Continuing the discussion in the Windmill Sigs thread.

[Five-ofan]

We have hijacked his thread enough so I decided that it would be a good idea to make a different one. About Williams, I have never seen him play so i recuse myself from voting one way or the other on how good he is. That said, LT played at TCU who doesnt exactly have a great SOS and he has done pretty well in the nfl. I say again, if Bush wins it this year I wont be upset but he had no business being anywhere near the Heisman ceremony last year. He wasnt a top 5 running back much less a top 5 player.

[mnmpeanut]

what's a non-bcs player

was ladanian considered one?

cause I mean, look how he's doing now =)

LT is a perfect example. his college career is almost a mirror image of deangelo's.

found this snipet on detnews.com

" Texas Christian's LaDainian Tomlinson, who finished fourth in the voting and had 2,158 yards to lead the nation in rushing for the second consecutive season, on whether he would have walked off with the Heisman if he had run for Florida State: "No doubt about it. I think it's very hard ... to win the Heisman coming from TCU. Nobody wants to hear it. But that's the way it is." "

now see where LT is? is there any doubt he was a better player than weinke or heupel or even brees? but they played for bcs schools, he didn't.

if you check out espn's heisman watch (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/heisman/index) you'll see deangelo, leading the nation in rushing, is 8th. seriously, maurice drew?? every other player on the list plays at a bcs school. almost 7 yds per carry, 12 tds, and plays on a team with no other offensive threats, including starting their 4th qb of the season. this after being 2nd in the country in rushing last year and leading all non-kickers in scoring. and again, i know u of memphis' SOS isn't great, but neither was LT's and look at what kind of player he ended up being.

like i've said, i know he won't win it, but he deserves to be in ny. then he'll get picked in the top 10 of the draft and hopefully end up doing something close to what LT has done.

[mavs413]

Originally posted by: mnmpeanut


if you check out espn's heisman watch (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/heisman/index) you'll see deangelo, leading the nation in rushing, is 8th. seriously, maurice drew?? every other player on the list plays at a bcs school.

Maurice Drew's team is undefeated and he is the main reason why.
Memphis is 4-3. Maybe if his team wasnt losing to UCF by 3 touchdowns he would have a chance at the heisman.

[mnmpeanut]

you're right, no excuse for the ucf loss. well, except for the fact that deangelo sat out most of the second half (when they were tied at the half) with severe dehydration and still had 136 on 14 carries. but no, they shouldn't lose to ucf, period. of course, i could argue that without deangelo, they're 1-6 and he's the only thing that might keep them bowl eligible.

maurice drew plays on a very overated (one win over a top 30 team) team who also happens to have a heisman candidate playing qb. he has half, yes, half the rushing yards deangelo has while averaging a full yard and a half less per carry. of course, you could look at maroney. minnesota is 5-2, a huge step up from 4-3. and he's got 130 less yards and averaging a yard and a half less. but he plays for a bcs school. bottom line.

look, i understand the plight of the fan of the mid major school, always feeling slighted, always looking for a little respect. u of memphis isn't that good this year. 4 qbs, lost all but one of their starters on the o-line and their top two recievers from last year. but, to me, the heisman, like the mvp in baseball or the like, should go to the best player, not the best qb or rb on the best team. and whether they beat ucf by 3 td's or lost by 3 td's, he still wouldn't be seriously considered. guess he should have went to arkansas.

[mnmpeanut]

a nice article on deangelo...

http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/colleg.../story/9015174


Heisman Watch: Tigers' Williams is grrreat
Oct. 31, 2005
By Dennis Dodd
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer


Just imagine the year DeAngelo Williams would be having if Memphis had its top two quarterbacks.

Or just one all-conference (never mind All-American) player accompanying him on offense.

Or a solid defense.

Or a bowl game to pad his stats.

Or more exposure.

Without the usual underpinnings of a national rushing leader, Memphis' senior is about to become a running back for the ages.

Isn't he?

Oh, you didn't know? By averaging 171 yards over the Tigers last six games, Williams will become the NCAA's all-time leading rusher. That's almost a pittance for Williams who has 30 100-yard games in his career and five 200-yard games this season.

The problem is Memphis -- 4-3 headed into Tuesday night's game against UAB -- might not play six more games this season.

There are only four regular-season games left. To make Williams' task easier, the Tigers need to win the Conference USA East Division to advance to the league's first championship game and then play in a bowl.

More to the point: The Tigers can't get to a bowl or win the division without Williams. He is the best thing going for a team playing with a shaky defense and emergency quarterback.

The quest continues this week against a team that has beaten Memphis five consecutive times and controlled Williams (74.7-yard average) in three previous meetings.

He came into the season as the NCAA's active leading rusher (4,062 yards) and has added 1,309 yards in seven games. He is surrounded by exactly no returning offensive all-conference teammates from 2004

Let's look at the last two career rushing leaders: Ron Dayne (three), Ricky Williams (two) had a combined five first-team all-conference teammates around on offense in their senior years.

Oh, and don't forget each won the Heisman.

Williams? He'll be lucky to get a trip to New York.

And then get rich. Depending on who you talk to, Williams is anywhere from a top five to top 10 draft pick and arguably the best running back available next spring.

"I couldn't describe (my style) because I want to say it's unique," Williams told reporters. "I just want to be a complete back. A lot of people want to compare me to Emmitt Smith and L.T. (Tomlinson) and some even compare me to Walter Payton's running style but a little faster."

Call him a poor man's -- and lesser known -- Reggie Bush considering Memphis' games are mostly split between CSTV and midweek exposures on ESPN.

The rarity of Williams' accomplishment is setting in. The last player from a non-BCS school to become the NCAA career rushing leader was Cornell's Ed Marinaro, who finished second in the 1971 Heisman voting.

Williams' biggest claim to fame to this point might be the car that was commissioned to hype his Heisman campaign. The 10-inch plastic model is now going for $300 on eBay. That might be a good investment considering the upcoming records and the draft.


Currently No. 2 to Bush in all-purpose yards this season, Williams needs 349 yards to pass Ricky Williams for that NCAA career mark as well.

Williams is three games short of Archie Griffin and Tony Dorsett's shared NCAA record of 33 100-yard games.

With 226 yards against East Carolina nine days ago, Williams passed Griffin, Herschel Walker and LaDainian Tomlinson in one afternoon to reach No. 7 on the all-time list.

What we're trying to say delicately is that Williams has been able to lead the country (187 rushing yards per game) without much of a supporting cast.

Quarterback Patrick Byrne went out the third offensive play of the season with a broken leg. His replacement, Will Hudgens, broke his leg two games later.

True freshman Billy Barefield played a couple of games but was ineffective. Memphis is currently playing with converted receiver Maurice Avery taking snaps. Calling Avery a quarterback might be a stretch. He is a former guard in John Calipari's basketball program and gave up the sport to concentrate on his receiving skills.

Memphis usually has to outscore opponents to win. Its defense is 11th in the 12-team Conference USA, dead-last in pass defense.

Mad scientist defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn will try anything in the best of times. Hit with injuries, he has switched to using two down linemen.

"Anytime you keep the ball away from the other team's offense, it's a tremendous help," Dunn told the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

No wonder Williams ran the ball 39 times the last time out. He's the offense, the defense and the program.

As long as his senior season lasts.



note: what's ironic is that after this glowing article, dodd left him out of his heisman top five. its that attitude that will keep deangelo from getting a much-deserved invite to nyc.

[ocelot_ark]

An interesting sidenote about Williams...

When he was coming out of high school he had verballed to Arkansas, or they felt REALLY good about getting his signature (something like that). Anyway, most athletes fax in their letters of intent on national signing day, signed. Williams did that...kinda. Instead of signing the document, he just wrote "NO" on it and faxed it in.

Not going to say that was a bad decision, but he most definitely would have gotten more exposure playing for Arkansas.

[Five-ofan]

He wouldnt have put up the same numbers.