A Heisman Trophy candidate is on the market. Who’s interested?
“I don’t see how he can stay there now,” one Big Ten coach said of Braxton Miller’s tenuous — at best — situation as quarterback at Ohio State. “At the end of the day, Urban is a coach.”
Translation: Meyer, Ohio State’s wildly successful coach, has one of the nation’s elite — maybe even best — quarterbacks right now. There’s no way he takes a step back in 2015 and allows Braxton Miller, a preseason Heisman candidate before a shoulder injury in August ended his season, to play ahead of J.T. Barrett, the more talented guy who replaced him.
And that leaves only this for Miller: it’s time to move on.
It’s a brutally vicious reality in sports, one that has no use for injury or compassion or loyalty. It’s all about performance.
Right now — before an ankle injury against Michigan ended his season — Barrett is a better player than Miller. It’s that simple.
Barrett is a much better thrower, and although not as dangerous of a run threat, he’s fast enough and dynamic enough that he can hurt defenses in the run game. Only a redshirt freshman, Barrett already has shown unique leadership and has proven he can win big games (hello, Michigan State) and games that matter (Minnesota).
With Barrett, Ohio State could have beaten anyone in college football. Without him, the Buckeyes likely lose in the first round of the College Football Playoff if they win the Big Ten Championship. But that shouldn’t — and doesn’t — eliminate Miller’s value.
To another team.
As much as Miller loves playing for Ohio State, he has no other option but to leave for his final season if he wants to play in the NFL. He’s not helping his draft stock by sitting behind Barrett (because that’s where he’ll be), and he’s not getting critical repetitions against college football’s elite teams unless he transfers as a graduate student and plays somewhere else in 2015.
In fact, if Ohio State beats Wisconsin this weekend in the Big Ten Championship Game with sophomore Cardale Jones playing for the injured Barrett, Miller’s on-field value to Ohio State — at this point, as a talented backup — will have all but ended.
The question is, where will he transfer? The best options:
• Oregon: Marcus Mariota is a junior, but could be a top five pick in the NFL Draft and is likely gone. The offense fits Miller’s game perfectly, and he could develop more as a thrower under coach Mark Helfrich.
• Texas: The depth chart currently includes Tyrone Swoopes (struggling mightily this season) and promising freshman Jerrod Heard, who is redshirting. Neither would push Miller for the job. There are more pro than spread principles to the Longhorns’ offense, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be tweaked.
• Arkansas: If you’re going to do it, why not go somewhere where the coach has had success with the very thing you’re trying to do? Bret Bielema made it work with Russell Wilson at Wisconsin; he’ll figure a way to make it work with Miller — and increase his draft stock.
• UCLA: Brett Hundley is a redshirt junior but was honored at UCLA’s Senior Day. In other words, he’s leaving early for the NFL. The Bruins have all the parts for another run at the Pac-12 title, and respected offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone (who has coached in both the NFL and college) would do wonders for Miller’s development.
• Oklahoma: The Sooners had a national championship-caliber team this fall, but were average at the most important position on the field. Trevor Knight returns in 2015, but he’s far from entrenched as the starter. Imagine what Miller could do in an OU offense with a history of elite quarterbacks.
See the correlation there? All of those aforementioned teams are championship-caliber.
Miller hasn’t won a championship in his three seasons in Columbus, and you better believe if he leaves, that will be critical to his decision: where he can win and win big.
That’s really the only question remaining. It’s not if he’s leaving.
It’s where he’s going.
2. The other side
Here we are, our first season in 17 without the beloved BCS, and I’m compelled to hearken the good old days, when life was as simple as a computer formula.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Sagarin Rating top 10 (as of Nov. 29, 2014):
Alabama
Ole Miss
TCU
Mississippi State
Oregon
Georgia
Auburn
Baylor
Oklahoma
Michigan State
It is here where I remind you that Mr. MIT was one of the computer “formulas” the BCS used to determine who played in the BCS National Championship Game.
Remember that on Sunday when you want to find Jeff Long’s house in Fayetteville and toss eggs at it.
3. Just another quarterback
Considering the magnitude of this week on the campus of Florida State, it might be a good time to address something that has gone way overlooked for the last three months.
Jameis Winston just isn’t that good right now.
This has nothing to do with the code of conduct hearing Tuesday that may or may not get him expelled from school. This is about something far greater — at least in the eyes of Winston — and leads to a far greater question:
If Winston is leaving for the NFL after this season, who drafts him?
His off-field antics are bad enough; his on-field regression hit a new low last weekend against Florida in another close win. His numbers are way down across the board, from touchdowns (40 in 2013 to 21 in 2014) to interceptions (10 in 2013 to 17) to the huge drop in the NFL infatuation of yards per attempt (10.57 in 2013 to 8.29).
He has been dinged up much of the second half of the season (ankle), but even before then, wasn’t showing the quickness and pocket presence from 2013, and wasn’t moving as fluidly within the pocket to buy time and read progressions.
“I would definitely say it’s a red flag,” one AFC scout told Sporting News. “It’s a combination of things. He’s injured, he’s obviously distracted by off-field problems and he’s getting everyone’s best (game). But guess what? You get everyone’s best here, too, week after week, no matter who you are.”
Want to know how poorly Winston is playing? In the last three games, with FSU staring defeat in the face, coach Jimbo Fisher looked to freshman tailback Dalvin Cook in critical drives to win the game — essentially taking the ball out of Winston’s hands.
That’s not a first round pick. That’s not even a first 100 players pick.
Then again, Winston may not have a choice. Depending on the code of conduct hearing, he may not be able to return to school.
4. Best of the best
We’re days from crowning conference champions and learning postseason fate, and it’s time to hand out the hardware. Let’s get to it:
ACC
Coach of the year: Jimbo Fisher, FSU: You try and keep that circus together week-by-week, with the most visible player doing everything he can (on and off the field) to tear it all apart. Fisher will never have another season quite like this.
Player of the year: RB James Conner, Pittsburgh: The Panthers’ only option — and everyone knew it. He still had 1,675 yards and 24 TDs.
Biggest disappointment: Miami. Canes are 8-10 since beginning last season 7-0, and gave up on 2014 after losing to FSU.
Big 12
Coach of the year: Gary Patterson, TCU. You want guts? Patterson changed everything he believed about offense, hired two new coordinators and gave them complete control of that side of the ball in practice and games. And it couldn’t have worked out better.
Player of the year: QB Trevone Boykin, TCU. He was playing wide receiver this time last year, and has thrown for more than 3,000 yards, rushed for nearly 600 and accounted for 34 TDs.
Biggest disappointment: Oklahoma. Never found a groove on offense all season, and QB Trevor Knight was never able to elevate the offense beyond serviceable.
Big Ten
Coach of the year: Urban Meyer, Ohio State. Is there any doubt the guy can A.) recruit quarterbacks for his system, and B.) get them ready to play? Kept Ohio State from falling apart after an awful loss to Virginia Tech, and has the Buckeyes one win away (again) from winning the Big Ten.
Player of the year: QB J.T Barrett, Ohio State. An argument could be made that Barrett is the best player in the nation. And it wouldn’t be easy to argue against it. You want scary? Wait and see how much better Barrett becomes after spending more time (and getting more game reps) in Meyer’s proven system.
Biggest disappointment: Iowa. Remember when the Hawkeyes were a sleeper CFP team? Five losses later, Iowa still is paying $4 million a year for mediocre football.
Pac-12
Coach of the year: Rich Rodriguez, Arizona. Got a freshman quarterback (Anu Solomon) and freshman tailback (Nick Wilson) ready to play, and unleashed them on the Pac-12. All they did was combine for nearly 5,000 passing and rushing yards and 43 TDs. Those lean Michigan years are long gone in the rearview.
Player of the year: Marcus Mariota, Oregon. The best player in the game. More than 4,000 pass and rush yards, and 47 TDs. He threw 334 passes this fall, and only two were intercepted.
Biggest disappointment: Washington State. Year 3 under Mike Leach was a huge step back. After playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2003, the Cougars won three games — one against FCS Portland State.
SEC
Coach of the year: Gary Pinkel, Missouri. Make fun of the Tigers all you want, but they won 10 games again with a rebuilt defense and key newcomers on offense. The last three weeks of the regular season were single-elimination games for the SEC East title, and Missouri played its best three games of the season.
Player of the year: Amari Cooper, Alabama: Mr. Smooth. So quick out of his breaks, so fluid and dynamic after the catch. When Alabama needs a third down conversion or needs points, the ball goes to Cooper, the greatest wide receiver in Alabama history. And that’s saying plenty.
Biggest disappointment: South Carolina. After three straight 11-win seasons, this was supposed to be coach Steve Spurrier’s best team. They lost six games, and probably should have lost eight (Georgia, Florida). The defense was atrocious. Maybe Spurrier’s pal Will Muschamp can help out.
Group of 5
Coach of the year: Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern. First year in FBS, and the Eagles won the Sun Belt with an 8-0 record, and should have had non-conference wins over NC State (24-23) and Georgia Tech (42-38). All in Fritz’s first season. He won big at FCS Sam Houston State, and will win big at FBS level — at GSU or wherever his career takes him.
Player of the year: RB Jay Ajayi, Boise State. The Broncos have run 942 plays, and Ajayi has touched the ball 348 times (303 carries, 45 catches) — or 37 percent of the team’s plays from scrimmage. He has rushed for 1,619 yards and 20 TDs, and has 536 yards receiving and 4 TDs.
Biggest disappointment: UNLV. Just when it looked like UNLV was making strides under Bobby Hauck, the Rebels won just two games after playing in a bowl last season for the first time since 2000. It’s a brutal job — hardest place in FBS to recruit to (it’s Vegas, people) — and Hauck should have earned some capital.
5. The Weekly Five
Five new slogans for the Big 12 in 2015.
Why don’t you just tell us who you want to be champion?
One Division Short
All Hat, No Backbone
Where Texas and Oklahoma once roamed.
Our 10 teams seem like 14.
6. Postseason trickeration
I see what you’re doing, Clemson. Everyone else may not, but I certainly do.
Tigers coach Dabo Swinney says mercurial QB Deshaun Watson will play in the bowl game with a torn ACL, then have it surgically repaired, then rehab, then play in 2015.
That or Clemson is grandstanding to get to the Orange Bowl over Georgia Tech after displaced champion Florida State wins the ACC and moves to the College Football Playoff. Because if you’re the Orange Bowl and you’re choosing between Clemson with Watson or Clemson with Cole Stoudt, you’re not choosing the latter.
Swinney would not only be exposing Watson to more injury besides the knee issue (he can’t move as well with the ACL injury), he would be trading a month of rehab (critical to the 6-9 month rehab calendar) for a useless bowl game.
I’m not buying it.
7. The neutrality of it all
I don’t want to alarm purists, but there’s something about this new playoff that’s getting ready to jump all over everyone.
And like most things, the complaining will start two years too late.
If you want to win a national championship from this day forward, every Power 5 conference with the exception of One True Champion must win three straight neutral site games. The truly mega games are gone from campus sites, only to be replaced by more games in antiseptic NFL stadiums.
If current No. 1 Alabama is to win its fourth national title in six years, it will have to beat Missouri in the Georgia Dome, win the first CFP semifinal in the Superdome (Sugar Bowl) and win the CFP National Championship Game in Cowboys Stadium.
That’s a long way from Tuscaloosa.
8. The Ohio State question
What to do, what to do, what to do.
In three months, the CFP selection committee has had to deal with a head-to-head fiasco (still percolating with TCU and Baylor), a non-champion in its top four with no place to drop if it won (thankfully, Ole Miss took care of that), and the lone unbeaten (FSU) ranked No. 3 and dangerously close to No. 4 (Georgia Tech might take care of that this weekend).
Now they have the drama that is Ohio State.
It was bad enough when the committee ranked the Buckeyes ahead of Baylor, which had better wins (TCU, at Oklahoma) and a better loss (at West Virginia by 14) than Ohio State (win: at Michigan State, at Minnesota; loss at home to Virginia Tech by 14). It’s now veering into the absurd with the injury to Barrett.
How does the committee deal with a team that, if it beats Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game, still won’t have better wins than Baylor (if Baylor beats Kansas State) and will be led by a quarterback who would be making his second career start in the national semifinals?
Common sense says Ohio State should be treated on its full body of work, the same mantra the committee has used since it trotted out the first set of rankings last month. If that’s the case, and the Buckeyes are treated that way no matter the injury, Ohio State still doesn’t have as good a resume as TCU or Baylor.
And if it’s that close on the last vote of the season, you better believe the backup quarterback making his second career start in the semifinals will creep into the heads of voters — whether or not they admit it.
9. Up in blazes
So let me try to understand this whole UAB thing.
The Blazers have been awful for years, and just when they find a coach that wins games, increases attendance and gets the team to the postseason — IN HIS FIRST SEASON — they’re pulling the plug because some Board of Trustees members have had Houndstooth in their craw for years about little ol’ UAB being too close to Tuscaloosa (all of 50 miles) and too much of a threat to all things Crimson?
Yeah, I’m sure Nick stays up at night worrying about UAB.
10. The wanted man
Only in some surreal world does Will Muschamp get fired, get $6 million in walk-away money, then become the highest-paid assistant coach in the game.
So you feel like a failure for a couple of weeks. Go buy a beach house and forget about it.
Then coach defense like there’s no tomorrow and get another big Power 5 job in two or three years.
Not a bad gig.
