J.Pike's Ballot: Walker Award

This was an easy one for me. Despite the fact that Jacquizz Rodgers led a surprising Oregon State team and Julio Jones has as big an upside as any player in college football, Robert Griffin is the kind of player that made me search the internet on Saturday morning to see if a Baylor game was going to be on TV. He might not be as polished as fellow freshman Russell Wilson, but watching Griffin feels like watching a young Vince Young - you just know he's going to do something special before his career is over. And that's why I gave him the nod over the rest of the field.

Robert Griffin
(Freshman QB, Baylor)

Herschel Walker Award Finalists

HERSCHEL WALKER AWARD

We created the Herschel Walker Award because there isn't an award to honor the top freshman in the nation. And who better to name an award given only to a freshman than Herschel Walker?

The following list contains five worthy finalists for the Walker Award.

J.Pike's Finalists

ROBERT GRIFFIN
(Freshman QB, Baylor)
Key Stats
Passing: 2,091 yards, 15 td, 3 int;
174.2 passing yards per game;
Freshman record for consecutive attempts without an interception;
Rushing: 843 yards, 13 td;
70.2 rushing yards per game;
244.4 yards total offense per game, 28 total touchdowns;
The most exciting freshman quarterback talent in the country

JULIO JONES
(Freshman WR, Alabama)
Key Stats
Receiving: 51 receptions, 847 yards, 4 td;
13 starts as a true freshman;
16.6 yards per catch;
65.2 yards per game;
Jones already has the look of a veteran - and freakish skills


JACQUIZZ RODGERS
(Freshman RB, Oregon State)
Key Stats
Rushing: 1,253 yards, 11 td;
113.9 yards per game;
Receiving: 29 receptions, 247 yards, 1 td;
136.4 all purpose yards per game
The mighty mite Rodgers carried the Beavers to an upset win over USC earlier this season


SEAN SPENCE
(Freshman LB, Miami)
Key Stats
62 tackles (third on team);
2 sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss;
1 interception, 2 passes broken up;
1 forced fumble
One of the most gifted linebackers anywhere


RUSSELL WILSON
(Redshirt Freshman QB, N.C. State)
Key Stats
Passing: 1,769 yards, 16 td, 1 int;
176.9 passing yards per game;
Rushing: 342 yards, 4 td;
211.1 yards total offense per game;
Wilson is the most polished freshman quarterback anywhere - with Wilson in the lineup, the Wolfpack is a different team

Tommie Frazier Award Finalists

Just because the regular season is finished doesn't mean there is no more football to talk for a while - it's awards season! Pikes Picks has decided that the real awards, namely the Heisman Trophy, no longer go to deserving candidates. So we came up with our own awards.

TOMMIE FRAZIER AWARD

The Tommie Frazier Award, named after the great Nebraska quarterback, is given to the quarterback we deem to be the most exciting to watch. This could include any number of factors, but knowing Brent and myself it will come down to a quarterback that is as likely to make the highlight reels with an 80 yard run as he is with an 80 yard pass.

The following six quarterbacks were nominated as finalists for the Frazier Award by J.Pike.

J.Pike's Finalists

ROBERT GRIFFIN
(Freshman QB, Baylor)
Key Stats
Passing: 2,091 yards, 15 td, 3 int;
Rushing: 843 yards, 4.9 avg, 13 td;
242.4 total offensive yards per game, 28 total touchdowns;
Set NCAA freshman record for most consecutive passes without an interception


COLT McCOY
(Junior QB, Texas)
Key Stats
Passing: 3,445 yards, 32 td, 7 int, 77.6 completion percentage;
Rushing: 576 yards, 4.5 avg, 10 td;
335.1 total offensive yards per game, 42 total touchdowns;
Led Texas to an 11-1 record


TYROD TAYLOR
(Sophomore QB, Virginia Tech)
Key Stats
Passing: 896 yards, 2 td;
Rushing: 691 yards, 5.2 avg, 6 td;
144.3 total offensive yards per game, 8 total touchdowns;
The Hokies were 7-2 in games Taylor started;
Taylor is arguably the most elusive quarterback in the nation


PAT WHITE
(Senior QB, West Virginia)
Key Stats
Passing: 1,510 yards, 18 td, 6 int;
Rushing: 919 yards, 5.4 avg, 8 td;
220.8 total offensive yards per game, 26 total touchdowns;
Graduates as the NCAA's all time leader in rushing yards from the quarterback position


JUICE WILLIAMS
(Junior QB, Illinois)
Key Stats
Passing: 3,173 yards, 22 td;
Rushing: 719 yards, 4.1 avg, 5 td;
324.3 total offensive yards per game, 27 total touchdowns;
Williams has a cannon for an arm, one of the strongest in the nation


RUSSELL WILSON
(RS-Freshman QB, N.C. State)
Key Stats
Passing: 1,769 yards, 16 td, 1 int;
Rushing: 342 yards, 3.2 avg, 4 td;
211.1 total offensive yards per game, 20 total touchdowns;
Wilson threw at least two touchdowns in 7 of the 10 games he started;
He only threw one interception all season and was easily the most polished freshman quarterback in the country

Gameday Commentary - 12:30 pm

*Iowa State is looking really good so far against Kansas. Gene Chizik might be even further along in his rebuilding plans than I expected. If they can hold on against Kansas (up 20-0 in the middle of the second quarter) it would be a great win.

*Robert Griffin needs some help. Griffin has breathtaking athletic ability and Baylor is playing a lot harder for Art Briles than they have in the past, but Oklahoma is just waaaay better.

*Usually the home fans are always rooting for their team to go for it on fourth down, but here's a random PREDICTION: Mike Leach will be the first head coach in the history of football to get booed for GOING FOR IT on fourth down. Leach is one of the rare exceptions where the fans might actually be smarter than the head coach when it comes to decisions like that.

*Penn State is a team to be reckoned with. They aren't playing great against Purdue so far (10-0 lead early second half), but you can just see that they have all the pieces to make a serious run at the Big Ten title. They have the makeup of a team that can win even on an off day, and the skill and toughness to beat anybody when they are on top of their game.

*Florida on the other hand is looking more and more like that loss to Ole Miss wasn't a fluke. Urban Meyer's offense is in neutral because apparently Tim Tebow isn't the "greatest player of our generation." The Gators are struggling against a bad Arkansas team early.

Football for Breakfast

It’s week three and it looks like most of the cupcakes are finally gone. Weird – for some reason I just had a flashback to food days at work. Anyway, there are three top 25 matchups this week, which is one more than the first two weeks combined. There’s also the first BIG game of the year between Ohio State and USC tonight. Overall there should be quite a few more entertaining games this week.

At the risk of sounding like a paid advertisement, I’d like to relay to you one of the great discoveries I’ve made in quite some time: ESPN60.com. I was able to tune it to way more games last weekend than I ever imagined possible. The video quality is great and it’s quite amazing being able to flip back and forth between several games so quickly. Check it out sometime if you have the chance.

I watched the Washington State/Baylor game that was moved to Friday night due to Hurricane Ike. Those two teams are awful. Washington State in particular might be the worst team in the nation. There’s only one reason I bring this game up and his name is Robert Griffin. Griffin was by far the best athlete on the field, running for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 11 carries. He also displayed a strong arm and nice touch on the deep ball as well. He’s already probably the best player Baylor has had in years and will be a factor in the Big XII for the next couple years.

Before the games kick off, here’s a few more picks:
Michigan State 34, Florida Atlantic 21
Duke 34, Navy 27
Buffalo 25, Temple 18
Ball State 36, Akron 30
Michigan 16, Notre Dame 13
Virginia Tech 13, Georgia Tech 10
Oregon State 34, Hawaii 24
Nebraska 40, New Mexico State 21
Connecticut 20, Virginia 10
Arizona 27, New Mexico 20

Week Three Preview

Iowa State (+13) over Iowa
This rivalry has produced some very close games recently. Both schools are 2-0 this season, and Iowa has won their two contests by a combined score of 88-3. Don’t let that fool you though – Iowa’s big wins came against Maine and Florida International. Iowa State is a team on the rise with Gene Chizik at the helm, and he has an impressive quarterback in Austin Arnaud. The Cyclones will keep this game close and have a good shot at winning the game outright.

Baylor (+2½) over Washington State
Baylor is bad, but Washington State might be worse. Coming off a 66-3 loss at the hands of Cal, the Cougars must travel to Waco to face an offense that seems be gaining their footing in Art Briles’ new offense. Baylor will pick up the first meaningful win of the Briles era in this one.

Central Michigan (-3½) over Ohio
Don’t be fooled by Ohio’s gutsy performance against Ohio State last weekend. They still don’t stand much of a chance against MAC powerhouse Central Michigan. QB Dan LeFevour will show the Buckeyes how to move the ball against Frank Solich’s Bobcats.

UCLA (+9) over BYU
I’m not sure how BYU is favored by 9 points in this game. UCLA plays great defense and will get after Max Hall all day long. That will keep the game close enough for UCLA’s offense, hobbled by injuries, to sneak out with the win.

Southern Miss (+1½) over Arkansas State
Arkansas State has produced two “whoa” moments already this year. In week one they beat Texas A&M in College Station, and last week they scored 83 points in a win over Texas Southern. But Southern Miss still has the overall talent edge with running back Damion Fletcher and tight end Shawn Nelson. USM wins this one outright.

Stanford (+12) over TCU
This was a tight contest last year, and that was only Jim Harbaugh’s first season. Stanford is playing even more consistent football this season and they’ve already got two conference games under their belt. That early season experience gives the Cardinal a slight edge over TCU so if they don’t win outright, they’ll definitely keep it within 12.

Other games I like, but don’t feel good enough about to qualify them as “Locks":
Illinois (-24½) over Louisiana-Lafayette
Oregon (-7½) over Purdue
Penn State (-26½) over Syracuse
Michigan (Pick’em) over Notre Dame
Georgia Tech (+7) over Virginia Tech
Western Michigan (-8) over Idaho
Mississippi State (+10½) over Auburn
Kentucky (-16½) over Middle Tennessee
Oklahoma (-20) over Washington
Utah (-24½) over Utah State

WEEK ONE - Preview

UPSET WATCH

Wake Forest @ Baylor
(Thursday, 7pm, FSN)
Why it could happen: Wake Forest is getting fat from all the preseason hype and is slightly overrated. Baylor head coach Art Briles will have his team fired up and ready to play the best game fans in Waco have seen in several years.
Why it won’t happen: Wake isn’t that overrated. Baylor will hang in there for a while on the high of the new coaching staff and their home crowd, but the Demon Deacon defense will come up with key stops down the stretch.

Virginia Tech vs East Carolina
(Saturday, 11am, ESPN)
Why it could happen: East Carolina returns quarterback Patrick Pinkney and a large portion of their defense. Virginia Tech on the other hand loses just about every key playmaker off last year’s team that was pushed to the limit by this same Pirate team.
Why it won’t happen: Virginia Tech still has too much overall talent to lose this game. It will be close throughout and the Hokies will need some offensive skill players to step up and make some plays, but in the end the Hokie defense has enough talent to shut down the ECU offense in a low scoring affair.

UPSET WARNING

Utah @ Michigan
(Saturday, 2:30pm, ABC)
Why it will happen: Michigan simply isn’t ready. New head coach Rich Rodriguez has too many new offensive schemes to put in and not enough players to run them. Utah plays plenty of defense and quarterback Brian Johnson is more than ready to duplicate what Armanti Edwards did to the Wolverines in The Big House last season.

Michigan State @ California
(Saturday, 7pm, ABC)
Why it will happen: Mark Dantonio’s Spartans are simply too physical for Cal. Jahvid Best has excellent speed and Kevin Riley will be an upgrade over Nate Longshore at quarterback, but in the end Michigan State will win it with defense and Javon Ringer.

LOCKS

I promised myself I would never get in the habit of picking games against the spread. But each week I'll take a look at the lines and if anything jumps out at me I'll let you know. Don't get used to looking at that fancy graphic is all I'm saying...

N.C. State (+12) over South Carolina
(Thursday, 7pm, ESPN)
South Carolina has an excellent defense, there’s no question about that. But at this stage of the season I’m not convinced their offense can even score 12 points.

East Carolina (+10) over Virginia Tech
(Saturday, 11am, ESPN)
Poly only won by 10 at home last year. Tech loses just about their entire starting defense and many key skill players on offense and must travel to Charlotte, NC this year.

Illinois (+8½) over Missouri
(Saturday, 7:30pm, ESPN)
Missouri will probably jump out to a big lead, much the way they did last season in this game. But Ron Zook will make adjustments and Illinois will take this rivalry game down to the wire.

Northern Illinois (+8½) over Minnesota
(Saturday, 6pm)
Minnesota is garbage until they prove to me otherwise. After going 1-11 and losing to Bowling Green and North Dakota State a year ago, I’m not convinced Minnesota can beat a MAC team that returns 18 starters. Even if they do it won’t be by much with that awful defense.