Of late the Heisman has had two sorts of winners. The first is the MVP of one of the top rated teams. This year that would be Winston or McCarron. Or it goes to a once in a lifetime QB talent who captures the media's imagination late in the season (think "Johnny Football" or RGIII). Running backs from unranked teams haven't come close to the award in years. Might I suggest a change this year because Andre Williams deserves to be invited to New York and depending on how the season plays out, may deserve the Trophy.
Saturday's NC State game was just the latest in Williams' record-shattering season. He ran for 339 yards and that was just a week after running for 295 yards. This is insane. And it is not like he's just breaking off big runs without getting touched or part of some high-powered offense. He is the offense. Each week the opposing defense keys their whole scheme around him and Williams just runs people over. BC has repeatedly faced nine and at times ten guys in the box. It doesn't matter. Williams will grind it out for a few plays and then you know a big one is coming.
The BC offensive line also deserves credit for Williams' performance, but they can only do so much. Williams is the one breaking tackles and running over and away from defenders on the second and third level.
Heisman voters are a fickle bunch. You never know who is going to gain the consensus late. But Williams has earned his spot and if his season continues like this, he is going to run over anyone who doubts him.
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I agree 100%. I was asking a couple of friends after the game whether he deserved an invitation to New York. At first they looked at me like I was crazy, but later we all came to the same conclusion: this dude does belong in that conversation and if finishes strong there is no reason why he should not be a Heisman finalist. Go AW! Go BC!!!
The Heisman is an almost ridiculous conversation, as it goes to,players on teams in the MNC chase
However...
AW is, short of Manziel and Mariotta, the most valuable to his team.
I told you. Play to your strengths. Daz knows. Boring. Probably. Conservative? Definitely.
But you can't tell me that you don't sit up in your seat when you see him run through tacklers.
The right side of our O line gets props.
Beast. Mode.
Congrats to this team, it's staff, coaches, and players/ families. From two to six. Not by accident.
Very proud. Something is building.
If BC finishes 8-4, then you may have an argument. So far, this is just "pie in the sky".
This is truly a historic season. Andre is currently on pace to have one of the top-5 seasons all-time in terms of rushing yards.
Current top five:
Barry Sanders: 2,628 yards (11 games)
Kevin Smith: 2,567 yards (14 games)
Marcus Allen: 2,342 yards (11 games)
Troy Davis: 2,185 yards (11 games)
LaDainian Tomlinson: 2,158 yards (11 games)
...
Andre Williams: 1,810 yards (10 games)
With (up to) three games to go!
That loss to USC (8-3) isn't looking quite as bad lately.
Teams we've lost to:
Fla. State (10-0)
@ Clemson (9-1)
@ USC (8-3)
@ UNC (5-5)
Combined record: 32-9
i don't think anyone is saying Williams should WIN the Heisman, but he should definitely get votes and be in the conversation. he is absolutely dominating right now, and he earns every yard.
also, 2 more wins for BC and we are 8-4 after a 2-10 season with basically the same exact team. Losses to FSU, Clemson, USC are now all very respectable.
Andre for Heisman! thank you for starting the bandwagon ATL
If.....
-VTech beats Virginia (very likely)
-Puke beats Wake (likely)
-UNC beats Puke (toss-up, its @ UNC)
4 teams will finish 5-3 in the Coastal.
Then if Miami beats Virginia and Pitt (which they should on paper but seem to have quit on the season) its a 5 team tie.
I'm not even going to try to determine the tie-breaker rules in that scenario.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/heisman13/
Not much love out there for our guy right now. If we keep winning and he keeps running for 200 a game, this could change by decision time. Still some work to do in the eyes of the experts.
Personally, i think he should already be on the short list for an invite. This was a 2-10 team that could not run the ball to save their lives last year. Now we throw 10-20 time a game and just run it into a 9 or 10 man box. He gets better every week. Congrats to AW on an amazing season. Also, congrats to all of the guys on the OL and all the coaches involved in the running game. So good see Oline U back to respectability.
Let's talk about Matt Patchan, our LT, former SEC player and a one-time 5 star recruit.
I watched (via box score of age on ESPN) the highlights. Watch #77, Patchan, on each of the Andre Williams' long TD runs, including fumble into EZ.
(our right side is doing a great job too for AW)
On these pays, Patchan lines up in the TE spot and in each instance absolutely manhandles the NCSU DT. Fun to watch these replays
What are Patchan's NFL chances?
He should be at least All-ACC
Good stuff!
Before we get too excited, let's not forget that Williams' best performances were against really bad teams (Army, NC State, New Mexico State). Both Clemson and USC completely shut him down. He was impressive against Florida State, North Carolina and Va Tech. I was in Alumni for the Tech game and they literally had 10 in the box but could not stop him (however, Tech is not the team of old) But, I am concerned that the BC coaching staff is too stubborn in their reliance on Williams. So much so that I fear when Syracuse and Maryland, much better teams than what we have faced the past few weeks, will completely stuff the run, the coaches will not adjust. And with our defense struggling (they have given up a ton of chunk plays to these same shitty teams), the offense is going to need to score points.
Remember at the beginning of the season when Wolford gained big yards catching out of the backfield? I think we will need to use creative plays like that in the final 2 games if we want to win.
I love what Williams has done this year, but to be considered for the Heisman, he is going to have to prove he can run into 10 in the box and gain big yards. I just hope if the run is not working, we are not so stubborn that we don't throw in a few passes to stretch the field or even stick with the run but use Willis, who no one has been able to stop this season on a few more carries.
Having said all of that, Andre should definitely be in the Heisman conversation, but I think he needs to top 100 yards in the final 2 games.
By the way, I love our move to smashmouth. Defenses are mostly geared today to stop the spread. They have no idea how to handle O-lines smashing into them and backs getting 40 carries. Don't you think the top running backs are going to look at what Daz has done and start to consider BC. After all, a BC back will get fed the ball. O-lineman love that style of play too. My only concern is that we traditionally attracted a lot of pro-style passers but they may be turned off by this emphasis on the run. These offenses also struggle when behind. But, in general, I love the run emphasis.
I love the game plan to use our best weapons- AW and a big, tough mobile o-line in front of him. Doing what works is far from stubborn. It is smart game planning and coaching all around. I am not "too" excited. But, I am excited and positive. What is all the negative crap that has to be spouted? Fell smarter to point out that we are only better, but not perfect? 6 Ws with 2 more games, both winnable. Could you get positive, if we split them? How about winning both? Would you posT anything positive?
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