2011 Duckie Awards

The Duckie Award:

The Duckie Award goes to the nation’s best player this season regardless of team or position. 

Nominees:

Andrew Luck

Robert Griffin III
Montee Ball
Tyrann Mathieu
Trent Richardson

Winner: Robert Griffin III

Griffin has been nothing short of spectacular this year and has put Baylor on the college football map.  After four games this season, RG3 had more touchdown passes than incompletions.  Griffin would be the Heisman frontrunner if his team had a defense.

Lou Brown Award:

The Lou Brown Award goes to the national coach of the year based on both pure achievement and exceeding expectations.

Nominees:

Kevin Sumlin

Les Miles
Bill Schneider

Winner: Les Miles

In a way, Miles has delivered a disappointing season by not committing any serious blunders in playcalling or clock management.  The Hatter deserves a lot of credit, despite the overwhelming amount of talent on his team, for keeping the team together in the face of multiple suspensions and off-field distractions over the course of the season. 

Barney Stinson Award:

This award goes to the best game of the regular season.  Importance of the game on a national scale is a factor, so no Tuesday night MAC shootouts are eligible.

Nominees:

Wisconsin vs. Michigan State (regular season)

LSU vs. Alabama
Wisconsin vs. Michigan State (conference championship)

Winner: Wisconsin vs. Michigan State (regular season)

This game featured everything: National Championship implications; Scoring outbursts; A late comeback; And, of course, a controversial Hail Mary touchdown when the clock hit zero.  This game effectively knocked Wisconsin out of the National Championship race, and the two teams did not disappoint when they met again in the conference title game.  In fact, the dramatic ending is the only reason this one wins out over the rematch.

The Devo One Hit Wonder Award:

The Devo Award goes to the most impressive single game performance by a player, though that player may not actually be a one hit wonder.

Nominees:

Robert Griffin III- 21-27, 359 Yards, 5 TDs vs. TCU

Patrick Edwards- 7 Rec., 318 Yards, 5 TDs vs. Rice
Case Keenum- 24-37, 534 Yards, 9 TDs vs. Rice

 Winner: Patrick Edwards

The only thing more impressive than Keenum’s nine touchdowns against Rice was his teammate Edwards’s five touchdowns against Rice.  Edwards scored those five touchdowns on just seven receptions, gaining 318 yards.  That’s 45 yards per catch.

Chet Steadman Award:

The Chet Steadman Award goes to the rookie of the year, or top freshman in America.

Nominees:

Sammy Watkins

Jadeveon Clowney
De’Anthony Thomas

Winner: De’Anthony Thomas

Everybody else will give this to Sammy Watkins, who had an unbelievable freshman year.  Thomas, however, made a bigger impact on a national scale.  With injuries to QB Darron Thomas and LaMichael James, Thomas was the player who seemed to step up and make the game changing plays in the biggest games of the year, while Watkins disappeared late in the year.

Charlie Sheen Award for Winning:

This award goes to the player, team, coach, conference, fan base, etc. that thoroughly embarrassed itself or wasted the most potential over the course of the season.

Nominees:

Stephen Garcia

Bill Stewart
Pac-12 South

Winner: Stephen Garcia

This one was a no-brainer and needs no real explanation.

Desperate Housewives “You’re still on TV?” Award:

The Desperate Housewives Award goes to the player who has seemingly been playing way longer than his eligibility should have allowed.  Just like I was shocked to learn that Desperate Housewives is still on TV, these players should all have been long gone before this season.

Nominees:

Rodgers, Oregon State

Jared Crick, Nebraska
Keith Nichol, Michigan State

Winner: Keith Nichol

How long has Keith Nichol been around?  He competed with Sam Bradford for the starting quarterback job at Oklahoma when they were freshmen.  Obviously, Nichol has since transferred to Michigan State, sat out a year, started at quarterback for the Spartans, and eventually moved to receiver, where he made one of the most memorable plays in Spartan history.

The Tranny Award:

The Tranny Award goes to the player who made the biggest impact as a transfer this season.

Nominees:

Russell Wilson

Jarvis Jones
Arthur Brown

Winner: Russell Wilson

Tom O’Brien chased off one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and Wisconsin reaped the benefits.  There’s not a lot of detail needed here, as it is easy to see the impact Russell Wilson had on the Badgers this year.

The Tony Award:

The Tony Award goes to the best play of the season, be it a spectacular individual effort or a game or season changing play.

Nominees:

Michigan State Hail Mary to beat Wisconsin

Andrew Luck one handed catch
Eric Reid goal line interception against Alabama

Winner: Michigan State

Eric Reid may have saved the SEC title for LSU with his interception against Alabama, but nothing tops the drama of Kirk Cousins’s Hail Mary to Keith Nichol to beat then undefeated Wisconsin. 

Charlie Steiner “Follow me to freedom!” Award

The Charlie Steiner “Follow me to freedom!” Award goes to the player who picked up the lantern, put his tie around his head, and carried his team on his back over the course of the season.  This is the most prestigious of all the Duckie Awards.

Winner: Collin Klein

Regular Season Wrap-Up

I'm going to keep it to just a top ten this week, because, frankly, continuing to 25 would be a waste of time with so few teams playing.  Keep in mind that I am releasing this before BCS rankings and bowl games are announced.  The next rankings will not be released until after the bowl games have been played, but I will be updating with post-season awards and probably some bowl analysis between now and then.  The first annual Duckie Awards should be posted some time this week.

Final Regular Season
1. SEC	The Tigers are the only undefeated team and have done so in dominating fashion.  They should be the a heavy favorite in the national title game, no matter who they play.
2. SEC	Here's where it gets tricky.  The Tide's only loss is by 3 points in overtime to the number 1 team, and they haven't done anything to warrant dropping from the number 2 position.  So, I am leaving them at number 2 to finish the regular season.  More on this below...
3. Oklahoma State	Despite ranking Oklahoma State 3rd, I believe they should play LSU for the national championship.  Similar to Bama, their only loss is in overtime, albeit to a much worse team.  That game, however, obviously had outside influences that had to negatively affect the Cowboys.  In an argument against a rematch, Bama and LSU have gone in different directions since their matchup.  Bama and A.J. McCarron have regressed, while LSU has gotten better.  With OSU's huge win over Oklahoma, they have earned a shot at LSU, as Bama has already had their's and has done nothing since then to prove the outcome would be any better for them.
4. Stanford	Stanford has a great team, but their loss to Oregon puts them out of the national title race.  Andrew Luck is great, but the Cardinal simply don't have the speed at the skill positions or on defense to compete for a national champhionship.
5. Wisconsin	Wisconsin and Michigan State proved their epic mid-season game was no fluke.  In fact, they may have played the two top games of the year.  Anybody who missed the Big 12 title game last night because they were watching Oklahoma State or Clemson has their priorities screwed up.  You would have thought they were playing for a trip to the national championship.  And, if it weren't for two hail mary passes, Wisconsin would be in the championshp game.  It's unfortunate that game had to end on a running into the kicker penalty (the correct call), and Michigan State didn't give themselves the chance to win the game.
6. Michigan State
7. Oregon	Oregon will face Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl in what should be a very interesting game.  The Ducks have lost two straight BCS games.  This should be an extremely high scoring game and a great way to start the new year.  I'm going to refrain from talking about the Pac-12 title game, because, honestly, I didn't care enough to watch it.
8. SEC	Here lies the third best team in the SEC, and, as was further confirmed in the Georgia Dome, it's not even close.  A matchup between Arkansas and either Baylor or Oklahoma in the Jerry Bowl should be fun to watch, though.
9. Boise State	Here is another "if only" team.  For the second year in a row, Boise lost there chance at a title because of a missed field goal.  Now, they will be lucky to end up in a BCS bowl or get stuck in another meaningless bowl game.  Boise's run of dominance may be over, because moving to the Big East certainly isn't going to help any perceptions.
10. Kansas State	Colin Klein led Kansas State to one more close win to finish up the regular season in the top ten.  Klein is probably the most underappreciated player in America and deserves a trip to New York for the Heisman ceremony.