State of the Heisman

There is no way around it. Matt Ryan did not have a great game against UMass. However, he did have an adequate game. RFH would even argue that his Heisman standing went up in the 24-14 win. In reality, how many of the 924 Heisman voters actually saw this game? (Side note: you are a Heisman voter. An internet vote counts as 1/924th of the final poll.) Take a look at the stats from this weekend for #12 and ten of his closest competitors:(Chart after the jump)...

PLAYER	RESULT	LINE
McFadden	W	19 Carries, 138 YDs, 2 TDs,
Tebow	L	20/27, 201 YDs, TD, INT, 19 Carries, 75 YDs, TD
Woodson	W	26/33, 301 YDs, 5 TD, INT
White	L	12/18, 100 YDs, INT, Fumble
Slaton	L	13 Carries, 54 YDs, 2 Fumbles
Dixon	L	31/44, 306 YDs, TD, 2 INT, 8 Carries, 17 YDs, TD
Ryan	W	24/42, 204 YDs, TD
Brennan	W	30/49, 369 YDs, 3 TD, 5 INT
Jackson	W	11 Rec., 160 YDs, 2 TD
Booty	W	20/37, 236 YDs, TD, 2 INT, Fumble
Rice	L	21 Carries, 97 YDs, TD, Fumble

What does all of this mean? White, Slaton and Rice should be out of the picture for a while if not for good. Tebow had a very average day and faces LSU's defense next week. McFadden did nothing to hurt his chances but you have to wonder if a player on a team that should lose at least 3 games can win the HT. Jackson had a very nice day but it is hard for a WR to win the Heisman. Dixon and Booty played decently but not better than Ryan. When is 369 yards a bad thing for a HT candidate? When it is paired with 5 Colt Brennan INTs. Advantage Ryan. That leaves Andre' Woodson. He would be our current favorite for the Heisman. However, Kentucky has a tougher remaining schedule than BC and the Wildcats are hardly a power. With big time TV exposure coming up, Ryan is very much in this thing as long as BC keeps winning games.

Saturday Links

-A HT voter says that Matt Ryan will get serious consideration when it is time to cast his ballot.
-Ryan talks about how the UMass defense is different from others that he has seen.
-An article on Jags from his former hometown paper.

Food for Thought...

Take a look at ESPN's Heisman Watch. There is a very decent chance that every one of the players currently ranked ahead of Matt Ryan right now could have at least one loss at the close of play one week from today. The West Virginia loss tonight was huge for #12's hopes. Not one but two top HT candidates laid an egg on national TV. On the flip side, Matt Grothe scares me. The Big East needs to start cannibalizing itself.

10 Heismandments, Part II

Yesterday, we analyzed how the first half of the 10 Heismandments apply to #12. Today, we'll take a look at Heismandments 6-10:

6) The winner cannot be considered an obvious product of his system.

There is no denying the fact that Matt Ryan's stats are a result of Steve Logan's offense. However, Ryan is not solely the product of a system. He is seen by many as a Top-10 pick in next year's NFL Draft so it is clear that people have looked beyond the system. If anything, this could work in Ryan's favor. The QB with gaudy numbers who has the best chance to go undefeated is Colt Brennan. It Helps #12's Heisman chances if Brennan is seen as a product of a June Jones offense. Check.

7) If you are a quarterback, running back or multi-purpose athlete at one of the following schools, you have a good chance to win if you have a very good statistical season, are an upperclassmen and your team wins at least 9 games: Notre Dame, USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan, Miami and Florida State.

None of the above.

8) There are statistical benchmarks for each position in order to be considered:
b. If you are a passing quarterback on a traditional power or national title contender, you need to pass for at least 3,000 yards and must have at least a 2-1 touchdown to interception ratio, with at least 20 TD passes and an efficiency rating of at least 135.0.

Again, only the national title contender could apply to BC here. As for the stats, 3,000 yards, 20+ TDs and an efficiency rating of 135.0+ all seem likely. As of right now, the TD/INT ratio is 2-1 so it's good enough to get Ryan into the debate. With the low INT numbers of some other top quarterbacks, we am not sure it's good enough to win the HT. Check, for now.

9) There will never be another two-time Heisman winner.

Doesn't apply, check.

10) The winner must be likeable.

Don't take our word for it. Ask The New York Times, Sports Illustrated and WEEI. Check.


What does this all mean? Eight of the ten Heismandments apply to Matt Ryan as of today, one is a maybe and one does not. What that tells us is that he is never going to be the leading candidate, no matter how well he does. But if he keeps up the pace and BC keeps winning, he has a very good shot to be one of three people invited to New York on December 8th.

Matt Ryan Shalt Follow The 10 Heismandments

If you are not familiar with The 10 Heismandments, created by HeismanPundit, you should take a look. Chris Huston, the author of the site is a former SID at USC. He worked on the Heisman campaigns of Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart and he knows his stuff. He lays out 10 guidelines which govern the way that the HT is selected. Between today (1-5) and tomorrow (6-10), I will break down the Heismandments and see where Matt Ryan fits in and what his chances might be at this point. If you agree or disagree, use the comments section to say why. Without further ado:

1) The winner must be a quarterback, a running back, or a multi-threat athlete.
Quarterback, check.

2) The winner must be a junior or senior.
Senior, check.

3) The winner must put up good numbers in big games on TV.
1-for-1, Georgia Tech, check.

4) The winner must have some prior name recognition.
The requirement is some recognition. 1+ year as a starter and a darkhorse entering the season is enough. The publicity that Ryan is getting now also works in his favor, check.

5) The winner must be one or more of the following 3:
a) The top player on a national title contender.
b) A player that puts up good numbers for a traditional power that has a good record.
c) A player who puts up superlative single-season or career numbers on a good team, or
numbers which are way out ahead of his Heisman competitors.
BC is not a traditional power, 5b doesn't apply.
There is a chance that Ryan could move way ahead of his competitors but that is only if Brennan, Tebow, Bradford and Woodson see their passing yards go down as they navigate their conference schedules. Ryan also needs to increase the TDs and decrease the INTs, ?.
The best bet to satisfy number 5 at this point is for BC to win out. They don't need to make it to the NC game but they need to get to the Orange Bowl undefeated, ?.

Check back tomorrow for Heismandments 6-10.

Thursday Links and New RSS Feed---->

-Nice piece on the history between BC and UMass in the UMass student newspaper.
-They also have a story about Matt Ryan and his UMass counterpart.
-When asked to name the nation's most underrated teams for the latest ESPN The Magazine, Rod Gilmore picks BC and says "Matt Ryan might be the nation's best quarterback."
-Here is the audio from Matt Ryan's appearance on WEEI yesterday:

WEEI - Dale and Holley - Matt Ryan, Boston College QB

Bandwagon Wednesday

CLICK THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE

Sorry for the delay. This week, we have 3 new passengers on the "Ryan For Heisman" Bandwagon:

• Todd McShay of ESPN and Scouts Inc. for his praise of #12 on GameDay this past Saturday. One of the keys to any successful Heisman campaign is national TV exposure and Todd helped provide that.
• This week's issue of SI, which included a feature on #12, written by Mark Beech. Again, the national pub is vital to the movement.
• George Clooney. As Dennis Dodd tells us, Jags is "Clooney with a headset." Thus, Clooney himself has climbed aboard. At the very least he can share what it's like to win a major award with #12.

Wednesday Links

-Dennis Dodd makes up for his "Graham Harrell" comment with a funny piece on Jags that appears on the CBSSports.com front page. The last line is great. Jags will from here on out be referred to as "George Clooney with a headset."
-ESPN has #12 ranked 7th in its Heisman Watch.
-Bleacher Report has him 4th but has many of the same criticisms as I do, namely too many INTs. Thanks to Cliff for the link.
-Here is a roundup of ESPN odds and ends:
1) Kiper still has the 3 BC guys on his top 5 lists:

• Ryan is the 3rd QB
• Cherilus is the 3rd OT
• Tribble is the second CB

-On his Big Board:

• Ryan is up 1 spot to 7
• Cherilus is down 1 spot to 12
• Tribble is down 1 spot to 20

2)The only chat question worth mentioning was posed to Beano Cook:

• will tennesse: does matt ryan the qb from BC have a chance of becoming a heisman canidate

  
  Beano Cook: He already is a candidate; so he has a great shot at being in NY in December.

Tuesday Links (Updated at 3:27PM with SI article..)

-Here is the SI feature by Mark Beech that I referenced yesterday. If you found your way to this site in the first place, then this is a must read. Thanks to Brian for the heads up.
-The UMass QB talks about how he grew up watching the BC football team and the respect that he has for #12.
-Not related to #12 but the Globe has an interesting piece about what being in the ACC has done for admissions.
-The Rocky Mountain News, which apparently has the nation's longest running weekly Heisman poll, has #12 tied for 5th place this week.

Holy crap....(updated 3:31PM EDT)

The guys at TheBigLead released their first Heisman watch list. Not only did they list #12 but they linked to this humble little blog. RFH is thrilled with the love for Matty Ice and the link will have us smiling for the rest of the day.

-Also, Gene Menez has #12 up two spots to 6th on SI's Heisman Watch. He also confirms that the feature that SI came to do last week will run in this week's issue.

Monday Links and A Request

First of all, I am looking for nominees for Bandwagon Wednesday. If you have someone that you think is worthy, please send it along.
-The Heights has a piece (with a funny title) on Chris Crane.
-Blaudschun says that #12 stayed on the Heisman radar.
-Dennis Dodd refers to #12 as "Graham Harrell with a defense." I think he meant it as a compliment but it sure doesn't sound like it.
-It's funny that Dodd of all people wrote that because my buddy John sent me a link to a story from 2003 in which Dodd was quoted as saying, "The player with the best chance plays for a top-10 team, plays on television, plays well late in the season and plays a skill position."

• Top 10 team? Check
• Plays on TV? Come mid-October, check
• Plays well late in the season? TBD
• Skill position? Check

Game Day Sighting

So, I'm walking back to my seat from the bathroom at the very end of halftime today and I see a group of people standing around talking. I am about to pass them when something caught my eye. It was a girl wearing a SuperFan shirt. Normally, this would not be noteworthy. However, on the back of her shirt is a sticker which features the banner from this site. Imagine my shock. I politely interrupted this girl and asked her where she got it. She replied, "Oh, my friend's dad made them up." I chuckled and thought to myself "No, he didn't." Anyway, I kept asking her questions and laughing until finally she asked why I was so curious. I pointed out that it was my design and she said "Oh, do you know the Wakefields?" No, I don't know the Wakefields but Mr. Wakefield, whoever you are, how about a heads up? I would have come over and gotten myself a sticker. Anyway, long story short, t-shirts will be available next week and anyone who will be at the game and is interested let me know, maybe something can be worked out if you want a decent sized lot. People who want one sent somewhere can contact me too. That can be done through PayPal.
-RFH

Links Update

-Here is a New York Times Q&A with #12. This must have been the reason that they were on campus on Wednesday. Thanks to Nick for the heads up
-A writer for CSTV did a piece on #12 and even linked to this site.

Friday Links

-Vote for #12 for the Davey O'Brien award. I lifted this link from atl_eagle.
-Blaudschun has a good piece on Logan in today's Globe. Obviously it talks a lot about #12.
-A Syracuse recruit idolizes #12. Don't we all, kid.
-The New Hampshire Union Leader has a piece that focuses in part on BC's WRs coach

Wallpapers

Here a few wallpapers that I did a while ago:


If you like what you see here, go to this site and register. Once you've done that, you can see a ton of wallpers like this (created by a user named p.stic) for almost any team you can think of by clicking here.

Official RFH Marketing

Some people have been asking why the BC athletic department is not openly promoting #12 as a Heisman candidate. I have 3 responses to that:
1) BC is obviously getting Ryan's name out there with the ESPN chat and the national interviews. They know that attention for Ryan means attention for BC and that is what truly matters in terms of recruiting and bowl prospects.
2) BC is doing everything right. What is there to gain from an official marketing campaign at this point? It only places undue pressure on the team and its QB. If the team continues to play well and Ryan holds serve, the attention will come.I assume Florida State will be a regional broadcast on ESPN and ND and VT will be EXCLUSIVE national broadcasts. That means that everyone who gets NBC (ND) or ESPN (VT) will see #12 in action. The potential for exposure there is much more valuable than a letter writing campaign. Besides, I have no direct knowledge but I assume the days when a voter could be influenced by an official campaign are over. That is why this site is for the fans. It is not for voters or a platform to force #12 on people. It's a place to have fun and keep up with the football team.
3) I am happy that BC is not wasting $ on an official campaign right now. The money is better spent elsewhere. For example how many people support the nationally ranked Men's (13th) and Women's (8th) soccer teams?

Thursday Links

-GameDay was on campus to interview #12 yesterday. Apparently SI, the NYT and ESPN the Mag have stories in the works as well.
-The Globe has a similar piece about the national attention.
-ESPN chatted with #12 today at noon. I am not sure if the chat is Insider yet.
-Chris Fowler sees #12 as a bright spot.

Bandwagon Wednesday

I will be doing this every Wednesday from here until the end of the season. We know that there are plenty of BC fans on the RFH Bandwagon. It is also important that we get people not directly related to BC onboard. The first two people on the bandwagon are
-Tim Russert for his Meet the Press signoff this week
-Bob Davie for talking #12 up for 3 straight hours on national tv. I know most of us don't think very highly of Bob but the prime time appearance was very important to the cause and that is because of Davie
Comment here by next week if you want to suggest the next person on the Ryan For Heisman bandwagon

ESPN CHAT WITH MATT RYAN...THURSDAY AT NOON

Submit your questions now:
http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=17330

What Makes a Heisman?

Here are some quick facts about recent Heisman Trophy winners:

• Since the advent of the BCS (after the '98 regular season), only 1 HT winner didn't play in a BCS game. (Ricky Williams '98, the first year of the BCS)
• In that same time period, only 3 HT winners did not play for the National Championship. (Williams '98, Ron Dayne '99, Carson Palmer '02)
• Since 2000, 6 of the 7 HT winners were quarterbacks, with Reggie Bush '05 being the only exception.
• 4 of the 7 runners-up in that same span were QBs.
• Palmer ('02) was the only HT winner in that same seven year span from a team that lost 2+ games. USC's 2nd loss came on October 5th of that year.

Here is a stat comparison of the QBs who have won the HT since 2000:

Year	QB	Comp. %	Pass YDs	Pass TDs	INTs	Rush YDs	Rush TDs
2000	Weinke	61.7%	4167	33	11	-97	1
2001	Crouch	53.9%	1572	7	11	1229	18
2002	Palmer	63.2%	3942	33	10	-122	4
2003	White	61.6%	3846	40	10	-150	1
2004	Leinart	65.3%	3322	33	6	-44	3
2006	Smith	67.0%	2507	30	5	233	1
2007	Ryan*	59.2%	3940	28	12	-60	0

*Projected 2007 stats over a 12 game season

What does this all mean? It means that #12's stats are indeed Heisman-caliber. Here is what needs to happen for him to win the thing:

• BC Needs to keep winning. 1 loss probably ends his chances, 2 losses and he's out of the running for sure.
• Improve the completion %. This is on the receivers too but voters don't care. This 3-4 game stretch should help.
• Increase the TDs. Again, now's the time to do it. However, between the dropped pass right before the first TD Saturday night and the fumble on the second drive he lost 2 potential TDs. I am not worried about this stat at all as long as the team is scoring.
• Make sure the INTs don't go up.
• A rushing TD or two would not hurt

Wednesday Links

-Rivals named #12's new guru its' National Coordinator of the Week
-Pat Forde says that Heisman voters need to start considering #12. Maybe somebody should start a website or something.
-Kiper has #12 as the number 3 Senior QB, trailing only the two from the state of Kentucky. For those of you without insider, Cherilus is the #3 OT and Tribble is the #2 CB
-I will list any BC guys on Kiper's big board when the article goes up
-From today's ESPN Chats:

Matt (Lynn,Mass): Mel, what do you think of Matt Ryan and if you had to guess, what range of the 1st round do you see him being drafted? Also, will DeJuan Tribble be a top 20 pick?

Mel Kiper: DeJuan tribble will go late in the first round. Ryan will be a top 10, maybe a top 5 guy. You will look at Brian Brohm, Andre Woodson, or Matt Ryan if you need a QB. In 2004, we had Manning, Rivers, and Big Ben battling it out. 2006 had Young, Leinart, and Cutler. You keep having trirumvirates. Every one of those QBs have shown up very well. There are no busts in that group. These three will all be scrutinized. Ryan is right on the heels of Woodson and Brohm. He may even be No. 1 at the end of the season. Jon Tanuta is one of the top defensive coordinators in college football, and Matt Ryan put up career-high numbers against his defense. With his size and arm, it'll be a heck of a battle between the top 3 QBs.

Mike (Boston): There has always been a mental block for BC when it comes to beating Miami, even when Miami isn't that good. Does coach Jags change that mindset this year?

Ivan Maisel: Based on the first three weeks, I plead guilty to misdemanor bandwagon jumping with the Eagles. But I am sold on them. I think they are going to go a long way and that includes Miami. Miami is good on defense but they have lots of issues on offense and they are not the kind of issues that can be fixed without some signing days.

Brandon (boston): What do you think of BC!

Beano Cook: Very good. They are very impressive, with a win at Georgia Tech. Mr. Matt Ryan is one of those early Heisman candidates. That was a big, real big win for BC.

I will get two features up later. One is a comparison of recent Heisman QBs and another is a fun feature that I will be running. They should be up tonight

Tuesday Links

-Mel Kiper says that #12 will be one of the big three come next April. He also says that Ryan really stood out this weekend.
-Not really about #12 but Fox Sports has Spaz as the DC of the Week. It's nice to see somebody other than the object of our affection get recognition for what was a solid all around game
-TOB utters words he would never have let slip if he was still on the BC sidelines
-ESPN has #12 at 8 in their Heisman Watch. Lauren Reynolds explains why he put him 5th.
More links tomorrow as well as a little analysis of recent Heisman quarterbacks.

Monday Links

-#12 makes it 2-for-3 when it comes to the ACC Offensive Back of the Week
-Vote for #12 in USA Today's Player of the Week Poll
-Mark Schlabach writes about how change has benefited BC and #12
-Todd McShay lists #12 as one of his 5-Up and points out that, for the time being, Matty Ice has what every Heisman hopeful needs: a signature moment
-The Godfather of mainstream sports media has #12 at 8 in their Heisman Watch

It is crazy how much attention BC and Ryan are getting from around the country. This is what BC fans have been begging for. As long as the team keeps its' focus (today's Herald indicates that that won't be a problem), there is no reason why BC fans can't enjoy the attention and recognition. As a lot of people have been saying over the past few days, it is a great time to be an Eagles fan.

It's Matt's World, We're All Just Living In It

Welcome to Ryan For Heisman. From time to time, we will be posting links and opinion dealing with the buzz around BC quarterback Matt Ryan. Feel free to tell your friends and to let RFH know what you think of the site. Here is just a sampling of what you have to look forward to:
-This piece from the Herald mentions the H word but the part that RFH loves is that #12 and his teammates are all business.
-The AP story from the GT game advises #12 to get ready for the hype.
-The Sporting News attributes Ryan's increased success directly to the new coaching staff.
-College Football Final questions what losses by Arkansas and Louisville did to the Heisman race (and #12's stock).
-The Globe has a nice piece on #12 where he tries to deflect some of the accolades.
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