LET’S GO SUH!!!!!!

At the end of every college regular season we usually see The Heisman Trophy go to the pretty boy quarterbacks or the touchdown scoring running backs. This year we have the most dominate defensive player being recognized as a finalist for this top honor, for most outstanding college player of the year. He goes by the name of Suh, mainly because no one can pronounce his whole name, including me.

Last year’s top three candidates for The Heisman returned to the college gridiron this season to hopefully give us another close and exciting race. But the exact opposite happened. Sam Bradford, last year’s winner, was quickly sidelined with a season ending shoulder injury. Tim Tebow’s 2009 season hit a few rough patches. He has been a finalist for a third straight year, winning the 2007 trophy. Tebow is always highly admirable but this is not a career achievement award. Now as for Colt McCoy, he hit a few rough patches but played well enough to lead his team to the national championship.

On Monday the five finalists for this year’s trophy were released in no particular order:

1. Colt McCoy/QB/Texas

· Passed for 3,512 yards with 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

2. Mark Ingram/RB/ Alabama

· Rushed for 1,542 yards and scored 15 touchdowns.

3. Toby Gerhart/RB/Stanford

· Rushed for 1,736 yards and scored 26 touchdowns.

4. Suh Ndamukong/DT/Nebraska

· 82 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 24 quarterback hurries and 12 sacks (in 13 games).

5. Tim Tebow/QB/Florida

· Passed for 2,413 yards and threw 18 touchdowns while rushing for 859 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Ingram, Gerhart and Suh finished the season with great games. Ingram really lifted his Heisman campaign with a strong finish in the SEC Championship game against Florida. He ran for 113 yards while scoring three touchdowns. Suh on the other hand sacked Colt McCoy 4½ times and had seven tackles for a loss in an attention grabbing performance against Texas in the Big 12 title game. Gerhart also ended his season with a boom, running for 205 yards and three touchdowns and throwing a touchdown pass in a victory against Notre Dame.

Tebow and McCoy really didn’t finish their seasons the way they had hoped. Even though Texas came out on top against Nebraska, McCoy’s good play throughout the season was due largely to his teammate Jordan Shipley. Tebow is still in the shadow of his sophomore season when he broke the Touchdown record. He will always be held to that high standard and anything less will be criticized.

This award should go to the most dominant player in college football. So my top three candidates, in order, are Suh, Gerhart and Ingram. Ingram is the best player on the best team in the nation, but trails to Gerhart in two extremely important categories. Gerhart, who leads the nation in scoring and rushing yards, out rushed Ingram by about 200 yards and outscored him by 11 touchdowns. Two things Ingram does have going for him and what will probably get him the trophy is scoring three touchdowns while rushing for over one hundred yards against arguably the best defense in the nation and getting his team to the BCS National Championship.

BUT

Suh without a doubt has been the most dominating college football player this season. His playmaking resume from sacks and tackles for loss to turnovers produced and blocked kicks is more impressive than any other Heisman candidate. No Heisman candidate has solely stood out this season except Suh. If Suh does not win the trophy it’s not because someone was better but because they couldn’t pronounce his name.