By Adam Abramson
Time to put the kids to bed.
With less than two weeks until the Heisman Trophy ceremony, it's virtually a two-man race between Tim Tebow and Darren McFadden.
Both had unbelievable Saturdays to wrap up the season, with the edge in that category going to McFadden. His performance of 206 rushing yards, 34 passing yards and four total touchdowns was crucial in Arkansas topping No. 1 LSU in Baton Rouge. Tebow had 351 yards and five touchdowns in a win over Florida State, but it's FSU...
McFadden's numbers have actually improved from last year's Heisman runner-up season while Tebow has done something never accomplished in college football in his first year starting -- 20 TDs rushing and passing.
Against Auburn McFadden had 43 yards on 17 carries. Tebow completed less than 50% of his passes against LSU for just 158 yards. His three TDs were almost enough to pull off the win, but we all know what the word almost implies. This tells us both are human.
What would a comparison be without a tale of the tape? Rankings are in parenthesis.
| Tim Tebow | Darren McFadden | |
| School | Florida | Arkansas |
| Position | Quarterback | Running Back |
| Year | Sophomore | Junior |
| Record | 9-3 | 8-4 |
| Passing yards | 3,132 (20) | 123 |
| Rushing Yards | 838 (80) | 1,725 (4) |
| Receiving Yards | 0 | 164 |
| Total Yards | 3,970 (7) | 2,295 |
| Rushing TDs | 22 | 15 |
| Receiving TDs | 0 | 1 |
| Passing TDs | 29 | 4 |
| Total TDs | 51 (2) | 20 (66) |
I'll take Tebow. I'm not scared of a sophomore winning it. However, it won't shock me to see it go the other way. The country has fallen in love with Darren McFadden, and it's not very hard.
But the numbers speak for themselves. Tebow is on a plateau by himself.
The question is: Does a Missouri victory vault Chase Daniel above both the names in this case study?
Comments (4)
I've been more impressed with McFadden, especially because he's splitting carries with Felix Jones.
Chase Daniels is awesome and a win over Oklahoma and the Big 12 championship that comes with it would be hard to ignore, but I'll stick with McFadden.
Who else gets invited to NY?
It's a shame Arkansas and Rutgers aren't having better seasons, otherwise we would just be talking about McFadden and Rice. I say McFadden deserves it. Tebow is only a sophmore. He'll have other opportunities. McFadden is such a workhorse.
McFadden will, and should, win. I'm just not jumping on the Tebow bandwagon. The TDs are impressive, sure, but 20 1-yd touchdown runs are, to me, an indication of a great offensive line more than a great athlete.
Other invitees? Chase Daniels I think is too much of a leader to be ignored. I know Colt Brennan is from Hawaii, but the guy owns every possible NCAA record and has an undefeated season -- I mean, what else can you ask of him? Matt Ryan will if BC beats Virginia Tech.
And I know it won't happen, but I still think Dennis Dixon deserves the invite. There's no other player I enjoyed watching more. Injury is such a sad reason to not make the cut.
BNG--You're right, the fact that McFadden does split carries with the explosive Felix Jones adds to his resume. I think Daniel gets an invite with a win. We might have another year with just three invites.
TDC--It is a shame for Rice because he definitely has the talent. As for Tebow being a sophomore, it's just a "requirement" that makes no sense. I definitely think McFadden has Heisman-type numbers, it's just that Tebow has unprecedented numbers.
furnk--I think you're right about him winning it. The pundits I have talked to around here all like McFadden. As for Tebow, his average TD run is 5.1 yards with only two TD rushes over 10 yards (16, 23). His ypc for the season is 4.3. He does have a fair amount of 1-2 yard runs, but the body of work he's put together with his legs cannot be matched by 95% of quarterbacks out there if they tried. As for Dixon, I'd love to see him get an invite as well.
But I think there will be three invites...maybe Brennan if Daniel doesn't win on Saturday (a Mizzou loss would give some West/Midwest votes to Colt).