thewestbias.com -NCAA Football

An Early Look at 2008: Handicapping the Heisman

2008-01-28T11:20:00.000-08:00

We’ve hardly finished the dramatic (to say the least) 5 months that were the 2007 season of college football, but it’s never too early to look towards the 2008 season. I’ll breakdown the top 3 players who have the best chance to take home the coveted bronze stiff-arm man next year.

1. Tim Tebow (Jr.) – QB, Florida
At this point, Tebow has to be the odds on favorite to win the Heisman in ’08. Last season, Tebow became the first player ever to have more than 20 rushing and passing touchdowns. His reward? He also became the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman trophy. If he has the same type of season next year, look for Tebow to become only the second player in college football history to win the Heisman twice. However, it is unlikely that Tebow will pile up the stats that he did last year…Florida coach Urban Meyer has said that he will use a two quarterback system next year with rising sophomore Cameron Newton in order to help take some of the workload off Tebow’s shoulders. In addition, the Gators will finally add a talented running back in USC transfer Emanuel Moody, which should take some carries away from Tebow.

2. Pat White (Sr.) – QB, West Virginia
The electrifying dual threat will be back and better than ever in Morgantown for his senior year. With Steve Slaton bolting early for the NFL, White should see even more touches. Assuming newly promoted head coach Bill Stewart employs the same spread offense that Rich Rodriguez used, White should put up great numbers. He will have the jitterbug Noel Devine at his disposal as well as an array of skilled receivers. White put up over 3,000 total yards last year, and he led West Virginia to a blowout win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl despite being huge underdogs. If young Patrick can run over the poor Big East competition, he should at least be in New York in early December.

3. Chris “Beanie” Wells (Jr.) – RB, Ohio State
Beanie Wells ran for over 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns last year, including two 200 yard games and a 140+ yard output in the national championship game against LSU on only 20 carries. Wells will enter the 2008 season as arguably the best running back in the country, and the expectations will be soaring. Ohio State will have one of the best offensive lines in the country again next year, and this can only help. Wells possesses a unique combination of power and speed. At 6’1” and 235 lbs., Wells can run you over or blow past you. He also has excellent vision and cutback ability to go with extremely nifty feet. Although he didn’t receive much hype for a good part of the season, he was at his best in the national championship game when he burnt LSU’s Craig Steltz for a 65 yard touchdown and de-cleated All-SEC corner Chevis Jackson with a nasty stiff arm. As good as he was, Wells played the whole year with a gimpy ankle and played with a broken wrist/hand for much of the last part of the season. If he can stay healthy, look for Beanie to put up huge numbers.

The Rest of the Best:
4. Sam Bradford (So.) – QB, Oklahoma
5. Knowshon Moreno (So.) – RB, Georgia
6. Percy Harvin (Jr.) – WR, Florida
7. Chase Daniel (Sr.) – QB, Missouri
8. Michael Crabtree (So.) – WR, Texas Tech
9. C.J. Spiller (Jr.) – RB, Clemson
10. Todd Reesing (Jr.) – QB, Kansas

Been to El Paso recently Oregon? Enjoy!

2007-12-04T12:03:00.000-08:00

Both teams were banged up. We had a second string back from Bend, OR who came to Oregon ST as a linebacker who averaged more yards per carry than Stewart did. We also had our right guard playing right tackle, a back up left tackle, left guard with a broken leg, 2 starting receivers that are freshman not to mention out best receiver has been out for most of the year plus a quarterback making only his third start in what is supposedly the “loudest” stadium in the country. Both teams were and are beat up. We turned the ball over 3 times and even gave you 2 chances to make a field goal. The two head coaches made mistakes and the better team won the game. If Dixon was playing would it have been different? No doubt. But, once you put in an offensive scheme that treats your quarterback like a running back injuries are going to happen. As for the bowl game… been to El Paso. Have fun in a sh*t hole! Watch out for S. Florida they were once ranked #2 too!

A Decade Later

2007-12-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

Twenty-Four seconds is all it took for OSU to take the lead in the 111th meeting between the Ducks and Beavers. The Orange and Black stunned a hostel Autzen Stadium crowd scoring with their backup quarterback, running back, and two freshman receivers in less time than an NBA shot clock violation. The Ducks, plagued with the injury bug as well, were down to their forth string quarterback, who left with a head injury early in the game. As fifth string Freshman QB Justin Roper entered the game, the Beaver fans salivating like Pavlov’s Dog leading 7-0 and looking for more. To the surprise of 58,000 loyal fans at Autzen, the 200,000 watching from home, and every coach and player in the stadium, Justin Roper found Jeffrey Maehl for a 33 yard TD reception and Civil War had officially began. Two weeks previous the Ducks were brimming with national championship aspirations and no one would have predicted their first touchdown in this classic match up would have Jerry Allen screaming the names of Roper and Maehl.

The Beavers quickly responded scoring 14 points in less than five minutes. Already leading 21-7, it appeared the Beavs went up 20 points with another completed touchdown pass based on video evidence. However, as in true Pac-10 form, the officials fucked up another important call, and to boot they did not even review the play (Wait!! This game was at Autzen so that is to be expected).

After a chip shot field goal was missed to put the Beavers up three possessions, the Ducks scored 14 points in 19 seconds to end the half, leaving every fan in the stadium shocked and the game knotted at 21 entering the break.

A well-played defensive second half, which featured each team scoring only 7 points, left regulation ended in a 28-28 tie. A late missed field goal on each side, including one blocked kick and one 40 yarder by Matt Evensen which fell short (what a pussy), the game went into OT with both teams optimistic about their chances. The first extra period did not settle anything, as both team kicked a field goal to send the game into a second extra session.

The opening play in the second OT was just what the doctor ordered for Beaver fans as James Rogers sprinted down the sideline with the ball untouched for a TD. Twenty-five yards and 3.5 seconds later OSU had a 38-31 lead, feeling very confident behind what some believe to be the best defense in the Pac-10. The Beaver defense did not let their beloved fans down as the stopped the Mighty Ducks from flying high for the second year in a row by stuffing Jonathon Steward on fourth and a half-yard. The Beaver faithful rushed the field celebrating the first road victory in the Civil War in a DECADE, and another successfull end to what appeared to be a rebuilding year after a 2-3 start to the season.

The game will go down as one of the best games in the history of the great Duck and Beaver rivalry. The victory left both teams with identical 8-4 records and OSU claiming 3rd place in the Pac-10 for the second straight year. The Ducks, once 8-1 and the #2 team in the country, finished the regular season outside the top 25 and looking for a little more success in this year’s bowl game. Regardless of how the Ducks perform in the Sun Bowl, we all know they will be the best LOOKING team on the field, that's for damn sure!!

At the end of the day one thing was evident, in sports there can only be one victor and one loser, but all who were apart of the special game were in agreement that BOTH TEAMS PLAYED HARD, BOTH TEAMS PLAYED HARD.

GO BEAVS, we got bragging rights for another 2 years cause them quackers are going down at Reser next year……Good Night and God Bless!!

Civil War 07'

2007-11-28T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well, the better half of Oregon rejoices today with a huge win at Autzen stadium over the pulverized quacky Ducks. But no more quack from them for well, at least until they change their stance once again from being a football school to a school that excels in basketball. Is it not funny how fast the featherless Duck fans can go from loving their school to hating their school (for the ones that actually went there). I am going to keep this short but I want to finish with...I hope the basketball season brings more joy to you quacky quackers than this disgustingly ugly finish once again for what I guess you can call a pop-warner football team (or "not even that" quoted from a dishearten Oregon fan). This year we, the Beavs, triumphed over the little Ducky sucklings...love it!

Good night and God bless!

Go Beavs!!!