octal9

October 12th, 2010 at 11:16 AM ^

If we go statistically & highlight reel-ly (I like adverbs), he should still the leader. Buuuut, people like shiny objects.

Also: MP3 Player cache updated.

htownwolverine

October 12th, 2010 at 11:18 AM ^

Let them doubt the team and DRob. This gives our guys more motivation. I notice more cohesion in the support from the team this year than last year. I think we bounce back nicely this week.

abcdefghijklmnop

October 12th, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^

With the stats he already has, Denard could put "normal" numbers for the rest of the season as long as he leads us to a W with some highlights plays against OSU-- he will win the thing. (Please, please let this happen)

BlockM

October 12th, 2010 at 11:26 AM ^

This is where you need a team that can carry you a little bit to win a Heisman. Pryor has thrown 3 ints to Denard's 4, but those ints didn't result in a loss. You can bet that if somehow the defense had held MSU to under 17 points he'd still be up near the top considering he passed for over 200 and had 86 yards rushing.

pullin4blue

October 12th, 2010 at 11:26 AM ^

Yes, ESPN has the attention span of a Gnat. However, I am happy that some of the pressure will be off of Denard. There has been a lot of hype about the Heisman and although it was probably great to have (up to a certain point), it becomes a distraction. He has the rest of the season to get back up there again. It's not the poll in October that counts.

YakAttack

October 12th, 2010 at 11:26 AM ^

big front runner. They get tired of catering to just one fanbase the whole season, so the first little misstep, they insert someone new. There are now the fans of 5 schools discussing this instead of just us.

Lutha

October 12th, 2010 at 11:35 AM ^

The Heisman is voted on at the end of the regular season right?  Then I really don't care 6 weeks in.  Denard and the team take care of business, win the remaining games, and Denard strikes the Desmond pose after scoring the game-winning touchdown to beat OSU and things will surely take care of themselves.

thevictors51

October 12th, 2010 at 11:38 AM ^

Its just like the BS..oops i mean BCS rankings...it doesnt matter until the end of the season. Barring an injury Denard will win the heisman if he bounces back from this past weekend and puts up numbers simlar to his first 5 games. If he torches iowa (#2 ranked run defense in the nation) he is back at number one..IMO

lilpenny1316

October 12th, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^

Mark Ingram wasn't a favorite yet at this point last year.  And he didn't cement things until the SEC Title game.  You can't fault some people who only watched Denard for the first time this Saturday to drop him.  The other people have just played better competition so far.

Let's see what happens after he goes through the Big Ten and who's still standing then.

Blue_Bull_Run

October 12th, 2010 at 11:57 AM ^

I think we ought to focus on the team rather than Denard's Heisman campaign. Maybe cooling off with the Heisman talk takes some pressure off of him, the team, and the coaching staff.

Young Pretty a…

October 12th, 2010 at 12:04 PM ^

When I hear that Kellen Moore is a favorite to win the Heisman.  That is the equivalent to saying Boise State would or should win the national championship.  Denard's numbers are already insane, but could you imagine his numbers if he played the same schedule that Boise plays.

What Kellen Moore for heisman?

Don

October 12th, 2010 at 12:13 PM ^

The Heisman (the most ridiculous award in all of team sports whose only legit winner in the last 50 years was in 1997) is annually awarded to most frequently the best QB or RB on a national championship-caliber team, and only occasionally to a QB or RB on some mid-level team who piles up ridiculous stats in some offense that's designed to maximize their stats. Since nobody considers UM a national championship-caliber team, Denard is going to plummet down the rankings after a bad game and loss. It's not impossible he could win it, but he'd have to pile up yards and TDs and last-minute heroics from here on out just the way he did against ND and Indiana. Even going 8-4 would present a huge uphill climb to win it, and the nature of the defenses he's going to face are going to present much stiffer challenges than UConn, Bowling Green, UMass, or IU.

michgoblue

October 12th, 2010 at 12:23 PM ^

The leader of ESPN's Heisman voting is whoever had the game with the gaudiest stats and the best highlights (usually en route to a win) during the prior week.  ESPN has a memory of 1 game. 

A true "leaders board" would look at Denard's body of work over the first 6 games, including his stats, his highlights and his ability to help his team win tight games (like ND or even UMass), and compare it to the bodies of work of all of the other leaders.  In such a comparison, Denard is far and away the leader.

But, alas, this is a meaningless exercise anyway, since it is week 6 and (fortunately) ESPN does not decide the Heisman.  If I had to guess, I would say that Denard will nto win the Heisman, because while he is a huge playmaker and has the potential to be one of the best, he is still young and will likely have a few more "learning" moments that will derail him.  Also, our team is not yet in a place where it can pick up the slack if Denard is off.  And finally, our defense will limit the number of wins that we will have.  These factors will hurt his chances. 

Steve Lorenz

October 12th, 2010 at 12:57 PM ^

Frustrating that people are saying Denard failed his first test.....as if he was overmatched by State's defense. He makes two better throws (not decisions, because his decision-making was pretty spot on) and we're not having this conversation. Besides those two throws we moved the ball at will almost the entire game. 

lhglrkwg

October 12th, 2010 at 1:16 PM ^

but pryor throws for like 76 yards against illinois and he still has people drooling on him. denard throws for 200+ and runs for close to 100 in a loss to #17 (now #13) MSU and now people are jumping off the heisman bandwagon?

goes to show you how much in college football is dependant on pre-season expectations

stmccoy

October 12th, 2010 at 1:57 PM ^

That is a little absurd.  The kid has one game where he throws a few picks and still puts up pretty good yardage numbers and he drops behind everyone.  He still has better numbers than anyone on the list.  What does he have to do to get back on top, play defense too? 

blueblueblue

October 12th, 2010 at 2:07 PM ^

Most of the time it's one's performance in big games that make a difference (see Woodson, Ingram, etc.). BIg games are championship games and rivalry games that define a team's identity. Denard fell not only because of the three interceptions, but also because the game in which they were thrown. On the flip side, if he performs well in the next five games, comes out and has a great game in a win over OSU, he gets the heisman. Given that we win a few of the games in between of course. 

The Barwis Effect

October 12th, 2010 at 2:30 PM ^

He's right where he should be.  He's got six more performances to sway the voters back in his favor.  If he performs like we all think he's capable AND his team plays well (a minimum of three more victories, IMHO), he'll be right back on top at the end.

jmblue

October 12th, 2010 at 4:40 PM ^

He's started a total of six games, most against shaky defenses.  He had a bad game in week #6 and we lost, so his stop dropped.  Do not forget that being ranked #5 is still extremely high praise.

tlh908

October 12th, 2010 at 7:18 PM ^

DRob will step it up for Iowa to put himself back at the top.  Remember, he was supposed to be only the 8th best qb in the BT according to ESPN at the start of the season.  There must be some good coaching going over at Michigan to still have this guy in the top 5 in the country!