2nd Annual Duckie Awards



The Duckie Award:

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

Nominees:

Collin Klein
Johnny Manziel
Manti Te’o

Winner: Johnny Manziel 

For much of the season, Collin Klein was a shoe-in for this award, but Johnny Football’s play down the stretch combined with Klein’s struggles put him over the top.  The Alabama win was unquestionably Manziel’s defining moment, especially after his early struggles against Florida and LSU.  For those who missed the Heisman ceremony, it was refreshing to hear him call out his offensive linemen by name to thank them for making his unbelievable freshman season possible.

 

Lou Brown Award:

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

Nominees:

Brian Kelly

Bill O’Brien
Bill Snyder


Winner: Bill O’Brien

O’Brien walked into an impossible situation at Penn State.  The Nittany Lions won’t be able to compete for a title of any sort for four years, and the team was littered with defections before fall practice, yet they finished 8-4.  That was good enough for 2^nd place in the division and probably double the wins expected this year.  O’Brien has to get all the credit in the world for keeping the team together and motivated against all odds.

 

Game of the Year:

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

Nominees:

UGA vs. Alabama

LSU vs. Alabama
Stanford vs. Oregon

Winner: UGA vs. Alabama

 

 

 

This one is a no-brainer.  If ever there was a game to prove why a playoff is needed, it was this one.  The winner took home the SEC title and earned a trip to the national title game, and both teams played like it.  Aaron Murray stepped up against an elite team, and Bama’s duo of Lacy and Yeldon refused to be tackled in the 2^nd half.  The two teams were constantly back and forth, with each making their own runs before the final decision came down to a tackle at the Bama five yard line as time ran out on UGA.

 

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:

Collin Klein- 19-21, 323 yards, 3 TDs, 41 rush yards, 4TDs vs. West Virginia

Geno Smith- 45-51, 656 yards, 8 Tds vs. Baylor
Marquise Lee- 16 Rec, 345 yards, 2 TDs, 469 total yards vs. Arizona

Winner: Collin Klein

 

This was Collin Klein’s statement game that put him in the pilot seat for the Heisman.  He completely dominated West Virginia on the ground and through the air on the way to a 55-14 win.

 

Chet Steadman Award:

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

Nominees:

Johnny Manziel
Todd Gurley
Marcus Mariota

Winner: Johnny Manziel

If you are the best player in the country and you are also a freshman, then you must also be the best freshman in the country.  One exciting thing about this season was the number of huge impact freshmen across the country.  Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall almost rushed UGA to the title game.  Marcus Mariota picked up the reins at Oregon, falling one loss short of the title game.  Duke Johnson dominated the ACC as a freshman at Miami, and T.J. Yeldon gave everybody flashbacks of Trent Richardson as a freshman.  Our reward as fans is that we get to watch all of these players and more return next 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:

B1G

ACC Coastal
Bobby Petrino

Winner: Bobby Petrino

 

 

This is a close one.  Both the ACC and B1G saw their top qualifiers for the conference title games ruled ineligible.  The B1G got even worse when 7-5, 3^rd place, Wisconsin put 70 points up on Nebraska to go to the Rose Bowl.  It doesn’t get much more embarrassing, though, than the Midnight Ride of Bobby Petrino. 

 

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:

Richard Samuel, UGA

Stepfan Taylor, Stanford
Robert Marve, Purdue

Winner: Robert Marve

Robert Marve was going to be the next great QB at Miami when he signed in Randy Shannon’s first recruiting class.  In his time at Miami, he injured his throwing hand in a car crash, got arrested, turned the ball over, failed out of school, and whined until he transferred to Purdue.  Once at Purdue, he tore his ACL what seems like at least 10 times, including at the end of this season, after which he continued to play because Purdue literally had no other QBs. 

 

The Tranny Award:

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

Nominees:

Silas Redd

Lache Seastrunk
Justin Brown

Winner: Lache Seastrunk

This is an uninspiring list compared to last year’s, which included Russell Wilson, Arthur Brown, and Jarvis Jones.  Redd was supposed to complete the USC offense, making them unstoppable.  That didn’t quite happen, and Justin Brown couldn’t make a huge impact at OU despite their depleted receiving corps.  That leaves Lache Seastrunk, who transferred from Oregon amid a recruiting scandal.  He didn’t have a huge year at Baylor but did provide them an explosive weapon at RB and played a big role in their upset over Kansas State.

 

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:

Johnny Manziel drops ball, throws touchdown against Alabama

T.J. Yeldon screen pass to beat LSU
Taylor Martinez runs 200 yards for a touchdown against Wisconsin

Winner: T.J. Yeldon

Bama was done.  LSU had just taken the lead late in Baton Rouge, and A.J. McCarron had shown little capacity to lead the Tide to a game winning touchdown.  Then he completed a pass…then another pass.  LSU turned up the heat, and McCarron dropped it off to Yeldon on a screen.  The freshman then weaved through the LSU defense for the game winning score to preserve Bama’s title hopes.

 

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: Manti Te’o

 

Final Regular Season Top 25

The regular season is over, and we now have over a month to wait for Notre Dame to meet then entire SEC in the national title game.  We have a team that thinks it is an entire conference and an entire conference that thinks it is one team fighting for the national title.  Irony?  Fitting?  By the way, that headline is a lie.  It's only 15 this week.

Final Regular Season
1. Notre Dame	Here we go.  The last time Notre Dame played for a national title, nobody cared that Jose Canseco was on the juice.  For the first time, they are also in the BCS because they actually deserve it.  For the next month, we are going to hear about how the SEC is going to destroy Notre Dame.  Maybe that will happen, but Notre Dame's defense is too good for me to predict it.
2. SEC	The Tide escaped in what was probably the game of the year.  They asserted their dominance in the running game and made just enough plays on defense (literally) to earn a trip to Miami.  This will be an interesting matchup, as it pits two great defenses against each other.  Notre Dame has made a living stopping the run, which means A.J. McCarron better be ready to step up an make a few plays again.
3. SEC	The dogs move up a spot after their narrow loss in the SEC title game.  Their supposed NFL defensive line was manhandled, as Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon ran wild on them.  Aaron Murray, however, really stepped up in a big game and played about as well as could be expected.  You can't ask for much more than to come within a play of the national title game.  Mark Richt, on the other hand, fell short yet again, and his poor decision not to spike the ball may have cost them a chance at a title.
4. Oregon	Oregon has to feel like this season was a disappointment.  Even though they sit at number four on their way to the Fiesta Bowl, they can't even claim the Pac-12 North title.  That said, it should be a really entertaining matchup against Collin Klein in the desert.
5. SEC	The Gayta get to finish the season with an undeserving Sugar Bowl bid.  We could have had a national title rematch against Oklahoma, but BCS rules have prevented that.  Instead, the Gayta will probably roll over Louisville, and Northern Illinois gets to go to the Orange Bowl.
6. SEC	I'm pretty sure Lester made up that whole Arkansas story just to get a raise.
7. SEC	A&M gets to go right back to its Big12 days when it matches up with Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.  This is another interesting matchup that should turn into a high scoring game.  Bigger news could come this weekend, however, as Johnny Football goes into the Heisman ceremony considered the favorite.
8. Collin Klein	Collin Klein comes away with a berth in the Fiesta Bowl, but what looked like a guaranteed Heisman and BCS title game appearance may be all gone.  Klein hasn't been the same since he suffered a concusion against Oklahoma State.  Despite the big win over Texas on the scoreboard, Klein may not have had the dominating game he needed to reclaim the Heisman.
9. Stanford	Stanford has definitely found their successor to Andrew Luck in Kevin Hogan.  Hogan has been the spark that has carried Stanford to the Rose Bowl, where they will get a rematch of their last Rose Bowl appearance against Wisconsin.  Wisconsin is making their third straight trip to Pasadena, except this time it's at 8-5 after finishing third in their division.  Putting up 70 points against Nebraska helps make up for it though.
10. SEC	Nothing interesting to say about the Gamecocks.
11. Oklahoma	Good news is that Big Game Bob won't lose a BCS game this year, so maybe Northern Illinois was a blessing in disguise.  Besides, let's be honest, except for the BCS label, the Cotton Bowl is way more interesting than half the BCS games this year.
12. Florida State	The Noles hung on late against Georgia Tech to win the ACC.  As has been discussed ad nauseum here, they are rewarded with a trip to play Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl.  This has to be the worst BCS matchup ever.  At least Hawaii was undefeated…and, you know, from Hawaii.
13. Clemson	Let's see, what can we say that's interesting about Clemson.  Nothing.  Must be something about the state of South Carolina, which, outside of Charleston, is completely uninteresting.
14. Oregon State	Stanford wasn't the only Pac-12 team to win this weekend.  Oregon State finally won their opener against Nicholls State by putting 77 points on the board.  With that many points, it's no wonder it took three months to finish the game.
15. UCLA	Because nobody else is any good, and UCLA came within a field goal of forcing overtime against Stanford, they move up to #15 despite the loss.  Jim Mora has really done a remarkable job turning around UCLA in his first season.  Of course, this is the same Mora who was supposedly a miracle worker with the Falcons too, so stay tuned.  And UCLA played in the Pac-12 title game last year too, so how much of a turnaround was it really?

Week 14 Top 25

Sorry about the lack of update last week, but we're back now after the holiday.  Not much has changed near the top.  I still have Oregon in the third spot based on the entire body of work, but a win in the SEC title game would surely launch the dogs ahead of the Ducks into the second spot (so keep your red panties in your lap).  Of course, none of that matters because my vote means nothing.  After teams 15-21 all lost last week, I am stopping at 15 this time because going beyond that would be pointless.

Week 14
1. Notre Dame	Notre Dame has finished the season undefeated and will play in the National Championship game.  I repeat, Notre Dame has finished the season undefeated and will play in the National Championship game.  Notre Dame versus SEC for the title…ESPN just spontaneously combusted.
2. SEC	The Tide have clearly not lost focus after their loss to aTm.  They've taken care of two 1-AA caliber opponents as a warm up for the SEC title game to earn a trip to play Notre Dame in Miami.
3. Oregon	The Ducks rebounded just fine from their OT loss to Stanford by running away from Oregon State in the second half.  It was a close game for a while, but Oregon did what everybody was waiting for them to do last week.  Unfortunately for NikeU, there is no chance of climbing back into the title game.
4. SEC	It's really a wonder why Aaron Murray hasn't been in the Heisman discussion.  He leads the nation in pass efficiency and is a win away from leading his team to the BCS title game.  This isn't to say that he has had a more spectacular season than Johnny Manziel or Collin Klein, but he has exceeded expectations.  Of course, the big game monkey still looms, and he has a chance to end that in a big way on Saturday.
5. SEC	The Gayta have somehow played their way into an almost certain Sugar Bowl berth.  Nick Saban apparently takes exception to this, since it will knock the loser of the SEC championship game down to the Citrus Bowl, or worse.  Will Muschamp, your response?  "We'll switch places if Nick doesn't like it."
6. SEC	I think it's officially time to 5150 the Hatter.
7. SEC	Johnny Manziel continues to be ridiculous.  Clearly, I love Collin Klein as much as anybody, but Johnny Football is my leader in the clubhouse for the Heisman.
8. Collin Klein	Speaking of Collin Klein, he got a much needed week off to rest after a terrible outing against Baylor.  Clearly, the shot he took against OK State had a lingering effect, as he just wasn't the same in the ensuing two games.  Hopefully he has fully recovered and can finish strong against Texas to clinch the Big?.
9. Stanford	Stanford took care of business against UCLA to clinch their spot in the Pac-12 title game against…UCLA.  The Pac-12 title game is off to a rough two-year start.
10. SEC	The Gamecocks have once again finished remarkably without Marcus Lattimore.  This time it was without Connor Shaw as well.  As happy as they are to have beaten Clemson for the fourth straight year, Gamecock fans have to be frustrated by what could have been yet again.
11. Oklahoma	The Sooners won a wild one against OK State to stay alive in the Big? title race.  It's really getting old seeing this same story year after year with OU.  They certainly have the athletes, but something is just not right.  OU may be the biggest proponent of a playoff, because it affords them the chance to choke away a regular season game every year and still play for a title, which they certainly could win.
12. Florida State	E.J. Manuel is the Oklahoma of college QBs.  He passes the eyeball test.  He has all the physical ability you could dream of.  He makes spectacular plays and puts up huge numbers…when it doesn't matter.  Despite all his talent, he finds a way to lose in the big games, and he did it again against the Gayta.  FreeShoesU looked like they were about to run away after coming back from a 13-3 hole.  Then, just like that, they started turning the ball over again, and it was 37-20 almost instantly.
13. Nebraska	Nebraska has quietly turned in a strong season after a rocky start.  Taylor Martinez is still frustratingly inconsistent, but he has really matured a lot this year.  An ugly victory over a terrible Iowa team is not the strongest way to go into the B1G title game, but at least they weren't 3rd in their division like their opponent Wisconsin.
14. Clemson	Yet again, Clemson falls to a tougher team.  The Gamecocks have clearly gotten in their heads, as Clemson should have run the wounded chickens off the field.  But no, the vaunted Tiger offense folded under pressure again, and their defense remained incapable of stopping anybody in a big game.  This makes them a virtual lock to return to Atlanta for the Peach Bowl.
15. Kent State	Fresh off a College World Series appearance, the Golden Flashes are in position now to make a BCS game.  All they need to do is beating Northern Illinois and finish higher in the BCS standings than the Big East champ.  Kent State would almost certainly land in the Orange Bowl in this scenario.  That means we could see an Orange Bowl featuring Kent State and 7-6 Georgia Tech.  Actually, that's not true, nobody would actually see that as long as anything else is on TV that night.

Week 12 Top 25

Ran out of time for a full update this week, but here you go.  Obviously, the big event was A&M's upset of the Tide.  Johnny Manziel added to his growing legend with a big game in Tuscaloosa.  I think people are overreacting to this one, though.  It's not like the Aggies went in and blew them out.  Bama had the ball inside the five yard line with a chance to win the game before throwing an interception on a poor 4th down play call.  They then forced a three-and-out but jumped offsides before the Aggies could punt.  That said, the Tide fall only to fourth despite the loss.  Oregon, Collin Klein, and Notre Dame still remain undefeated and in the lead for the title game.  Don't be surprised though if at least one of them loses a game and the SEC winner gets back in.

Week 12

1. Oregon

2. Collin Klein

3. Notre Dame

4. SEC

5. Florida State

6. SEC

7. SEC

8. SEC

9. Clemson

10. SEC

11. Oklahoma

12. SEC

13. Stanford

14. Nebraska

15. Oregon State

16. USC

17. Rutgers

18. Louisville

19. Texas

20. UCLA

21. Lousisiana Tech

22. Oklahoma State

23. Texas Tech

24. Michigan

25. Kent State

Week 11 Top 25

We're back with a real update this week.  The season is entering the stretch run, and with four undefeated teams at the top, we should see lots of drama over the next month.  We will soon have answers to all the big questions.  Who will get screwed out of the title game (let's hope Notre Dame)?  How badly is Collin Klein injured (trick question, Collin Klein doesn't get injured)?  Will Duke win the ACC (basketball season is officially starting)?  When will Less Miles blow a big game with ridiculous calls (too late)?

Week 11
1. SEC	We watched A.J. McCarron grow up big time in Baton Rouge.  All the Heisman talk was within two minutes of ending, then McCarron led a flawless game winning drive against a defense which had been dominant the entire second half.  It's also nice to see his genuinely humble and emotional reaction to the win as opposed to a certain Carolina Panthers QB.
2. Oregon	Oregon put up record numbers against USC in the Coliseum.  Kenjon Barner did his best Prefontaine impression running for almost a quarter mile against the Trojans.  What's not so great, however, was the 51 points the Ducks gave up.  Yes, USC has a powerful offense, but as Oregon has learned in recent years, they can't rely on outscoring opponents in BCS games, especially if that opponent is coached by Nick Saban.
3. Collin Klein	I really wanted to move Collin Klein up to the number 2 spot, but his injury against Oklahoma State scares me.  KSU is keeping mum about the severity of the injury, but I don't imagine Bill Snyder would take Klein out of the game without good reason.  We will see how this plays out in the next few days.
4. Notre Dame	The Irish played with fire and won again.  With BC and Wake up next on the schedule, it is extremely likely Notre Dame will be 11-0 when they head to LA in the season finale.  The offense better get going because they will probably need to score to beat the Trojans.
5. SEC	Here is where I piss off the dog fans.  The Tiger offense had its best game of the year rolling up more yards on the Tide than anybody has dreamt of and taking the lead into the final minute of the game.  If not for the return of the Mad Hatter, they may have won the game and be back in the title picture.  For those reasons, Less & Co. hold at #5 this week.
6. Florida State	Free Shoes U got the week off before what was supposed to be a big showdown with VPISU.  Instead, the Noles are big favorites to hand the Turkeys their sixth loss of the season.  Not only will Frank not win 10 games this year, but he may have to cry all offseason about not making a bowl game.
7. SEC	The dogs avoided the trap against Mississippi but things could have been drastically different if not for a ridiculous touchdown to close the first half.  As it was, the dogs ran away from the Black Bears in the second half and should clinch their spot in the SEC title game against the team formerly known as Cam Newton this week.
8. SEC	The Gayta did not respond well to their loss in Jacksonville by barely coming away with a home win over Mizzou.  If Mizzou had anything resembling an offense, it would have been two straight losses for the Gaytas.  Will Muschamp has been unable to generate any consistent offense this year, and relying on QB draw every other play is really coming back to kick them in the jorts.
9. Clemson	Clemson continued to do what they do by blowing out Duke.  There probably won't be much interesting to say about Clemson until they play the Gamecocks in a few weeks.
10. SEC	Johnny Manziel has flown under the radar for much of the year, but he is putting up huge numbers in Kevin Sumlin's offense and doing as much with his legs as with his arm.  Just a freshman, he plays with total reckless abandon and may be the first team SEC QB.  Clearly nobody warned him about SEC speed.  A&M will be a lot of fun to watch for the next few years.
11. Oklahoma	The Sooners got a decent win over Iowa State.  At this point, the season has to be considered a major disappointment, as the Sooners and Landry Jones are basically out of the national, Big 12, and Heisman race.  Big Game Bob strikes again.
12. Louisville	Louisville is 9-0, but I'm still not quite impressed.  The most significan win was over UNC, and they almost blew a huge lead in that one.  We may not know what the Cardinals are really made of until the last game of the year against Rutgers.
13. SEC	Spurrier got a much needed week off.  What promised to be the best team in school history has turned into the walking (mostly) wounded.  Marcus Lattimore is gone again, and Connor Shaw looks like he's about to break.  Fortunately, the schedule is soft until closing the year with Clemson, so the Cocks should be able to avoid totally blowing it.
14. Oregon State	Oregon State got back to winning against Arizona State.  It still feels weird seeing them up here, but they just find ways to win games.  The closing schedule is unkind with Stanford and Oregon still up, so we will probably see the Beavers slip further.
15. Stanford	Stanford got their licks in against Colorado before facing a stiffer test against the Beavers this week.  We're really going to find out who Stanford is in the next few weeks, as they close the season with Oregon State, Oregon, and UCLA.  I have a feeling they're about to really start missing Andrew Luck.
16. Nebraska	Nebraska has turned it around, winning three in a row after their beatdown from Ohio State.  Barring a Taylor Martinez implosion, the Huskers are in good shape to make the B1G championship game, most likely against Wisconsin.  Of course, Taylor Martinez implosions have become an annual event, so stay tuned.
17. USC	We've already addressed the Cocks and the Beavers.  Now we have to talk about the Trojans.  I don't know when this turned into health class.  After giving up a million points and yards to Oregon, it's safe to say everyone got too excited to early about USC.  The defense has been soft and failed to keep up their end of the bargain, which has clearly left Matt Barkley frustrated.
18. SEC	The Bulldogs may be proving the critics right.  As good as Dan Mullen's squad looked against a soft early schedule, they have equally gotten their tails kicked against tougher competition the last couple weeks.  I will still give them some benefit of the doubt for now, but they need to pull it back together down the stretch.
19. Rutgers	Rutgers got a week off, which clearly helped because they jumped three spots.  They get to rebound against Army before returning to the toughest stretch of their Big East schedule.  The Scarlet Knights, whose helmets are awesome, close the season with Munchie Legeaux, Pitt, and Louisville.  We will see how good that defense really is.
20. UCLA	I just don't know what to make of UCLA.  They've looked as good and as bad as anyone in the country this year.  The only thing I can guarantee is that with Stanford and USC left on the schedule, they won't finish the year ranked 20th.
21. Louisiana Tech	Look how far LaTech has come since they got rid of Derek Dooley three years ago.
22. Texas	Texas has pulled themselves back together after three straight wins.  David Ash is returning to his early season form, and the defense is actually starting to show up.  It's too little too late for this year, but Longhorn fans have to be encouraged the season didn't totally go down the drain.
23. Texas Tech	The magic eventually had to run out.  Texas Tech has exceeded expectations so far, but reality is that they are probably a bordline top 25 team.  Last year, the Red Raiders collapsed after a great start.  Let's see if they do the same this year.  They need to start by taking care of business against KU.
24. Oklahoma State	The Cowboys hung tough with Collin Klein, so they won't drop too far.  Similar to Texas Tech, they are who they are.  Last year was clearly an anomaly, and OK State will return to 8-9 win seasons as long as they don't play defense.
25. Northwestern	Northwestern gets back in the rankings this week for no particular reason other than they won and other teams didn't.  Let's not pretend we're that interested in Northwestern.

Week 10 Top 25

Here's this week's top 25.   So many teams lost that it was hard to fall too far this week, but there has been lots of shifting around.  Collin Klein has now taken a commanding lead in the Heisman race after dismantling yet another ranked team.  I still have Oregon at number 2 for now.  They can either solidify that spot against USC or faulter, allowing Collin Klein to move up.  Notre Dame is also now firmly in the national title hunt after blowing out Oklahoma in the fourth quarter.  Nick Saban and Lester Miles face off again in a game with national title implications.  The Tigers can work their way back into the title race with a win, and the Tide can almost cement their position with a win.  The Gayta finally revealed their true colors in Jacksonville.  Despite how good their defense has been, they were never a real contender with their limitations on offense.

Week 10

1. SEC

2. Oregon

3. Collin Klein

4. Notre Dame

5. SEC

6. Florida State

7. SEC

8. SEC

9. Clemson

10. SEC

11. Oklahoma

12. SEC

13. SEC

14. Louisville

15. Oregon State

16. Stanford

17. USC

18. Boise State

19. Nebraska

20. Texas Tech

21. Oklahoma State

22. Rutgers

23. Arizona

24. West Virginia

25. UCLA