Tag: Tim Tebow (Page 19 of 32)

Alabama’s Mark Ingram wins Heisman

Alabama running back Mark Ingram won the 2009 Heisman Trophy, which was handed out Saturday night.

From ESPN.com:

Ingram finished 28 points ahead of Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, the tightest finish in the 75-year history of the award.

Ingram wiped away tears before starting his speech and his voice wavered throughout.

“I’m a little overwhelmed right now,” he said. “I’m just so excited to bring Alabama their first Heisman winner.”

Ingram received 227 first-place votes and 1,304 points. Gerhart got 222 first-place votes and 1,276 points, while Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, last season’s runner-up, received 203 and 1,145.

Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was fourth and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman two years ago, was fifth.

Gerhart was an absolute beast from start to finish this season, but at times, Ingram was all the offense Alabama had until the final couple games of the season. (Plus, he helped get his team to the national championship.)

Between him and Gerhart, both well deserving of the award and it’s not surprising that the final vote was so close.


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Mandel: Ranking the Bowls 1-34

SI.com’s Stewart Mandel recently ranked all 34 bowl games.

Here are his top 5:

1) BCS National Championship Game (Jan. 7): Alabama (13-0) vs. Texas (13-0). It’s the first-ever matchup of two 13-0 teams. Colt McCoy. Mark Ingram. Rolando McClain. Sergio Kindle. Yeah, I’m thinking you might want to tune in.

2) Sugar (Jan. 1): Cincinnati (12-0) vs. Florida (12-1). It’s spread vs. spread, Tim Tebow vs. Tony Pike, Mardy Gilyard vs. Joe Haden. It may be a letdown game for the Gators, but it should still be entertaining.

3) Fiesta (Jan. 4): TCU (12-0) vs. Boise State (13-0). Enough with the outrage, people: You know you’re going to watch. The nation’s No. 1 passer, Broncos quarterback Kellen Moore, goes up against the nation’s top-ranked defense.

4) Rose (Jan. 1): Ohio State (10-2) vs. Oregon (10-2). Dangerous dual-threat star Jeremiah Masoli is what Terrelle Pryor was supposed to be. But the Buckeyes present the toughest defense the Ducks have faced since Boise.

5) Orange (Jan. 5): Georgia Tech (11-2) vs. Iowa (10-2). You remember the Hawkeyes. They love low scores and dramatic finishes. With a month to prepare, can Pat Angerer, Tyler Sash and Co. stifle Josh Nesbitt and the triple-option?

That’s how I would have my top 5, although the Fiesta and Sugar bowls might be interchangeable. I love watching TCU’s defense play and I’m intrigued about how Gary Patterson will game plan to stop Boise’s offense. That said, I’m interested to see how Cincinnati responds after Brian Kelly ditched them for Notre Dame.

I know Georgia Tech’s triple-option is exciting to watch and Iowa does have a solid front seven, but that matchup just doesn’t have the same appeal as the other four. Maybe it’ll wind up being the best BCS game of the season, but the matchup offers little sizzle compared to the other top bowls.


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Decade Debate: 15 Best College Football Players

Judging which college football player was the best over the past decade can be a tricky endeavor. Do you rank a player that has won a Heisman higher than one that has not? Do you penalize a player if he played in a pass-happy system that allowed him to put up lofty numbers? Do you judge his performance based on the talent around him or the difficulty of his competition? As part of our ongoing Decade Debate series, here is a top 15 ranking of the best college football players of the past decade. Perhaps more than any of our lists in this decade series, this one could be debated the most given the factors that surround it.

15. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson

If you want to be entertained, try turning on a Clemson game and watching Spiller for three-plus hours. He’s a terrific runner, an electrifying return man and one of the deadliest weapons in college football. He is the only player besides Reggie Bush to post 2,500 yards rushing, 1,500 yards in kickoff returns, 1,000 yards receiving and 5,000 yards in punt returns. He’s also tied a NCAA record for most kickoff returns for touchdowns with six. If it weren’t for a lackluster junior season, he’d probably rank higher on this list.

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Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen to turn pro

ESPN.com reports that Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen has decided to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft.

“After the season, in talking to my parents and obviously Coach Weis, I just feel it’s the right time,” Clausen told ESPN.com on Monday before a scheduled 2 p.m. ET news conference in South Bend. “Coach Weis told me whether he was going to be here or not be here, it was time for me to go. He thought I’ve improved so much since I came to Notre Dame. So, I’m taking his advice, and I’m going to head out.”

“It’ll probably be just like going from high school to college, but a lot faster than college is. Obviously, being under Coach Weis, being in a pro-style offense, knowing the terminologies, will help me. But the biggest thing will probably be just getting in the playbook and mentally preparing myself to do everything I can to get on the field as quick as I can and help whichever team I go to win.”

Mel Kiper has Clausen rated as the top quarterback on his big board and the fourth best prospect overall.

He’ll unfairly be compared to Brady Quinn because they played in the same offense at Notre Dame, but at least in my opinion, Clausen is a more polished prospect now than Quinn was when he entered the draft. In terms of raw talent and upside, Clausen beats Quinn but that obviously doesn’t mean that he’ll be a better pro.

With Sam Bradford, Jake Locker, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow set to join Clausen in April, the 2010 NFL Draft will have plenty of intrigue surrounding the quarterback class.

Six Pack of Observations: Alabama crushes Florida in SEC title game

Here are six quick-hit observations for Alabama’s 32-13 shellacking of Florida in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game.

1. Maybe Lane Kiffin had it right after all.
Maybe that brash Lane Kiffin had it right when he said earlier this week that, “Florida has better players, and Alabama has better coaches.” And actually, Kiffin only had it half right. Nick Saban outschemed, outcoached and outsmarted Urban Meyer for four quarters and not only did ‘Bama have the better coaches, but they proved to have the better players as well. Meyer simply didn’t have his team prepared to play today – period.

2. This was total domination at its best.
The game wasn’t even as close as the final score wound indicate. Alabama’s backfield trio of quarterback Greg McElroy (12-of-18 passing, 239 yards, 1 TD) and running backs Mark Ingram (113 yards, 3 TDs) and Trent Richardson (80 yards on 11 carries, 7.3 YPC average) played near-flawless games. The Tide dominated the Gators in every phase of the contest and never let up after smacking Florida in the mouth from the very first drive.

3. So much for Florida’s game plan.
Coming into the game, pundits figured that if Florida stopped Ingram that the Gators come out victorious. But instead, Alabama’s game plan to stay balanced was executed to perfection because not only were the Gators unable to stop Ingram, but they were unable to stop McElroy too. Florida tried a variety of different looks and in the end they just had no answer for what the Tide was doing offensively. And it really didn’t even matter that defensive end Carlos Dunlap (who was suspended after arrested for DUI earlier in the week) didn’t play because Florida just had the wrong scheme.

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