Today’s “I don’t get it” post

Can somebody explain to me why Collin Klein and Braxton Miller are supposed Heisman Trophy contenders and Aaron Murray isn’t?

Mind you, this is purely intellectual curiosity on my part, because (A) I haven’t cared about the Heisman since Charles Woodson won it and (B) Johnny Manziel is going to win it this year anyway.  But I am curious.  Especially when you look at this.  And this.

65 Comments

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65 responses to “Today’s “I don’t get it” post

  1. Sparrow

    No doubt, but I’m just as rankled by the fact that Te’o is on the board and Jarvis isn’t…

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    • In Jarvis’ case, at least you can point to him missing games as an excuse.

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      • The984

        Him missing games should only bolster his campaign.

        Te’o: 7 Ints, 1 FR, 103 tackles (52 solo, 51 assisted), 5.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, 4 passes broken up, 4 QB hurries. In 12 games.

        Jarvis: 1 Int, 6 FF, 1 FR, 71 tackles (44 solo, 27 assisted), 19.5 tackles for a loss, 10.5 sacks, 2 passes broken up, 17 QB hurries. In 10 games. And his sack total would likely be higher if we didn’t finish the regular season with two triple option teams.

        Some of the stat differences can be explained as ILB (Te’o) vs OLB (Jarvis). But yeesh. The numbers Jarvis put up in 10 games is insane. Te’o’s good, but the stats just don’t compare.

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        • Chris

          ND Media Hype Machine at its best.

          Also consider this:

          Te’o 2012 stats: 103 tackles (52 solo, 51 assisted), 7 Ints, 1.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for a loss in 12 games.

          Tony Taylor 2006 UGA stats: 96 tackles (65 solo, 31 assisted), 7 Ints, 3 sacks, 7.5 tackles for a loss in 13 games.

          What did Taylor get? 2nd team All-SEC team honors.

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          • Mayor of Dawgtown

            Also no UGA hype machine at all. Applies both to JJ and Murray.

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            • The Lone Stranger

              Well, all that costs dollar bills and the UGAA is about nothing if not reeling in the profits. The squad only now has a reliable DC and we see how that has turned out.

              With its own network hype machine churning right along, the Irishers have a media circus cooked into the cake over there. Truly stupefying.

              But none of it will matter to me if the Dawgs take them to the woodshed on Jan. 7.

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          • Governor Milledge

            Great stats!

            Maybe adding some sort of ranked offenses faced to this would make the contrast even starker.

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          • Scott

            Pollack in 2002: 102 Tackles, 14 Sacks, 2 INT, 2 FF, 23 tackles-for-loss, 35 QB pressures, 2 blocked kicks

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        • BMan

          The NFL will confirm which LB is better. I’m confident that they will value JJ higher. All that being said, I take nothing away from Te’o. He’s clearly very talented and from the look of it a really good guy. The fact that he plays at a dick of a school is the only thing I hold against him.

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    • FtWorthDawg

      That’s another reason I would love for us to get into the BCSNC game. So that Jones and Te’o could be compared head to head and the Nationally ND biased media can see for themselves who the best linebacker in the country TRULY is.

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  2. cube

    Because most of the college football media doesn’t operate using logic or true analysis. It’s all about emotion, fun, regional bias and thinking as little as possible.

    Sad but true.

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  3. AusDawg85

    Because last summer we didn’t start pumping several hundred thousand dollars into advertising and “gifts” to the press in promoting him.

    Don’t matter. One photo of him holding a crystal football in Miami will be worth more to him in the long run. (And hopefully erase the memory of that photo of him with the gator fan and the man purse….just saying)

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  4. Newt

    Because the media fall more in love with the dual threat qb. As if they’re more of an all-around football player. Wouldn’t surprise me if a good performance from Murray in a win on Saturday got him a trip to NY, though. Same for McCarron.

    For my money, Marquis Lee is the best player I’ve seen all year. Followed by Jarvis.

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  5. Rusty

    GATA…and the Dawgs will be fawned over plenty.

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  6. Biggus Rickus

    The South Carolina game, mainly. His line against Florida didn’t help either.

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  7. WBE Jerry

    As a neutral, Senator, I’d say that Murray makes far more sense than Miller, but the major problem is that in Georgia’s two biggest games of the year–Carolina, Florida–Murray 1. flat-out stunk up the joint 2. did just enough not to screw up his defense’s ability to win the game (if, after 3 picks, we’re even that charitable). Klein played well vs. Oklahoma and utterly destroyed West Virginia back when people thought that might have been worth something. And by now opinion has calcified somewhat.

    It probably doesn’t help that there was likely only room for one SEC pocket-passer in the Heisman discussion, and McCarron’s fast start put him in that slot.

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  8. Go Dawgs!

    If he beats down Alabama, he will be. That’s how Manziel supposedly won the Heisman. I mean, what else did he do? Besides compile stats for a good but not great two-loss team?

    Beat Alabama, and play well while doing so. It will take care of the Murray’s-No-Good-In-Big-Games meme and the Georgia-Didn’t-Play-Anyone meme in one fell swoop.

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    • Biggus Rickus

      “Compiled stats”? The stats reflect amazing things that Manziel did on the field against pretty much everyone. Florida contained him after halftime in their first game, and he turned it over too much against LSU. Otherwise, he was excellent and probably the only reason they’re a good but not great two-loss team instead of a 7-5 also-ran.

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  9. sectionzalum

    Charles Woodson winning over Manning is the second most-favorite heisman of my lifetime (1980 being the other)

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    • The984

      George Rogers fan, eh?

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    • Sanford222View

      George Rogers winning over Herschel is one of your favorites?

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    • Hackerdog

      Seriously? Woodson was a solid player who made several good plays and struck a pose. Manning was the best QB in the country. I can understand cheering against UT. But the Heisman is an individual award and I can’t see cheering against a young kid who is such an obvious talent.

      Although, I hear he’s done alright for himself. No pumping gas for him.

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  10. Carolinadawg

    Johnny Manziel isn’t even the best player in his conference, much less in the entire country. The Heisman is well on its way towards irrelevency; in 10 years no one will even care about it due to these ridiculous winners.

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  11. Maybe It’s our balanced offense. You know who to blame.

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  12. Heathbar09

    Because of the “Big Game” factor. Voters and writers have selective memories. All they remember is Murray shitting the bed in the USCe game. We all know AM had no chance with O-line basically letting Clowney waltz to him, but that isn’t the point. In the brightest light, Murray didn’t shine.

    Is that stupid? Absolutely. Klein crapped the bed in the Baylor game (although having to score 53 points to win is a tall task). But the media has already labeled AM as the QB who can’t win the big game (despite beating Florida). That is an insurmountable and unjustified hill for him to climb. If he beats Bama this weekend and has a good game, I suspect he’ll get some talk. But not enough though.

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    • Biggus Rickus

      A big game might get him into the top 3, but if he has a big game I won’t really care about the Heisman, because Georgia will have won and be a little over a month away from a national title. Manziel can have the Heisman (and I think he deserves it, for what it’s worth).

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    • The984

      Even if he wins and has a monster day, it’s just too late in the season to get any talk.

      Back in 2009, Suh put up monster numbers against Texas in the Big 12 championship. So much so that some projected it would move him up to 2nd. He finished 4th. Why? Because ballots had already been sent out AND CAST by that game. Some Heisman voters don’t even wait for the regular season to end before casting their votes. You can bet something similar happened this year.

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  13. SCDawg

    For a former dual threat QB, which he supposedly was coming out of HS, Murray doesn’t have many rushing yards. Negative 57, in fact. Seriously, remember when Murray used to take off running? He’s been a pure drop back guy this year. Not complaining, mind you, especially with Mason redshirting. And he has certainly had fewer fumbles.

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  14. Brandon

    I think we all know why Aaron Murray isn’t getting the heisman hype, its because he’s black.

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  15. Oh my! I did not know that.

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  16. Macallanlover

    Answer is: there is no reason for AM to not be in that conversation (other than he might not even win on this and other UGA blogs.) I am like you, the Heisman has been a joke for over twenty years to me. Truthfully, the game has gotten too big for a solitary award. position awards are more appropriate in today’s game. They will still be politicized by the media but there are often multiple winners with the number of awards. Heisman is like Tech, it is so in the past and has not survived the current game. Really don’t care for it any more, and Woodson’s win might have been the end for me too. The WWL ruined that just like they did 2007 for UGA..

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  17. Always Someone Else's Fault

    Murray hands off. That’s why he’s not in the mix. Simple as that. Doesn’t matter if he checks to a run that busts for 40. RGIII, Klein, and Miller are singular talents on teams that lacked real talent elsewhere. They carry the offensive load. Murray distributes it.

    Aside: Heisman front-running has always started with QBs who had great defenses, thus maximizing short fields and number of possessions. Great for stats. Also, play in a league where everyone does tempo – again boosting your number of possessions. Frankly, given that defense/tempo combo, Oklahoma’s QB should be a shoo-in for the award every year. And it’s testament to how bad Landry Jones is that he can’t even get in the conversation.

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    • I don’t know where everyone is ….get your ass outside and check out that magnificent moon

      On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 7:00 PM, Get The Picture wrote:

      > ** > Always Someone Else’s Fault commented: “Murray hands off. That’s why > he’s not in the mix. Simple as that. Doesn’t matter if he checks to a run > that busts for 40. RGIII, Klein, and Miller are singular talents on teams > that lacked real talent elsewhere. They carry the offensive load. Murray > distr”

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      • Always Someone Else's Fault

        Murray is 10x the passer of Klein and Miller, and I would rather have him as a QB than those other two guys, hands down. My point is that at GA, the offense moves through multiple players, not just 1. But Murray is indispensable to that design. It’s just harder to recognize within that design.

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  18. JasonC

    Food for thought:
    http://www.goodbullhunting.com/2012/11/28/3700048/johnny-manziel-heisman-trophy-texas-aggies-infographic
    I definitely think it is Johnny Football’s to lose, but Murray should be in the conversation as much as these other guys.

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  19. Vince

    If he wins, we’ve all got to all STFU.

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  20. Cojones

    Murray’s snub reminds me of this pertinent joke:

    Superman was in a bar feeling low when a patron approached him with, ” Hey, Supe, you look down!”
    He replied, ” A little”. Patron,” What’s wrong?”
    Superman,” You would think that saving thousands of lives, righting wrongs every day, saving the world and doing it all at the last second could at least be appreciated and a person could be held in high esteem for those feats.”

    “But if you suck just ONE dick, what do they know you as?”

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