Fourth and inches … (game week of Nov 21, 2009)

By Todd Erickson  |   Saturday, November 21, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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Toby Gerhart, don’t let me down in your last two games of the regular season because I’m going to rave about why you are the top candidate for the Heisman Trophy … Toby has 1,395 yards rushing in 10 games (5.3 yards per attempt). That’s third in the nation, 96 yards behind the leader in this category. But the two running backs ahead of him have not faced the same level of competition—they both play in the pathetically weak Western Athletic Conference where even the conference's top dog, undefeated Boise State, ranks 38th in the nation in total rushing yards allowed and 31st in rushing yards per game allowed.

Gerhart averages 139.5 yards per game, third in the nation among all backs with at least 150 rushing attempts, again just a few yards behind the two WAC rushers (Ryan Mathews, Fresno State and Donald Buckram, UTEP).

His 19 rushing touchdowns are second to Navy’s Ricky Dobbs (22 TDs) and he leads in rushing attempts, a clear indication of his durability and impact on the field.

If Gerhart has any weakness—and you really can’t call it a weakness—it would have to be that he only has 8 receptions for 87 yards in 10 games, so far. But, that’s a result of Jim Harbaugh’s offense more than it is a reflection of Gerhart not being a reliable receiver out of the backfield. The Cardinal have an offense that is geared to showcase Gerhart on the ground and when they do pass, QB Andrew Luck has two solid receivers he can rely on in Ryan Whalen and Chris Owusu. Besides, when you are lugging the rock 262 times in 10 games as the featured offensive threat, you begin hurting your team’s offensive attack when you become a featured receiver, too.

The bottom line that if you take Toby Gerhart away from Stanford’s offensive attack, the Cardinal are not 7-3 and still in the running for a Pac-10 championship. They would be 3-7 and sitting home again during the bowl season.

Jeff Call of the Deseret News has a column this week titled “Air Force wants to make it Big 4.” Say what? I’ve always considered Air Force to be one of the top four football programs in the Mountain West Conference. Week in, week out, they are one of the toughest teams to defeat in the conference. Ask No. 4 ranked TCU, which slipped by the Falcons, 20-17 earlier this year. Or, Utah, which squeaked out a 23-16 win. Air Force has two other close losses to bowl-bound teams. Both losses were on the road (20-13 at Minnesota and 16-13 at Navy). That’s four setbacks by a total of 20 points. Troy Calhoun is a phenomenal head coach and the Falcons are the best 4-loss team in the country.

Heisman Trophy Top 5: Toby Gerhart, Stanford, Colt McCoy, Texas, Tim Tebow, Florida; Mark Ingram, Alabama; and, Jerry Hughes, TCU.

Conference Power Meter: 1. SEC. 2. Pac-10. 3. Big XII. 4. Big Ten 5. ACC 6. MWC. 7. Big East. 8. C-USA. 9. WAC. 10. Sun Belt.

College football time capsule … As Ohio State wraps up another season at the top of the Big Ten Conference, it was 93 years ago when the Buckeyes won their first conference title. On November 25, 1916 Ohio State beat Northwestern 23-3 in Columbus, Ohio, to cap a 7-0 season and earn the Buckeyes the conference championship. It was the first of 33 Big Ten titles for Ohio State, 17 outright and 16 shared championships to date. (Courtesy of The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame).

This week’s Big 8 picks…

No. 9 Ohio State at Michigan. One of the greatest rivalries in college football hasn’t been so great the past few years. The Buckeyes will see that things stay that way this year. They won’t let the Wolverines take the polish off their Big Ten title and impending trip to Pasadena.
No. 13 Penn State at Michigan State. The Nittany Lions will have to play lights out football to knock off the Spartans at home. MSU is fighting to position themselves for a decent bowl game invite vs the possibility of not getting a bowl bid at all. JoePa’s boys pull this one off.
No. 17 Wisconsin at Northwestern. I like the way both teams have matured and improved as the season progressed. If the Wildcats can go to Iowa City and knock off the Buckeyes, they can certainly get the job done at home vs the Badgers. I wouldn’t consider it a mild upset, either.
Kansas State at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers can lock up a date with Texas in the Big 12 title game with a win at home over KSU. Big Red football is looking pretty solid as the season winds down and they will take care of business in their own crib.
Connecticut at Notre Dame. The Irish should be fighting to save their coach’s job, as well as some self-respect. The Huskies’ five losses have been by a total of 15 points. They are the best five-loss team in the country. Unfortunately, I see them losing another close one, thanks to the Clausen-Floyd-Tate triad.
Cal at No. 14 Stanford. Rivalry games like this one can go either way, even if one of the teams is having a really bad year. That’s not the case in this contest, but I like the way Stanford is playing. The Cardinal will win this one and stay in the race for the Pac-10 title.
No. 11 Oregon at Arizona. The Wildcats essentially blew their chances for a Pac-10 title last week when they lost on the road to Cal. Believe it or not, if they win at home against the Quacks and take care of ASU and USC the next two weeks, they will still be heading to the Rose Bowl Game for the first time in school history. I see them winning this one and stumbling in one of the next two games.
No. 10 LSU at Mississippi. If Dexter McCluster has another field day in Oxford like he did last week against Tennessee, then the LSU will fall. Look for that to happen and the Tigers will head back to Baton Rouge with their tails between their legs.

Last week: 7-1 Season: 46-32
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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl...
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