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Heisman Debate: Mariota vs Gordon

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I_Run_The_Dave's picture
November 25, 2014 at 12:55pm
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Article: http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/111581/heisman-debate-mariota-v...

Basically, Brian Bennett and Kevin Gemmell (who have strangely similar last names) talk about who should win the Heisman this year.

Brian Bennett says a lot about how Gordon is having possibly the greatest season a RB has ever had in College Football despite the fact that his offense is one dimensional and teams key specifically to stop him.  Gemmell rebuts with a lot of fluff about how Mariota has dominated the PAC-12 blah blah blah.  Here are a few of Gemmell's points and my observations (with JT in the back of my mind).  Please note that I am NOT endorsing JT Barrett for Heisman over Melvin Gordon, just saying that every point Gemmell makes about Mariota could also be made in favor of Barrett.

Because with four more touchdowns last week, Mariota has accounted for 42 total this season -- the most of any player in Pac-12 history.  

So has JT Barrett and is the most of any player in B1G history -- also, wait, the B1G's single season TD total is higher than the Pac-12 until last weekend?

I'd call his 318 yards and three touchdowns against Michigan State Heisman-esque ... or have you B1G guys forgotten about that one?  

JT Barrett had 386 yards and 5 TDs against MSU and the game was at MSU's place, not 3 time zones away from MSU, FYI

And 32 passing touchdowns with just two interceptions -- while playing against some of the most pressure-heavy defenses in the country, is how you build a Heisman season.  

JT has 33 passing TDs, although the 10 INTs sticks out.  Also, the average ranking of total defenses of our opponents: 68 where Oregon is 80 (I counted FCS team S. Dakota as 128).

And since you're tapping into some history, let's go back a decade and look at how Mariota's current season stacks up. Our QBR metrics -- which measure how well a quarterback has performed against his competition -- go back only 10 years. But Mariota already has a better season than Jameis Winston, Johnny Manziel, Robert Griffin III, Cam Newton (all Heisman winners, by the way), Colin Kaepernick, Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, Pat White and on and on. I bet if we had the historical data, it would show Mariota is having one of the best quarterback seasons in the history of college football.

ESPN's QBR statistic is subjective by nature and uses some suspect means to adjust according to "strength of opponent" which is also subjective.  Also, it appears as though QBR severely penalizes interceptions -- JT registered a 46.6 against Indiana despite 302 yards and 4 TDs on 35 attempts which lowered him to 84.2 on the season (4th overall this year and 27th all time for a season).  It's no wonder that Mariota's 2 INTs vs. JT's 10 is why they are separated in this regard.

And if we can agree that quarterback is the most important position in the game (and I think we can agree on that much), how then can you not give the Heisman to the guy having one of the best historical seasons ever at the most important position?

JT Barrett is about to become one of 6 ever 3000/1000 yard QB's and he's going to do it prior to bowl season for only the second time ever.  The previous QB to do this was Johnny Manziel, who won the Heisman.  So is it Mariota or Barrett that is having one of the best historical seasons ever at the most important position?

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