seeing a great college football game.
Part Two: The second shot gives you some idea of how long the line was to get a legendary Fletcher’s Corn Dog outside the OU/Texas game. Yes it was worth the wait.
