Surprise Long Shot Pick For The Heisman Trophy

Sports & Recreations

  • Author Mike Norris
  • Published October 19, 2011
  • Word count 750

I have a long shot choice for the Heisman Trophy . Actually he may not be that much of a long shot the way I see it. Read on and see what you think. Their are a lot of SEC players with a shot at the Heisman already. Mostly running backs- Marcus Lattimore and Trent Richardson are the top two according to most writers and talk show hosts.

If Marcus Lattimore played for Alabama he would be in the top two with QB Andrew Luck of Stanford. If he can have a great year and South Carolina can win the SEC I think his chances of winning may be pretty good. One problem he may encounter is there is another Heisman candidate on his own team in WR Alshon Jeffery who will prove to be the top wide receiver in the nation by the end of the year. Two Heisman hopefuls on the same team usually splits the vote and spells doom for both players.

My long shot candidate is another SEC player and he is a QB. a lot of people will jump up and down, say I am stupid and don't know what I am talking about. Just another stupid blogger writing stupid things. He is not a professionla writer or sports talk host so he can't know what he is talking about.

This QB works for a coach that rides him constantly. It seems the coach never says a positive word about the guy - until this preseason practice period. The light seems to have come on all of a sudden. He has studied the playbook and apperas to know it inside and out all of a sudden. He is watching film. According to coach in the past he did not know the playbook well enough and just did the minimum amount of film study. He goofed off during the off season according to coach. This summer he has worked hard and lot a few pounds.

By now some of you know who I am talking about. For ones that are not sure I am talkin about Stephen Garcia. I can see Coach Spurrier shaking his head now, saying nah that blogger is way out on a limb. Stephen has not done anything around here to make me or anyone else think that.

Lets look at some numbers.Garcia earned third-team All-SEC accolades from Phil Steele in 2010... started all 14 games... completed 64.2 percent of his passes, hitting on 224 of 349 attempts for 3,059 yards... his 20 TD passes tied for the second most in Carolina history in a single-season.

In 2009 the SEC had 14 games with 300 or more yards passing. Stephen Garcia had 4 of these as a sophomore. He threw for 17 touchdowns and ran for 4 more.Threw for 2862 yards.

In 2009 Andrew Luck threw for 2575 yards. Luck had 13 TDs and completed 56.3% of his passes. Last year 2010 Luck had his break-out year passing for 3338 yards, 33 TDs and a 70.7% passing completion ratio. He was 263-372 passing.

Now Luck is a great QB and may be the first pick in the draft but looking at the numbers there was not much difference in numbers last year between the two other than the TDs passes luck had.

And Stephen Garcia is playing in the SEC.

So why will Garcia be in the running at the end of the year. Defenses will try to stop Lattimore first. Thats a given. That opens up the passing game. Alshon Jeffery will get his share of catches and yards but teams will try to double team him this year. Anyone following USC football knows South Carolina has increased their speed at the WR slots with some of the young players. Look for some of the speedsters to get some long balls this.

Also Lattimore has gotten bigger and faster this year. His backups Kenny Miles and Shon Carson have good speed. Well Carson a true freshman has great speed for a RB. Look for more screen passes to the backs this year. Again more passing yardage for Garcia.

The reason Garcia will be in the running at the end of the year is 3300-3500 passing yards this year with 25-30 TDs, a team that should be in the SEC Championship Game with an actual chance to win it this year. If they can pull it off and win the SEC they will playing on a very big stage with a huge national audience. Everything sets up perfect for a Heisman Trophy long shot and a .... I don't even want to say it.

Mike Norris has always been a sports nut. For sports talk about college football and baseball visit his website at http://www.SoutheastSportsTalk.com and pick up a free copy of his e-book "SEC Football Stadiums- Complete Fan's Guide" You can follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SoutheastSportsTalk

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