UNDER THE RADAR: Military Appreciation, Add A Heisman Candidate and 2-Loss Playoff Teams
1. Military Appreciation Week: Army should be ranked this week AND their quarterback should be on your Heisman Ballot. The Black Knights are 8-2 and riding a 6-game winning streak. With a win at North Texas this week they could be 9-2 with three weeks to get ready for Navy on 12/9. Quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw is an impressive player and if I had a Heisman ballot he'd be on it--not first but he'd be on it. He is a good enough athlete and tough enough to play for anyone in the country. He’s rushed for 1228 yards and 9 TDs. But don’t forget when he pitches the ball on the option he gets hit a lot too. You have to appreciate this team and their quarterback.
2. Heisman Market Watch: Love: Stanford RB Bryce Love's stock is up. He saw a surge after rushing for 166 yards and 3 TDs in an upset-win against #9 Washington. The Huskies had the #6 Rushing defense in the country but it could not stop the Love Train. Love still has a possible statement game against Notre Dame on 11/25.
3. Heisman Market Watch Mayfield: In the past two weeks Baker Mayfield has two statement games in two statement wins. In beating #11 Oklahoma State and #6 TCU he put up 931 yards passing with 8 passing TDS while also rushing for 41 yards and another score. And TCU was the Nation’s #6 Defense in scoring and total defense. Add the Ohio State road win and in his three biggest games Mayfield has hit 69 of 98 passes for 1317 yards with 11 TDs and just 2 Interceptions. Those numbers are so good they look like a misprint.
4. Heisman Market Watch: Barkley: After an amazing performance at Iowa in week 4, the production from Penn State’s Saquon Barkley has fallen off. In the six games since that win he has 100 carries for 381 yards. In that stretch, he’s averaging 63.5 yards per game rushing and 3.81 yards per carry. But with Barkley the vital stat line is all-purpose yards. Add in receiving and kickoff returns and he’s averaged 137.7 per game in all-purpose yards during the post-Iowa stretch. While those numbers are nothing to sneeze at they are not the numbers he was putting up earlier this year.
4. Heisman Matket Watch (Futures edition): Wisconsin's Freshman RB Jonathan Taylor won't win the Heisman this year but he may next year. He has jumped-started the Badger's run game and leads the Big Ten in rushing (1525 yards) and rushing TDs (12). To give you an idea of how dominant he has been he leads The Big 10's 2nd leading rusher J.K. Dobbins of Ohio State (1038 yards) by nearly 500 yards and the 3rd leading rusher Saquon Barkley (899 yards) by 626 yards.
5. Playoff Watch--What If Your Team Has 2 Losses?: If the Upset train keeps rolling we may see the College Football Playoff’s first 2-loss team. Right now you have these undefeated contenders: Alabama, Wisconsin and Miami. The One-Loss contenders are: Georgia, Clemson and Oklahoma. The potential 2-loss conference Champions with a chance of getting in are: Ohio State, Auburn and USC. And let’s not forget the 2-SEC team scenario is more alive now than ever. If Georgia wins a close Title game over undefeated Alabama do the Tide get in over a two-loss Big Ten, Pac 12 or Big 12 Champ?
6. Screen Shots of the Week 1: Some weekends there is just too much to stuff in the College Football Burrito. Here we have a tale of two undefeated teams. First up: Midwestern sensibilities and a cold afternoon bring out hoods and the Wisconsin hat with flaps in red and black plaid.
7. Screen Shot of The Week 2: Next: South Florida Tacky Miami fans in garish getup….The guy on the right isn’t an ordained bishop but he is probably certifiable.
