TxStar61
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Did Adrian Peterson have his Best Record-Breaking day against Texas???
I realize that the article below is a commentary BUT I'm a tad confused!!!
I also realize that I don't follow Texas but looks like Johnson would have stood out against Oklahoma and would have been talked about more...
Honestly, I wanna know what ya think????
www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/bohls/11BOHLS.html
COMMENTARY: KIRK BOHLS
A Heisman split? Call it the Heismen
Johnson might be Horns MVP, but Heisman doesn't favor defense.
Cedric Benson: Running back has been on Heisman list all season. Derrick Johnson: Defensive star might be Longhorns' MVP.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Cedric Benson was simply asked if teammate Derrick Johnson belongs in this year's mix of Heisman Trophy candidates.
Benson, remember, is on record as saying he'd rather win the Heisman than have Eva Longoria's kids, win the lottery and be adopted by Donald Trump, or something to that effect.
If the question weren't a conflict of interest, it was certainly a conflict of travel plans. The Downtown Athletic Club has in the past invited as many as six finalists for the trophy ceremony, but sometimes as few as three.
So what do you think, Ced-dog? Is Johnson Heisman-worthy?
"Yeah, why not?" the senior running back mused this week. "He's a great player. Are y'all going to throw him in the shuffle?"
Someone should. Johnson certainly qualifies. The Longhorns' senior linebacker is definitely the best linebacker in college football, and arguably its best defensive player. His coach, Mack Brown, said this week that Johnson is "the best defensive player I've ever been around."
Pretty straightforward there.
When Texas defensive coordinator Greg Robinson was asked if he had coached a faster linebacker in college, he said, "No. Or in the pros. Guys like Ian Gold, John Mobley, Marvin Jones, they could really run. Derrick can hang with any of those guys."
You also have to factor in that Johnson has made every tackle this season, give or take three or four. He's forced eight fumbles. He strips better than most people do with a pole.
He's actually got more highlight plays than Benson, one of the main reasons Cedric won't win on Dec. 11. Did you see Johnson try to run down Oklahoma State's Vernand Morency last Saturday when the Cowboy had a 10-yard head start?
But defensive players win the Heisman about as often as Mike Tyson reads a book. In the previous 69 years of the award, exactly one defensive player has left New York City with the big chunk of metal.
And that was Charles Woodson, Michigan's two-way defensive back-wide receiver. One of my best friends is still ticked at me for voting him over Tennessee's Peyton Manning.
Of course, I gave my Heisman vote to Oklahoma wrecking ball Roy Williams in 2001, and he didn't make the top four.
The Rocky Mountain News has tracked the race in the Scripps-Howard weekly poll of 10 Heisman voters since 1986 and has correctly predicted the winner every year but two. In those two misses, the poll winner finished second in the actual Heisman race by a single point. That bodes well for current poll leader Jason White.
In this year's Scripps-Howard balloting, the voters have cast mythical ballots for more than 20 players. Not one of them plays defense.
Johnson doesn't stand a chance in the real campaign unless very few voters mail or e-mail their vote. Only 87 percent turned in their votes last year.
Maybe Johnson will benefit from a low turnout or from a failure to locate voters. For instance, DAC doesn't have the ZIP code for Ricky Williams' tent in Australia, so he may not get his ballot. Even if he did, he might use the paper to roll something up.
So we have an easy solution to fix this disparity.
Split the Heisman.
Take a power-saw and slice it right down the middle (we'll hope it's not anatomically correct). That'd be perfect. One Heisman for the offense, one for the defense. (Pssst. Don't tell Richmond McGee.) Call them the Heismen.
I'm not waiting for the DAC to hail my Solomonic wisdom and rush to unveil this new plan. In 1977, the club presented the Heisman to our own Earl Campbell but also doled out six other DAC awards to soothe feelings. That was scrapped the following year.
"This is the greatest award an individual can achieve in sports," said Tim Henning, the Heisman associate director. "I know the Heisman trustees feel similarly. I don't think they'd move to change that."
I don't either. And we're only half-serious. What is true is that Texas has the nation's best tandem of one offensive and one defensive player, bar none. Put it on those terms, and no one can top Benson and Johnson, your Heismen favorites.
Behind them, I'd rank Georgia's David Greene and David Pollack, Southern Cal's Matt Leinart and Shaun Cody, Oklahoma's White and Dan Cody and Wisconsin's Anthony Davis and Erasmus James. Utah's Alex Smith and Morgan Scalley are next and would be fifth if for any reason any of the previous five were unable to fulfill the duties of the top five.
Even though Johnson is probably the Longhorns' MVP this season, I'd argue Benson carries a bigger impact.
Without Johnson, the defense would still be very, very good. Take away Benson, and the offense is averaging about 200 fewer yards and the team has two more losses.
But as a pair, they're beyond compare.
kbohls@statesman.com
I realize that the article below is a commentary BUT I'm a tad confused!!!
I also realize that I don't follow Texas but looks like Johnson would have stood out against Oklahoma and would have been talked about more...
Honestly, I wanna know what ya think????
www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/bohls/11BOHLS.html
COMMENTARY: KIRK BOHLS
A Heisman split? Call it the Heismen
Johnson might be Horns MVP, but Heisman doesn't favor defense.
Cedric Benson: Running back has been on Heisman list all season. Derrick Johnson: Defensive star might be Longhorns' MVP.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Cedric Benson was simply asked if teammate Derrick Johnson belongs in this year's mix of Heisman Trophy candidates.
Benson, remember, is on record as saying he'd rather win the Heisman than have Eva Longoria's kids, win the lottery and be adopted by Donald Trump, or something to that effect.
If the question weren't a conflict of interest, it was certainly a conflict of travel plans. The Downtown Athletic Club has in the past invited as many as six finalists for the trophy ceremony, but sometimes as few as three.
So what do you think, Ced-dog? Is Johnson Heisman-worthy?
"Yeah, why not?" the senior running back mused this week. "He's a great player. Are y'all going to throw him in the shuffle?"
Someone should. Johnson certainly qualifies. The Longhorns' senior linebacker is definitely the best linebacker in college football, and arguably its best defensive player. His coach, Mack Brown, said this week that Johnson is "the best defensive player I've ever been around."
Pretty straightforward there.
When Texas defensive coordinator Greg Robinson was asked if he had coached a faster linebacker in college, he said, "No. Or in the pros. Guys like Ian Gold, John Mobley, Marvin Jones, they could really run. Derrick can hang with any of those guys."
You also have to factor in that Johnson has made every tackle this season, give or take three or four. He's forced eight fumbles. He strips better than most people do with a pole.
He's actually got more highlight plays than Benson, one of the main reasons Cedric won't win on Dec. 11. Did you see Johnson try to run down Oklahoma State's Vernand Morency last Saturday when the Cowboy had a 10-yard head start?
But defensive players win the Heisman about as often as Mike Tyson reads a book. In the previous 69 years of the award, exactly one defensive player has left New York City with the big chunk of metal.
And that was Charles Woodson, Michigan's two-way defensive back-wide receiver. One of my best friends is still ticked at me for voting him over Tennessee's Peyton Manning.
Of course, I gave my Heisman vote to Oklahoma wrecking ball Roy Williams in 2001, and he didn't make the top four.
The Rocky Mountain News has tracked the race in the Scripps-Howard weekly poll of 10 Heisman voters since 1986 and has correctly predicted the winner every year but two. In those two misses, the poll winner finished second in the actual Heisman race by a single point. That bodes well for current poll leader Jason White.
In this year's Scripps-Howard balloting, the voters have cast mythical ballots for more than 20 players. Not one of them plays defense.
Johnson doesn't stand a chance in the real campaign unless very few voters mail or e-mail their vote. Only 87 percent turned in their votes last year.
Maybe Johnson will benefit from a low turnout or from a failure to locate voters. For instance, DAC doesn't have the ZIP code for Ricky Williams' tent in Australia, so he may not get his ballot. Even if he did, he might use the paper to roll something up.
So we have an easy solution to fix this disparity.
Split the Heisman.
Take a power-saw and slice it right down the middle (we'll hope it's not anatomically correct). That'd be perfect. One Heisman for the offense, one for the defense. (Pssst. Don't tell Richmond McGee.) Call them the Heismen.
I'm not waiting for the DAC to hail my Solomonic wisdom and rush to unveil this new plan. In 1977, the club presented the Heisman to our own Earl Campbell but also doled out six other DAC awards to soothe feelings. That was scrapped the following year.
"This is the greatest award an individual can achieve in sports," said Tim Henning, the Heisman associate director. "I know the Heisman trustees feel similarly. I don't think they'd move to change that."
I don't either. And we're only half-serious. What is true is that Texas has the nation's best tandem of one offensive and one defensive player, bar none. Put it on those terms, and no one can top Benson and Johnson, your Heismen favorites.
Behind them, I'd rank Georgia's David Greene and David Pollack, Southern Cal's Matt Leinart and Shaun Cody, Oklahoma's White and Dan Cody and Wisconsin's Anthony Davis and Erasmus James. Utah's Alex Smith and Morgan Scalley are next and would be fifth if for any reason any of the previous five were unable to fulfill the duties of the top five.
Even though Johnson is probably the Longhorns' MVP this season, I'd argue Benson carries a bigger impact.
Without Johnson, the defense would still be very, very good. Take away Benson, and the offense is averaging about 200 fewer yards and the team has two more losses.
But as a pair, they're beyond compare.
kbohls@statesman.com
