People are starting to take notice. I'm telling you, it's only a matter of time before the whole world is on the Ryan Mathews For Heisman Trophy bandwagon and you can say, "I was there from the beginning. I was there when it was just a pipe dream on that blog by ... oh crap, what was his name again?"
Yes, it started here, and now the Heisman campaign is taking off. And by that, I mean, it still really hasn't taken off. But there is a flicker. Here is the Heisman Trophy watch list on ESPN.com. See, Ryan Mathews is getting one vote. Looking through the voter list, I'd have to guess it is Graham Watson* putting Mathews fifth on her ballot, seeing as she's probably the only one on that list who's seen Mathews play in person. She covers the non-BCS conferences for ESPN.com. She's also really nice, in case you were wondering.
*I just sent her a Facebook** message asking if she's the one voting for Mathews, but haven't heard anything yet. Isn't technology cool?
**Edit: Just got a message back from Graham. Yep, it was her. Here is her message: "That's me. I think he's been excellent this season and not just against weak WAC opponents." So there you go. Excellent point, by the way, which I hadn't brought up before, that Mathews has rolled up his yardage against two undefeated Top 10 teams.
If you were paying attention to today's column in the Bee, you might have guessed that I was in Chicago this weekend for the Chicago Marathon. As everyone knows, times are hard for newspapers right now and our travel budgets have been pretty much eliminated. The only Fresno State away game I've covered this season is Wisconsin, and the only other one I'll probably make is Nevada, since it's a drive. (The Bulldogs are driving as well, something the coaches are not excited about.)
Anyway, because of that, I've had some time for a little personal travel this fall. Sunday I ran the Chicago Marathon, an amazing and powerful event. I won't go into it too much because I have an enormous blog in the works about marathoning and what makes it so truly unique. It's part of the buildup to the second-annual EYE-Q Two Cities Marathon taking place Nov. 8. You should sign up now. It's going to sell out by Nov. 1. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of the Fresno State win against Hawaii. In fact, beyonds stats, these YouTube clips are the only footage I've seen.
So it's hard for me to go to over-the-top on this week's Mathews hype, only because I didn't really get to see it. I will say that the cut to the left that Mathews makes on the first highlight, the one on the direct snap, is pretty incredible. He cut to a hole that wasn't open yet. Actually, I think he cut to a hole that wasn't open yet, which was so far to his left you couldn't even see it on camera until after he cut. Great feel and vision, as always. Here were Mathews final stats for Hawaii, and the updated totals for the 2009 season...
Hawaii: 24 carries, 149 yards, 1 TD
Season: 5 games, 111 carries, 741 yards, 6 TDs, 6.7 yds/carry, 148.2 yds/game
There is something I wanted to clear up before we go too much further with this Heisman campaign talk. Let's not be those people who automatically think the local guy should win the Heisman because he's really really good. Is the Heisman a very very flawed award? No doubt about it, which is why we mock it. But we also need to be realistic. It's not the WAC offensive player of the week, it's the HeismanTrophy. We have to keep in mind the important question: Is Ryan Mathews really the best college player in football? We're comparing him to Jimmy Clausen, who's already thrown for 1,500 yards, and Mark Ingram has rushed for seven touchdowns, and Colt McCoy, whose team is No. 3 in the country, and Tim Tebow, who walks on water. So far, I think we can safely say that Ryan Mathews has played his way into the room. He's in the conversation, or at least should be.
In an earlier blog, we pretty much established that a running back at a non-BCS school needs to lead the nation in rushing to become a realistic candidate, so here's the updated Division I leading rushers through Week 6.
Leading rushers................................yards
1. Toby Gerhart, Stanford.....................746
2. Ryan Mathews, Fresno St.................741
3. Dion Lewis, Pittsburgh.......................738
4. Darius Marshall, Marshall....................737
5. Ryan Williams, Virginia Tech...............734
6. Ben Tate, Auburn.............................724
7. Jacquizz Rodgers, Oregon St...............697
8. Montario Hardesty, Tennessee.............672
9. Mark Ingram, Alabama.......................659
10. Alexander Robinson, Iowa St...............654
Mathews is obviously holding strong, but what isn't clear from that list is that everyone on it but the Fresno State back has played six games. Mathews has played five. To find another player* who's only played five games, you have to go down to No. 12, Noel Devine from West Virginia. If you go by averages, Mathews is leading the nation in rushing by nearly 150 yards. Unreal.
*Technically, Marshall's Darius Marshall has only played in five games, but his team has played six. He was suspended for the opener for some off-season incident. He is, however, the best rusher in America with the same last name as his school, so he's got that going for him. Which is nice.
I'll throw together a few other stats here, thus saving myself from making a bunch of lists that you don't care about anyway. Mathews is 12th in the nation in yards per carry at 6.7, (Fresno State freshman Robbie Rouse is actually second at 8.7) and is tied for 20th with his six touchdowns. I actually thought Hawaii might be a game Mathews could go over 200 yards again, and he probably would have if the game hadn't gotten out of hand. The Bulldogs had Hawaii 42-3 in the third quarter, which is the way everyone says they should be playing. Put away those inferior WAC teams early and rest the starters. Bravo, well done.
It was also nice to see Carr play a little, even if it wasn't in meaningful time. I really think there's only a couple teams left on the schedule the Bulldogs aren't going to be able to push around with their running game, so why not give both quarterbacks some time? I say that not because I'm a fan of two-quarterback situations, but simply because Ryan Colburn didn't do enough to prove he can play well against Top 25 football teams. And next year, with Mathews as a senior, you're going to want the quarterback who can win the big games.
Or maybe, with an actual Heisman run, a senior year for Mathews is just wishful thinking.
Thanks, this was fun to read.
Doesn't the player need to be from a top team to win the Heisman? To be clear, Mathews is the man and deserves to win. But, wouldn't the Doak Walker award, given to the best running back, or the Maxwell award be a more probable goal?
I think the Heisman may be a bit of a stretch this season. Not because RM is undeserving of the award, but because he hasnt had the time to 'campaign' for it the way most winners do for months and months in advance. i think the Walker, as Budd mentioned, is very realistic.
As for RM's stats, in a way, it is somewhat unfortunate that the 'Dogs will have such a fluff schedule from here on out. It would be nice to see him put up gaudy #'s for the rest of the season that he very easily could put up against the schedule they have.
On Rouse, I think against Hawaii, he was more fun to watch, and i think the ref should have let him take a mulligan on the lambeau leap after the touchdown. 15 yrds? for being an excited freshman... c'mon now. Now that kid, if he can stay healthy, will be a lot of fun to watch over the next few years.
Rouse is the future. After mathews leaves. Rouse is a lot like clifton smith, SHIFTY. I just hope after miller and harding leave we still have two other RB's who can fill the void. Because they were great RB's as well.
DEION LEWIS HEISMAN WINNER!!!!!!!