Well I feel vindicated. Not, as you might imagine, because of my 4-0 start to the picks season this year. My carreer percentage is far too mediocre to be set aside by the glory of one good week. No, what I want to brag about is calling to your attention-- last year-- to how good Troy Edwards is.
Here's an excerpt of a column I wrote last year about the Heisman trophy. After rather deftly proving that Ryan Leaf was a better Heisman candidate than Peyton Manning, I went on to promote Troy Edwards for consideration over Randy Moss:
Wide Receiver
Player
Catches
Yards
Avg
Yds/Game
TD
W-L Troy Edwards, Louisiana Tech
96
1501
15.6
150.1
11
8-2 Randy Moss, Marshall
76
1376
18.1
137.6
21
8-2 Charles Woodson, Michigan*
7
161
23.0
23.9
2
9-0
To wide receiver, where I threw in Troy Edwards to make a point. Randy Moss has great numbers, but so does Troy Edwards. Louisiana Tech and Marshall have identical records. What about competition, you say? The only team from a major conference that the Thundering Herd have played is West Virginia (if you call the Big East a major conference!). Otherwise, Marshall has played some decent in-conference games (Miami of Ohio, Bowling Green) and the terrible Army Cadets. Louisiana Tech, on the other hand, faced Auburn, Arkansas, and Alabama from the SEC, and California from the Pac-10. And, they beat two teams from Marshall's conference: Bowling Green and Central Michigan. In other words, shame on you those who voted for Moss ahead of Edwards.
I think Troy Edwards proved a lot on Saturday. My argument last year that Edwards might be the nation's best receiver was based purely on an academic analysis: I knew how many yards he had gained, and I knew that he had faced some pretty good teams. Now, I know. The guy is good. He sets an NCAA record with 405 yards receiving-- on the first day of the season-- against the defending national champions. How good is that? It will be interesting to see if this game fades from people's minds, or if Edwards asserts himself as the favorite to win the Biletnikoff award.
What Else We Learned
In many ways, I was more impressed with the losing teams over the weekend than the winning teams. Louisiana Tech showed a lot of heart, and also showed if they had an average defense, then they wouldn't have been crazy for thinking they had a chance against Nebraska. Edwards was, of course, outstanding, and although Tim Rattay was labeled with the kiss-of-death 'he throws a real catchable ball', he impressed me every bit as much as All-American Tim Couch of Kentucky.
Another very impressive loser was Purdue. Joe Tiller is a great coach-- at least from a fan's perspective. His teams are always fun to watch on offense. Their quarterback Drew Brees appears to be a capable replacement for last year's stellar Billy Dicken, and the number of different Boilermakers that caught passes indicates that Brees will have a lot of options. There was really only one glaring weakness to Purdue's attack: the inability to throw a deep ball. After eating USC up with short passes in the first half, SC made the adjustment and jumped all over the screens and slants and more or less shut Purdue down in the second half. If Purdue can find a deep threat to keep opposing defenses honest, they could create trouble for the Wisconsins and Penn States of the Big Ten. And here's something absolutely astonishing... they don't play Michigan. And they don't play Ohio State.
The other impressive loser was Texas A&M. As I watched the game, I couldn't help but feel the inevitability of a loss to Florida State, but I was surprised at the extent to which this resembled an actual competitive contest. 'The Wrecking Crew' looked like a legitimate nickname for the Aggie defense, not the obligatory nickname for the impressive stats garnered by shutting down the Oklahomas and Baylors of the world. Equally impressive was the potential big play offense in a speedy pass catcher, a speedy tailback, and a burner kick returner (they were all the same guy, Dante Hall). It looks like A&M might make some noise this season.
What about the winners of those three games? Nebraska looked pretty good; they are going to rack up a ton of yards this year. But where was their defense? Where was the pass rush that knocked opposing QBs senseless since about 1994? If you're a fan of the big red (Kelly?) then you'd better hope they are saving up for a rainy day. Southern Cal, on the other hand, showed a side of themselves I haven't seen in awhile: grit. A nice comeback, actual mid game adjustments, and just a little bit of fire. Maybe even a belief that they deserved to win. A new attitude with a new coach? Who knows. Too bad this year they play AT Tallahassee. As for Florida State, a few things stood out. One, the defense was not quite as dominant as it was the last two seasons. That may change as the year goes on. Two, despite impressive numbers, Weinke at times made some poor throws; I could just see Florida safety Teako Brown licking his chops back there in centerfield. Three, and I hate these kind of comparisons but it seems unavoidable, how Warrick Dunn does Travis Minor look? The flare passes, the spin moves, the slippery runs up the middle. Where does Bowden find these guys?
Colorado State vs. Michigan State? A real disappointment. Probably the game I was most looking forward to. I'm not sure I really expected this game to be close. True, I didn't know who would win, but I'd heard such good things about both teams that I figured one of them had to be good. Instead it turned out to be a real mediocre-fest. I feel comfortable hopping off State's bandwagon, but I have to think Colorado State will get better, and hopefully justify my preseason ranking of #8.