This shapes up as a close contest with Fla instilled as a 2.5 point favorite at the moment. The question is.....can the Hogs throw on single coverage because no doubt the UF defense will stack 7 or 8 men against the run. Now....if Zook were still coach he would be convinced that Ark was going to throw on every down because they ran so much in previous games that they must be secretly planning to be the anti-running team vs. Florida. We all saw where Zook's philosophy landed him. So....Arkansas will run the ball and they have the weapons to do it..most especially next year's Heisman winner Darren McFadden. In fact...he may be 2nd on this year's ballot... http://cfn.scout.com/2/595196.html The guy is phenomenal and he is of great concern to this Florida fan. With a little research I discovered why he didn't show up in the stats vs. USC....he was recovering from late July toe surgery! No question that as McFadden goes so goes Arkansas.
I don't think Fla can score enough points on the Hogs to win this one. Not to mention that losing 2 starters to smoking dope can't have made your defense better.
Only Marcus Thomas is out of this game. He will be missed but hopefully it can be made up in numbers. I don't see Arkansas scoring more than 24 points tops. I hope UF can score 25. Remember Auburn only scored 27 because of a punt block inside the UF 10 and a last play of the game return of an desperation fumbled lateral. That's 14 points of the 27 scored. Who else lit up UF this year and why should Arkansas be so much different?
I don't think the Gators can score more than 17 on the Hogs, the Hog's are likely to put up 25+ on the Gators.
You think Arkansas is balanced enough to do that? Why has no other offense been able to generate much vs. UF this year?
I still think Quinn is the most deserving. He had 88 yards rushing, 274 yards passing, 3 TDs and no interceptions against a defense that Pete Carroll said is the best and fastest he has ever coached. And he did that while getting the hell beat out of him from start to finish. ND does not have the talent of some of the top teams yet Quinn's stats are phenomenal. Again, this is no disrespect to Troy Smith but imagine what BQ would do in that OSU offense.
Let's face it, you guys haven't played a single team with a great offense yet this season. There just aren't any in the SEC this year.
That's easy. Florida hasn't faced good offenses. Florida's opponents average offensive ranking is as follows: Scoring 59/ 119 teams Yards 56/ 119 teams
Troy Smith just completed 70.7% of his passes for 316 yards and a QB rating of 162.79 against one of the premier defenses in the country. As good as Brady played (he was outstanding) you are claiming statistics and he completed less than 50% of his throws for 274 yds. and a rating of 122.4. Brady Quinn had a phenomenal game and he is as tough as nails and could be my quarterback anytime...but I don't know what Troy Smith has to do to earn a little respect (y'all always say "no disrespect" before disrespecting him. :wink: )
I compare it to a Nascar race. Smith is competing in Jimmie Johnson's Chevy and Quinn is in a VW Passat. You get my point. May the best man win.
It will be interesting to see 1) how Smith does against USC and 2) how Smith fares in the NFL Draft. Never the less I think he has earned the Heisman Trophy, he's had a great year and I don't think they take votes away from you for having great recievers and a great OL/running game or anything else.
I don't know if it's possible to pick the best man in a situation like this...these arguments are somewhat silly...like arguing about whether Sandy Kofax or Roger Clemens was better...who the hell knows? Biased as I am towards our guy, I've tried to not post anything saying that he is better or more deserving than BQ...just posted stats and stuff that I thought refuted things said against him. As you all know, the Heisman is not only an overhyped "flavor of the day" award, but they try to make it into a "race", hyping some candidates while ignoring others, particularly those whose abilities don't come into notice until later in the year. But it's what we have, and even those of us who dis it turn around and tout how many Heisman's our school's athletes have won over the years. BQ and TS have both come through the pressure with remarkably great years and both are truly unselfish team players.
Stu you need to change your signature...you've beaten me!! You're at 2000 posts and I'm not even to 22K!!
"Let's face it, you guys haven't played a single team with a great offense yet this season. There just aren't any in the SEC this year." Tenn hangs 35 on Cal and LSU 45 on Arizona. I take it the Pac 10 has even worse defenses than the SEC has offenses? I think the real issue that the SEC plays great defense. We will find out more about this in the bowls to come. More on UF's defense vs. Ark RUN DMC... http://www.gatorsports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061128/GATORS01/211280355
Imagine what Troy could do if the passing game were the focal point and he had the benefit of Charlie's offensive "genius".....? Hell, poor Troy had to struggle through 2 years of Tressell ball and still took the prize. Troy performed brilliantly and at his best when the lights were brightest and the stage was the biggest. That always has been and always will be worth a helluva lot of Heisman votes, imho. I would be dumbfounded if Brady didn't get drafted before Troy....Smith can make all the throws, is accurate, throws well on the run, makes great decisions and has a rocket arm but he isn't 6 feet standing on his tip toes and that will scare alot of NFL GM's. No doubt they know what they want and why but it didn't seem to hurt Troy at the college level!
No doubt the requirements for a great college QB and a great NFL QB can be different. You can be a great college QB without a rocket arm, without being 6'3" or taller, etc. That's why I love college football. I applaud Troy for his impending Heisman. Troy has a lot of talent and I don't think Michael Vick is more than about 6' isn't he? Also Doug Flutie had a long career and made a lot of money in football and he was 5'9". But I do think that Brady being 6'5" is very big with NFL GM's, and if you watched many ND games you saw that he never played behind a OL that was very good and took quite a pounding but never missed a start, that is very Bret Farve (243 straight starts). Brady has a strong arm to go with it and has played in an NFL Offense, that will hold a lot of water. I tell you who is going to be a 1st rounder is Jamarcus Russell of LSU, he doesn't have the petigree of Smith or Quinn but that kid has a lot of raw talent, he's big he is mobile, and he has a gun for an arm.
By the way in case you didn't fathom what I said... LSU/Tenn cumulative score vs. PAC 10 = 80 points :shock: LSU/Tenn cumulative score vs. Florida = 31 points :lol: Hmmmm...maybe the SEC as you say has no offense....or maybe...just maybe.. the Gators play pretty decent defense!!! 8) Ya think!
As I've said before, both Smith and Quinn deserve the Heisman. It's likely that Smith will get it because his very significant contribution to his team's great success on the field. If that happens, I applaud him and support the choice 100%.