3. Mike Hart, RB, Michigan (7). Here's your big riser of the week. With fellow offensive star Mario Manningham out with an injury, Hart carried the load for Michigan in a dangerous and bruising game at Penn State. While it was the Wolverines defense that was most responsible for getting the road W, Hart did more than his share as well, carrying 26 times for 112 yards and a score. In a nationally televised prime time game, those numbers get juiced a little bit. If Michigan beats Ohio State, goes undefeated, and earns a trip to the BCS title game, it is going to be awfully hard to deny Hart some hardware. Considering how badly the Wolverines struggled when he was hurt last year, I think we are starting see how truly valuable this running back is. And while I know the award doesn't go to the MVP, but rather the most outstanding player, I think you can state a case that Hart is making a run at both.
(Right about now, I'm ducking the inevitable "Midwest bias!" comments that I know are coming due to my current Chicago address. Hey, it's not my fault that Ohio State and Michigan are 1-2 in the AP poll and that Quinn plays for Hype University. I'm just calling it like I see it.)
4. Steve Slaton, RB, West Virginia (5). I'm telling you, nobody made a big push on Saturday. Slaton was completely upstaged by teammate Patrick White (247 yards rushing on 15 carries with four touchdowns), but the mere fact that he picked up 163 yards and a touchdown gave him some of the best numbers in the field. Of course, he was playing against Syracuse, so you have to temper your enthusiasm a bit. The good thing for Slaton is that he has some big games left on the schedule. The Mountaineers still play Pitt and they get both Cinderella story Rutgers and #7 Louisville on national television. If he goes nuts in those games, he could get a late kick. Of course, if White continues to keep the ball on the spread option and run for 80 yard touchdowns, Slaton might need to track down Jeff Gillooly's phone number. (Kidding, kidding.)
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
1. Troy Smith, QB, Ohio State
2. Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame
3. Mike Hart, RB, Michigan
"... I'm ducking the inevitable 'Midwest bias!' comments"
Yeah, but see, you never really think of Notre Dame as Midwest, much like you never think of USA TODAY being published in Virginia. When you think of Indiana, you think of IU and Purdue. Never UND.
Maybe if they ever moved to the Big Ten, on the other hand ...
2 - Adam Hoff
Good point. I keep waiting for that national media to realize how exciting that Rice/Slaton, Rutgers/WVU matchup could wind up being. It is flying way below the radar right now.
I also wonder what people will say if West Virginia winds up in the #2 BCS spot. If USC wins out, they will erase most doubts by beating Oregon, Cal, and ND, which would be pretty impressive. Whoever wins the Ohio State-Michigan game will get all the credit in the world. But what about the Mountaineers? Will wins over Louisville and Rutgers be enough to quiet the "bad schedule!" calls around the nation? I'm not sure. If there are just two undefeated teams in Big Ten WInner and WVU, I really hope Auburn isn't the #3 team with one loss, because we are going to hear a whole lot of complaining from them.
But I digress.
3 - Adam Hoff
I was feeling good about my Heisman Poll, but I just got done reading Terry Bowden's at Yahoo Sports and they look a little too similar for my liking. Son of a ...
4 - Matthew T. Sussman
We here at BC Sports safely assume that anything that looks similar to one of our stories was most likely stolen from us.
5 - Adam Hoff
That is a pretty good policy, I have to say. Although I was more referring to the fact that if I am agreeing with Terry Bowden, I am worried about my sanity. It wasn't so much a copyright issue as it was a "oh crap, I'm agreeing with him?" issue. Either way, good to know.