Mathieu and the Heisman
by Poseur on Dec 10, 2011 8:49 AM CST
in Football
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PrintTyrann Mathieu is not going to win the Heisman. We all know this, not because NICKNAME REDACTED does not deserve the Heisman, but because the Heisman only goes to offensive players, and usually just players in the offensive backfield.
The one time the Downtown Athletic Club got cute and gave it to a defensive player, they gave it Charles Woodson, who also played some snaps at wide receiver. But let's just look at Woodson's defensive numbers in his Heisman winning campaign:
44 tackles
5 TFL
1 sack
9 pass break ups
8 INT
1 TD
That's pretty impressive. Let's look at NICKNAME REDACTED this season:
70 tackles
6.5 TFL
1.5 sacks
7 pass break ups
1 INT
4 TD
6 forced fumbles
4 fumble recoveries
Mathieu matches up. He has a ton more tackles and was a more disruptive player, constantly getting into the backfield to make tackles. OK, he doesn't have as many picks, but that's made up for by his amazing ability to force fumbles. And he's scored 4 touchdowns, an amazing number for a defensive player.
Mathieu is a guy who makes big plays. In LSU's last two games, the Tigers dug themselves into an early hole, only to get back into the game because of a big return by NICKNAME REDACTED. He didn't just score touchdowns, he scored touchdowns at crucial times to break the game open.
Look, there's a quarterback who puts up gaudy numbers every single season. It happens all of the time. Throwing for 4000 yards doesn't make you special, it just makes you the guy having a big season this year. It's your turn.
But Mathieu is a truly unique player. He's played all over the field and made big play after big play. There's no one who can do what NICKNAME REDACTED does. I can't even believe he does it with the stunning regularity he does.
Ask yourself: what player has had more impact on this season than Tyrann Mathieu? Who has been more "outstanding" than he has?
No, he won't win. But that doesn't mean that Tyrann Mathieu isn't the best player in college football. The only reason he won't win the Heisman is because he is a defensive back, and defensive players aren't allowed to win the Heisman. Well, NICKNAME REDCATED takes what he wants.
He deserves the Heisman.
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The Heisman depresses me
It’s easily the most prestigious individual honor in sports, and it’s also got one of the worst selection processes this side of the baseball Hall of Fame.
God the list I could come up with of players that had fantastic cases for the award and got next to no consideration. Only Ndamukong Suh has ever really gotten a serious push for it and all he had to do was have probably the best season we’re ever going to see out of a defensive tackle.
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
Baseball HOF
Of the Hall of Fames, it probably has the best selection process. Just sayin’.
Recently, the Heisman goes to the best player on the best team.
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A process where voters routinely hold grudges
And refuse to vote people in on the first ballot because…well NOBODY gets in on the first ballot…is the best selection progress? Vehemently disagree.
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Dec 10, 2011 1:26 PM CST up reply actions
Case and point: Ron Santo
He’s a hall of famer now that he’s dead, but he hasn’t been for the past however many years he’s been eligible?
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Dec 10, 2011 1:27 PM CST up reply actions
Ron Santo
He should’ve been in a long time ago, I agree. But the Hall tends to err on exclusion instead of inclusion. Santo was one of their misses (as is Lou Whittaker, not as tragic, but him falling off the ballot was ridiculous). But the Hall’s misses are not that common, particularly when compared to other Halls.
OK, the 1970s era Vet Committee let in a slew of undeserving players, but that stands out as the exception, not the rule. And that same VC finally let in Santo.
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I'm with you on erring on exclusion over inclusion
But just the way they go about it is so ridiculous to me. You either are a hall of famer or you aren’t, and the passage of time shouldn’t be a factor. I have the same problem in football. A guy like Cris Carter shouldn’t have to wait to go in when he’s a no-doubt-about-it hall of famer.
Really, I think my gripe is more with the voters than the Hall itself, which is the same deal with the Heisman. I think there should be a huge culling of both heards. And with baseball, I would start with any moron who says “I never vote for anybody on the first ballot.”
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Dec 10, 2011 1:38 PM CST up reply actions
Correct me if I'm wrong
Weren’t Dorsey’s numbers his senior year comparable to Suh’s last year? And he did all that while missing time or playing injured through the back half the of the year. In it’s own way, I think that was the best season by a DT I’ve ever seen. He took all the other hardware, but he should’ve been a Heisman candidate.
by MikeDeTiger on Dec 10, 2011 12:11 PM CST up reply actions
Suh's #s were out of this world
I want to say he led his team in literally every defensive category — including passes defensed.
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Dec 10, 2011 1:25 PM CST up reply actions
65 tackles, 12 sacks, another 12 TFLs, 10 pass break-ups, 3 blocked kicks and an INT.
That’s including the 12 tackle, 7 TFLs in the Big 12 title game. Still the best single-game performance I’ve ever seen from a DT.
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Dec 10, 2011 1:46 PM CST up reply actions
Next year
Our new number 7 just has to have a great NCG and put numbers like this up again, and he has a great shot. He’s a sophomore, eh?
by CeeDave on Dec 10, 2011 10:14 AM CST via mobile reply actions
I was wondering the same thing
all I can think of is because of the university’s “witch hunt” to get rid of all the unlicenced T-shirts, etc.
Head coach Les Miles of the LSU Tigers leads his team in their usual pregame warmup song "Head, Sheauxlders, Knees, and Teauxs." -Spencer Hall
by andyj on Dec 10, 2011 10:59 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Exactly
Making fun of the NCAA’s crack down on fun.
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by Poseur on Dec 10, 2011 11:44 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
As I said a year ago,
Mathieu is fly paper for turnovers. Throw in the attitude, and he makes it easy for fans of our opponents to hate him.
Heisman: RG3 or Ball are OK choices for me. They put up crazy numbers, and RG3 in particular, has carried his team. The smartass in me sort of hopes it is gifted to Richardson, just so our defense can “corrupt the Heisman trophy” in the championship game, as Lionel Turner famously said of Jason White.
He's got 2 INTs, not 1
My idea is that every specific body strives to become master over all space and to extend its force (--its will to power:) and to thrust back all that resists its extension.
Against Florida...
who was the other one against again?
West Virginia on the deflected pass
"The 2011 Tigers, on the field at least, are boring. See target, swing war club, rinse the brains and skull fragments off and repeat." - Billy Gomila
by Curtis Bleaux on Dec 10, 2011 9:33 PM CST up reply actions
Nickname Redacted don't care
He’s gonna have a Ring or three when he goes pro!
Also, Are you guys giving Nickname Redacted credit for the forced fumble against WKU?
His total should be at 12, and that was the official stat given on ESPN yesterday. I was gonna say something back when it happened but I thought it might not be an official FTO for some reason until I saw the tally on the WWL.
Just don’t want to take a treat away from Nickname Redacted….
GEAUX TIGERS!!!
I'd like to see him on the other side of the ball for a couple of plays against Bama.
They won’t punt to him or throw to his side of the field. The more he touches the ball the better.
by lsufanfrommobile on Dec 10, 2011 5:47 PM CST reply actions
I like that idea...
That is similar to what the Bears did with Devin Hester. He was so good at returning the ball that they wanted to get his hands on the ball more to see what happens.
I wouldn’t want him to take too many offensive snaps just for fear of fatigue being a factor. That and some gung ho DE trying to make a name for taking out NICKNAME REDACTED.
"The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes." – Winston Churchill
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