Michigan's Denard Robinson is putting up lofty numbers in the Heisman race.
View full sizeMichigan quarterback Denard Robinson has the loftiest numbers in the country. But they've come against lesser teams. Are they enough to take the Heisman from Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor or Alabama's Mark Ingram?It means that Denard Robinson, just 3 games into this season, is not only leading the Heisman race, he's actively destroying everyone else involved, including the ghosts of winners past. In looking at similar-style players of the past, and the entire seasons that ended with them winning the award, Denard will have to at least maintain production during the conference schedule in order to actually win the award. Crouch and Young had their best games against a conference opponent later in the season. Making a snack out of Notre Dame is no small task, and I'm not implying that it should be taken lightly for Denard's campaign, but if he starts to fade over the course of conference play, it will not bode well for him winning the award. He will not be able to hang his Heisman hat on the Notre Dame game. He will likely need a "statement" or "signature" game against a Big Ten foe (Ohio State? Pretty please?) in order to truly lock down on the award.
Robinson's numbers truly are amazing. He's 53 of 76 with four touchdowns and a lone interception for a 158.6 quarterback rating. Rushing, he's gained 559 yards on 74 attempts and scored four TD's.
Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor doesn't have rushing numbers that lofty, but his passer rating is comparable, at 156.2. Plus he's 51 or 81 for 715 yards, six touchdowns and a pair of picks. But most important, the Buckeyes have actually faced a ranked opponent in Miami, albeit sandwiched between lesser schools like Marshall and Ohio University.
Should be fun.
Uh, right
Eastern Michigan, Ohio State's next victim, er, visitor to Columbus, has a decent sports information office. And by decent, we mean loyal. So in putting together the preview for this weekend's beating, they decided to dredge up some ancient history, like with Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel was at the helm at Youngstown State.
Eastern Michigan had successful battles with Jim Tressel-coached teams at Youngstown State, with the then-Hurons holding a 4-1 record against the Penguins between 1986 and 1990. The four setbacks account for five percent of Tressel's 78 career losses in 25 years as a head coach.
Eastern won the Sept. 6, 1986 match-up in Youngstown by a slim 18-17 margin before following it up with a 35-20 victory Sept. 5, 1987, at Rynearson Stadium en route to the school's lone Mid-American Conference Championship. The Green and White then posted a 17-12 victory, Sept. 10, 1988, and added a 14-3 decision Sept. 9, 1989. Tressel's lone victory occurred in the series finale, when YSU won 24-14, Sept. 22, 1990.
Looks like Eastern Michigan looks at life with a revised version of Robert Browning's quote, something like: A man's straw should exceed his grasp. Rufus the Brawling Bobcat has a better chance of picking up a date at a sorority mixer in Columbus than EMU does.