Project College Football Awards Semi-Finalists

We are toward the end of the regular college football season, so what better time than now to present our awards semi-finalists, but also the clever names that we have named our awards! Now, first of all I wanted to explain, that we wanted to name the awards after two really good players for that position. So, you may not see the names "Rice", "Howard", "Griffin", "Sanders", or "Flutie". We still respect and honor those individuals, but wanted to use names from a more recent time.

Although, Coach of the Year we went with more legendary coaches just for the simple fact that you can't really judge exactly how great a coach will be until they have been out of coaching for a long time (I won't name names, but there is a certain coach that would have easily had this award named after him until unfortunate recent events).

Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M



We also very well could be adding more trophies as we go. We're just flying by the seat of our pants!

So without further ado...

"Tebow-Dorsey Award"
(Best Quarterback)

Johnny Manziel (TAMU) - 3047 Yds, 21 TDs, 7 INTs

Matt Barkley (USC) - 3273 Yds, 36 TDs, 15 INTs

Geno Smith (WVU) - 3361 Yds, 35 TDs, 5 INTs

Tajh Boyd (CLEM) - 3367 Yds, 33 TDs, 11 INTs

AJ McCarron (ALA) - 2291 Yds, 21 TDs, 2 INTs

EJ Manuel (FSU) - 2785 Yds, 21 TDs, 6 INTs

Aaron Murray (UGA) - 2986 Yds, 28 TDs, 7 INTs

Teddy Bridgewater (LOU) - 2858 Yds, 21 TDs, 5 INTs
Collin Klein (KSU) - 2306 Yds, 12 TDs, 3 INTs



Kenjon Barner of Oregon



"Williams-Peterson Award"

(Best Running Back)

Kenjon Barner (ORE) - 1426 Yds, 19 TDs

Montee Ball (WISC) - 1417 Yds, 17 TDs

Ka'Deem Carey (ARIZ) - 1585 Yds, 19 TDs

Stefphon Jefferson (NEV) - 1564 Yds, 20 TDs

Edwards-Fitzgerald Award"

(Best Wide Receiver)

Marqise Lee (USC) - 1605 Yds, 14 TDs

Terrance Williams (BAY) - 1518 Yds, 11 TDs

Stedman Bailey (WVU) - 1260 Yds, 20 TDs

Quinton Patton (LT) - 1267 Yds, 11 TDs

"Woodson-Laurinaitis Award"

(Best Defensive Player)

Damontre Moore (TAMU) - 12.5 Sacks

Manti Te'o (ND) - 6 INTs

Quanterus Smith (WKU) - 12.5 Sacks

Anthony Barr (UCLA) - 12 Sacks

"Nugent-Janikowski Award"

(Best Kicker)

Steven Schott (BALL) - 23/28, 52 Long, 44/45 XP

Dustin Hopkins (FSU) - 22/26, 56 Long, 56/57 XP

Quinn Sharp (OKST) - 21/27, 51 Long, 55/55 XP

Jeremiah Detmer (TOL) - 21/26, 47 Long, 44/47 XP

Caleb Sturgis (FLA) - 20/24, 51 Long, 28/29 XP

"Mesko-Sepulveda Award"

(Best Punter)

Alexander Kinal (WAKE) - 3645 Yds, 61 Long

Darragh O'Neill (COLO) - 3137 Yds, 61 Long

Justin DuVernois (ILL) - 2933 Yds, 72 Long

Mike Sadler (MSU) - 2811 Yds, 70 Long

"Yost-Bryant Award"

(Coach of the Year)

Nick Saban (ALA)

Brian Kelly (ND)

Chip Kelly (ND)

Urban Meyer (OSU)

Bill O'Brien (PSU)

Freshman of the Year

(We will name this award after it's first recipient, at the end of this season)

Johnny Manziel (TAMU)

Marcus Mariota (ORE)

Devin Funchess (MICH)

TJ Yeldon (ALA)

Keep in mind that these are our awards, you do have the right to disagree. However, if you want to let us know who you think should be considered for a certain award, please let us know in our comments, but lets keep it clean, and not have arguing or bickering.

Also, the names of the awards are final, so those are non-debatable.

Thank you for reading and following Project College Football!

#12 South Carolina Gamecocks at #11 Clemson Tigers Preview

This Saturday night at 7:00 PM, the #12 South Carolina Gamecocks take on the #11 Clemson Tigers. This will be the 110th meeting between the two rivals. Currently, Clemson leads the all-time rivalry record 65-40-4, however South Carolina has won three straight against the Tigers.

Connor Shaw looks to lead South Carolina past
rival Clemson this Saturday at 7:00 PM

South Carolina will be led by junior quarterback Connor Shaw. Shaw, who has been a pretty precise passer, has also shown his scrambling skills this season. He has proven that he is one tough quarterback, taking numerous hits in games, and still continuing on. He has thrown for over 1,700 yards with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also has three rushing touchdowns to his name.

South Carolina's passing offense is ranked 75th in the nation, averaging about 222 passing yards per game. However Clemson's defense has allowed an average of 24.7 points per game (ranking them 47th in the nation for points allowed).

The Gamecocks running game hasn't been the greatest this season, most likely because junior Heisman hopeful running back Marcus Lattimore was injured earlier in the season. Senior Kenny Miles has taken the running back spot and has a little over 300 yards to his credit. He has also punched in two rushing touchdowns.

Tajh Boyd has 3,367 yards, 33 TDs and 11 INTs this season.

Clemson is led by junior quarterback Tajh Boyd, who is 240/353, for 3,367 yards, 33 touchdowns, and only 11 interceptions. He also has eight rushing touchdowns so far this season. Boyd looks to have a very good performance against South Carolina, and he definitely will need to with South Carolina's points allowed rank being 13th in the nation.

Boyd has two very reliable wide receivers in DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins. They have combined for over 1,700 yards receiving, and 18 touchdowns. Boyd also has tight end Brandon Ford as a nice target also. Ford has reeled in 8 receiving touchdowns this season.

Clemson is averaging 332 yards passing per game, which gains them the rank of 9th in the nation in passing yards. They are also ranked 4th in points scored, with an average of 44.6! That isn't only because of their passing game. Their running game isn't too bad either.

Clemson's running back, senior Andre Ellington has also had a pretty good season, rushing the ball 186 times for 959 yards and eight touchdowns.

Last year's game, South Carolina put a whooping on Clemson, winning 34-13. I see this game being a lot closer. Although Clemson is ranked a lot higher in passing yards and points scored per game, South Carolina's defense has been very good this season. With the addition of having Connor Shaw at the reigns as quarterback, you definitely can't count the Gamecocks out.

It's probably true in most games, but I'm going to say that the team with the most takeaways is going to win this game. Clemson is going to have to put pressure on Connor Shaw, making him one dimensional, and shut down the Gamecocks' backup running back. If they can successfully do that, they'll win this game. But if they let Connor Shaw have his time, and be able to throw or run when he needs to, he can shred this defense.

Should be a good one going down Saturday night at 7:00 PM ET. The game will be broadcast from Memorial Stadium on ESPN. You don't want to miss this one.

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle

Week 13 Staff Picks

Last week due to a few upsets, our staff didn't have a very good week of picks. Matt went 1-6 while The Sports Messiah went 3-4.

This week we added Jackson McNamara to the staff as a writer, so he will be in on the picks, as well as a special guest picker that we have this week.

The Sports Messiah couldn't get his picks in until Saturday morning, so he didn't get to pick the USF vs Cincinnati game.

A lot of rivalry games this week, and a lot of solid matchups. Let's see how our staff picked them.

Matt Lytle (@mattlytle) [overall record: 6-12]
Cincinnati over USF
Michigan over Ohio State
Oregon over Oregon State
Florida State over Florida
Oklahoma over Oklahoma State
South Carolina over Clemson
Notre Dame over USC

The Sports Messiah (@thesportsmessia) [overall record: 11-7]
Ohio State
Oregon
Florida
Oklahoma
Clemson
Notre Dame

Jackson McNamara (@jacksonmcnamara) [overall record: 0-0]
Cincinnati over USF
Ohio State over Michigan

Florida State Seminoles Cheerleader
Kelsey Billings

Oregon over Oregon State
Florida over Florida State
Oklahoma over Oklahoma State
South Carolina over Clemson
Notre Dame over USC

And now for our guest picker... We had the privilege to meet senior Florida State Seminole cheerleader Kelsey Billings on Twitter. After speaking with her a little about her love for college football, she agreed to be our first ever guest picker. So let's see how Kelsey picks this week.

Kelsey Billings (@kelseybillings) [overall record: 0-0]
Cincinnati over USF
Michigan over Ohio State
Oregon State over Oregon
Florida State over Florida
Oklahoma over Oklahoma State
Clemson over South Carolina
Notre Dame over USC

#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at USC Trojans Preview

Saturday night in prime time, the #1 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish will head into Los Angeles Coliseum with two things on their mind. Number one, is beating the USC Trojans. Number two, is if they beat the Trojans, they are pretty much guaranteed to be playing for the National Championship. The last time the Fighting Irish won the National Championship was 1988, so it's something that they have been itching to do for quite sometime.

Although we can't look past the Trojans. USC is normally led by Heisman hopeful quarterback Matt Barkley, but after injuring his arm, Barkley will sit this important game out, and freshman quarterback Max Wittek will take the snaps. Wittek hasn't had much experience, throwing less than 100 yards and only one touchdown. But he has a supporting cast that will definitely make his job at quarterback a little bit easier.

Marqise Lee looks to upset the #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Wittek will be looking to another Heisman hopeful in sophomore wideout Marqise Lee. Lee has reeled in 107 catches for 1,605 yards and 14 touchdowns. Lee has made Matt Barkley's job as Trojans' starting quarterback easier, and he'll look to do the same for Max Wittek Saturday night.

But the wideouts don't stop there. Junior wide receiver Robert Woods has also had quite a season, catching the ball 66 times for over 700 yards and 10 touchdowns. Wittek will definitely have some reliable receivers at hand to help him out Saturday night. Although Notre Dame's defense is ranked number one at points allowed, only allowing 10.1 points per game. And another Heisman hopeful, Manti Te'o will be looking to spoil Wittek's hope for an upset of the #1 team.

USC's backfield is also looking rather impressive. Junior running back Silas Redd and senior Curtis McNeal have combined for over 1,300 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. They'll look to make Wittek's day a little easier as well, gaining a lot of yards on the ground and opening up the option to pass it down field, spreading Notre Dame's defense thin.

Notre Dame however, isn't lacking at offense either. They're averaging about 200 yards rushing per game, and they can thank both running backs for that. Senior backs Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood have gained a combined 1,454 yards on the ground and 8 rushing touchdowns.

But the Brian Kelly's team's offense doesn't stop there. They are also equip with sophomore quarterback Everett Golson who has thrown for over 1,900 yards and 11 touchdowns, with only five interceptions thrown. And that's not counting Tommy Rees. Rees has only thrown for 436 yards and two touchdowns, but he's a natural leader that has came into the game and led critical scoring drives. Coach Kelly loves to have the ace up his sleeve that he can pull out if he needs to.

Golson has two wide receives that he's hooked up for for over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns. Their names are Tyler Eifert and TJ Jones.

Manti Te'o is looking to prove to the skeptics that he
deserves the Heisman hype, and that ND deserves the #1 spot.

On paper, the matchup looks fairly even. USC has the nod in passing yards and points scored per game, while Notre Dame has the better stats in rushing yards and points allowed per game. But without Matt Barkley, the USC Trojans are going to have a hard time defeating the #1 ranked team in the country. There are many skeptics that say Notre Dame isn't as good as a #1 ranked team should be. But Brian Kelly, Everett Golson and of course Manti Te'o beg to differ. With big victories over Michigan State, Michigan, Stanford and Oklahoma, the Fighting Irish feel they deserve every bit of that #1 ranking, and they'll look to prove it Saturday night at 8:00 PM ET on ABC.

Can USC pull the upset? Stranger things have happened. But like I said, with Barkley out of the game, and with a freshman in as starting QB, it's going to be a tough task. We'll see what happens! Should be interesting.

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle

#5 Oregon Ducks at #15 Oregon State Beavers Preview

Saturday at 3:00 in Corvallis, Oregon, the #5 Oregon Ducks will take on their in-state rival #15 Oregon State Beavers. Oregon is coming off of a shocking overtime loss to Stanford while Oregon State is coming off of a blowout against Cal.

Oregon looked to go on to the National Championship game against Notre Dame if they would have gotten by Stanford, but unfortunately for Chip Kelly and the rest of the Ducks, that didn't happen.

Of course with them being ranked #5, if the right teams lost, and they won out, I guess they could possibly still find their way into the National Championship picture, but it's looking unlikely.

Marcus Mariota has thrown 29 TDs
and only 6 INTs.

Although Oregon probably won't be looking at the National Championship picture, their freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota could still possibly be looking at the Heisman picture. Although he has quite a bit of competition, Mariota has looked really impressive this season, throwing 201 completions in 288 attempts, for 2,371 yards, 29 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Pretty good stats if you ask me.

Mariota has a solid, Heisman hopeful in the backfield by the name of Kenjon Barner. Barner, who is a senior this year, has rushed 220 times for 1,426 yards and hit the endzone 19 times. Barner is quite the work horse for the Oregon Ducks, and will look to continue his impressive stats against the Beaver's defense, who is giving up an average of 18.6 points per game (Oregon is giving up an average of 21.8 points per game).

Oregon State is led by sophomore quarterback Sean Mannion, who has had a pretty good year. He's thrown 149 completions in 238 attempts for 1,904 yards, but he has only thrown 12 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. His touchdown to interception ratio isn't even close to Mariota's.

OSU also has freshman running back Storm Woods in the backfield. What a cool name huh? Woods has rushed 143 times for 698 yards and seven touchdows.

Markus Wheaton has 977 receiving yards, and 10 TDs.

The biggest weapon the Beavers have on offense is in their wide receivers. Although sophomor Brandin Cooks has had a pretty solid year, reeling in 59 catches for over 1,000 yards and five touchdowns, their senior WR Markus Wheaton has caught double the touchdowns (he has 10 touchdowns this season), although he hasn't had as many yards (he only has 977 yards catching in 68 attempts). If Mannion can connect to Wheaton and spread the Ducks' secondary thin, that opens the game up for the Beavers to be able to control it until the final whistle.

It's going to be quite a tough task though, especially with Oregon coming off of it's first loss of the season. It's usually not an easy thing to beat a one-loss team after their first loss of the season. But in college football, crazier things have happened.

This game will kick off at around 3:00 PM ET Saturday afternoon. It should definitely be a good matchup. Both teams have offensive and defensive fire power, but I have to give the nod to the Oregon Ducks. They're going to come into this one hungry to get a W after that tough loss against Stanford.

I got a blowout...

Oregon: 52
Oregon State: 28

- Jackson McNamara

@jacksonmcnamara

#19 Michigan Wolverines at Ohio State Buckeyes Preview

I have always said that one of the things that makes college football better than the National Football League is the rivalry games, and I will stand by that statement until I'm long gone. This game, "The Game" is one of those rivalry games.

Growing up about an hour from Columbus, I got to experience the rivalry. I've seen die-hard Ohio State fans. I've seen die-hard Michigan fans. I've seen the competition and the hatred.



Since before Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes, these two teams have hated each other, although Bo and Woody faced off in the 10 Year War, and really took this rivalry to a whole new level.



Bo went 5-4-1 against Woody in the 10 Year War.

Both teams have had off-seasons. Both teams have had their fair share of struggling against the other. Ohio State fans had to live through the John Cooper era, while Michigan fans had to endure the Rich Rodriguez era.

Michigan leads the rivalry with an overall record of 58-43-6. This is the 109th meeting between these two teams, and I have to say, this is one of the toughest to pick a winner. Both teams seem very much similar, despite what any Michigan or OSU fan would say.

Both teams have struggled this year throwing the ball. Michigan is ranked 97th in the NCAA averaging about 200 yards per game, while OSU is ranked 103rd, with an average of 180.8 passing yards per game.

Ohio State has the lead in rushing, being ranked 9th and averaging 245.5 yards per game. Michigan is only ranked 36th in the nation, and is averaging 194.5 yards per game.

Both teams average close to the same amount of points per game, Michigan averaging 30.8 (ranking 48th in the nation for points scored), while Ohio State scores an average of 38.2 (ranking 18th in the nation).

Defense could very well be the key here. Michigan's defense is allowing only 18.1 points per game, while OSU is giving up 23.0. That's a ranking of 17th for points allowed for Michigan, and a ranking of 34 for Ohio State.

Let's dig deeper shall we?

Michigan used to be led by quarterback Denard Robinson, and in some ways, they still are. Denard was injured earlier this season, and just stepped back onto the field last Saturday in Michigan's victory against Iowa. And although he did take some snaps at QB, Robinson's role was very much a running back and wide receiver, something that some Michigan fans have been asking Brady Hoke and Al Borges for for some time.



Devin Gardner has proven to be quite the QB for Michigan.



Michigan's man under center now is junior Devin Gardner, who has been quite impressive as QB. In his only three starts for Michigan as a QB, Gardner has thrown for over 800 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions. He has also punched the ball into the endzone six times in those three starts.

Denard also looks to be a huge weapon as a running back/wide receiver. He has rushed for over 1,000 yards this season and hit pay dirt six times as well.

Michigan running back Fitzgerald Toussaint was unfortunately injured last Saturday and doesn't look to play for the rest of this season, but since he is a junior, he'll be back next year. It's still sad that he'll miss a game as important as this.

Gardner also has two reliable receivers in Jeremy Gallon and Roy Roundtree, who have combined for over 1,000 yards and four receiving touchdowns. Gardner definitely has a lot more accuracy than Denard, and is just as much a threat to be able to tuck the ball and run. With his 6'4" frame, he can stretch for those yards a little easier than Denard could.

Does this seem like it'll be the battle of two quarterbacks yet?!



Braxton Miller has been an impressive QB for OSU.

Braxton Miller will look to lead the Buckeyes to victory. The Buckeyes should somewhat be used to beating the Wolverines, having only lost two games in the last 10 years to their rival (that's if you count Ohio State's vacated 2010 victory over Michigan.

Miller has had quite the year, gaining Heisman talk with stats of 134/236, 1,850 yards, 14 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Miller has also scored 13 rushing touchdowns.

Miller's running back, junior Carlos Hyde will look to ad on to his 824 total rushing yards for this season. He also has 15 rushing touchdowns to his name as well.

Braxton also finds help in his wide receivers. Two of which, Devin Smith and Philly Brown, have combined for a total of over 1,000 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.

Their offenses have been rather impressive this season, but have also had their struggles. The same story is with their defenses. Both teams have defenses that can shut out teams, but also give up many points, and put their team in jeopardy of losing.

Michigan's defensive coordinator is none other than Ravens' former defensive coordinator Greg Mattison. With a defensive coach of that magnitude, you'd have to think that he'll have them ready and willing to flatten that Ohio State offense come Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. But obviously Luke Fickell will look to have his defense ready as well.



Urban Meyer looks to beat Michigan in his 1st year as OSU coach.



And let's not forget the coaches! Jim Tressel resigned as Ohio State's head football coach on May 30, 2011 due to NCAA trouble. Luke Fickell was named interim-head coach for the 2011 season, and since then, Urban Meyer was hired as the head coach of the Buckeyes. Meyer has ties to Ohio State and obviously the state of Ohio, and will be looking to gain a victory over Michigan in his first season as Buckeyes head coach.

Michigan head coach Brady Hoke has ties to Michigan as well, being a defensive coach for the Wolverines when they won the National Championship in 1997. Hoke dislikes Ohio State so much, he won't even say "Ohio State". He will only refer to their team as "Ohio". Just as well, many OSU fans and coaches refer to Michigan as "that team up north".

  

Brady Hoke is 1-0 against the Buckeyes as Michigan head coach.

Brady Hoke gained a victory over Ohio State in his first year as head coach of the Wolverines (last year - 2011), and like I said before, Urban Meyer will look to do the same thing this season.



I have followed this rivalry since I was a kid, and I can say that with Brady Hoke at Michigan and Urban Meyer at Ohio State, I really could see this being the start of the "new" 10 Year War. Woody and Bo did it in the late 60's and 70's. Will Brady and Urban do it in the 2010's and 2020's? Only time will tell.

"The Game" will start at noon ET and air on ABC. It'll take place at Ohio Stadium, "The Horseshoe" in Columbus, Ohio. Pick who you think will win if you must (or if you can), but it is lined up to be quite an entertaining game!

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle

#7 LSU Tigers at Arkansas Razorbacks Preview

Although LSU looks to be the odds on favorite to win this game, it's dangerous. I've always been a firm believer in, those teams that you're playing that you should beat soundly, have nothing to lose, therefore, they're more dangerous to you than an undefeated team.

Am I saying that Arkansas is going to upset the LSU Tigers this Saturday at Razorback Stadium? Not necessarily, but feel that if LSU comes into this game over confident, thinking it's a gimme game, thinking because Arkansas is ranked 4-7 that it's going to be easy, they could possibly be in trouble.

Arkansas hasn't had a great year. One of it's worst in quite a while. When John L. Smith took over as head coach of the Razorbacks, people weren't sure what to think. Now we can only assume that this is his one and only year as head coach there.

LSU QB Zack Mettenberger has thrown for 2,272 yards this season.

The key to this game is going to be LSU's junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger. This season he has thrown for 2,272 yards. He has thrown 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. If he can shred that Arkansas defense, who has only six interceptions all season long, LSU can easily win this game.

Arkansas' passing game isn't too bad either, passing for over 296 yards on average per game. But LSU's defense is only allowing an average of about 17 points per game.

It's definitely a tough matchup for Arkansas, but like I said, if LSU comes in over confident, and Arkansas takes advantage of that, watch out LSU, because you'll be falling out of the Top Ten.

I have LSU in this one. Winning rather easily.

LSU: 41
Arkansas: 21

- Jackson McNamara

@jacksonmcnamara

Maryland and Rutgers to join the Big Ten

In an announcement that seemed to somewhat shock, and confuse Big Ten fans, the Maryland Terrapins and Rutgers Scarlet Knights are going to join the Big Ten Conference.

Maryland will be leaving the ACC and join the Big Ten for the 2014-2015 season. The Terrapins will bring an overall record of 611-535-43 with them. Meanwhile, Rutgers will leave the Big East and join the Big Ten at a date we will not know just yet. Rutgers will bring with them an overall record of 626-605-42.

Many feel the biggest reason for these two teams to be brought in to the Big Ten, is so the B1G can reach out to the Washington DC and New York markets.

We are curious to know what you our readers think about this move. Will it hurt the Big Ten? Will it hurt Maryland or Rutgers? Please comment and let us know what you think.

#4 Florida Gators at #10 Florida State Seminoles Preview

Saturday afternoon at 3:30, the #4 Florida Gators will travel to Tallahassee to take on the #10 Florida State Seminoles in their annual rivalry game. These teams have met 56 times, and Florida leads all-time with a record of 33-21-2.

The biggest strength the Gators have is their defense, only allowing an average of 11.7 points per game (making them ranked third in the nation in points allowed). Their offense hasn't been real hot, averaging  25.8 points a game, making them ranked 80 in the nation for points scored.

Mike Gillislee most likely will break 1,000 yards rushing
this season in Saturday's game against FSU.

Sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel will look to lead the Gators past the Seminoles on Saturday, but with a lot of help from senior running back Mike Gillislee and his favorite target, junior tight end Jordan Reed.

Driskel is 125/193 for 1,324 yards, 10 touchdowns and only three interceptions. His tight end Jordan Reed has reeled in 40 catches, for nearly 500 yards and three receiving touchdowns. And as far as the running game goes, Mike Gillislee has carried the ball over 200 times for 964 yards and punched it into the endzone eight times this season. He will be looking to break the 1,000 yard marker against Florida State this Saturday, but FSU's defense isn't a push over.

Florida State's defense is ranked fifth in the nation for points allowed, only giving up an average of 13.1 per game. And as far as their points scored ranking goes, they're ranked seventh, scoring an average of 42.9 points.

Many of the matchups here are very good. It's lining up to be quite a game. And with it being a rivalry game, you really don't know what's going to happen. Rivalry games in college football are the best.

EJ Manuel looks to lead FSU to it's 22nd victory over Florida.

FSU is led by Heisman hopeful senior quarterback EJ Manuel. Manuel is 203/295. He has thrown for 2,785 yards. Manuel has tossed 21 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Very good stats.

He has two very capable wide receivers, sophomore Rashad Greene, who has 38 catches for 549 yards and five touchdowns, and freshman receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who has reeled in 28 catches for 479 yards and four touchdowns.

These teams' defenses seem to be quite similar, not allowing many points. And if you look at both teams only loss of the season, Florida lost to Georgia by eight, and Florida State lost to NC State by only one point.

The biggest differences are their offenses. Florida State is ranked higher than Florida in passing yards and rushing yards per game, as well as points scored per game. Also with the game being in Doak Campbell Stadium, I think most experts will lean toward FSU to pull this one out. But with rivalry games, you always have to expect the unexpected. Both teams will look to pull out trick plays, hurry up offenses, and all kinds of tricks.

The game will be broadcast on ABC at 3:30 PM ET. I encourage everyone to tune in for this rivalry game!

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle

Should Devin Gardner Have Played QB for Michigan this Whole Time?



Denard Robinson has been a great player for the University of Michigan. Although passing was never his strongest asset, he was amazing to watch simply because with any play, in any situation, he could end up making magic happen. Whether throwing a long touchdown, or breaking a long touchdown run (which happened a lot more than throwing many touchdowns).
During Michigan's game vs Nebraska earlier this season, Robinson went down with an elbow injury. Michigan coach Brady Hoke then brought in freshman quarterback Russell Bellomy. Why didn't then bring in junior Devin Gardner, who came to the University of Michigan as a QB, but was transitioning to a wide receiver? There have been many explanations. But I don't think anyone knows the absolute truth.

Bellomy proceeded to have an absolutely terrible game. Throwing the ball 16 times but only completing three. For a grand total of 38 yards, and three interceptions. Michigan ended up losing 23-9. Earlier in the year they got beat by the Alabama Crimson Tide 41-14, and and week 4, Michigan got beat by Notre Dame 13-6. So the Nebraska loss was only the Wolverines' third of the year.

Many fans and analysts wondered why Devin Gardner wasn't brought in to be the quarterback for the Nebraska game. After all, he had experience as a quarterback. And not just in college.

The next week Michigan took on Minnesota. Denard couldn't play, but this time, Coach Hoke played Devin Gardner as quarterback. Devin played amazing. And Michigan won. Then the next week, Michigan played Northwestern. Again, Denard couldn't play, Devin took the role as QB, and the Wolverines won. And yesterday, Michigan played their final home game of the season against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Denard however did play, but played majority of the game as a running back, while Devin Gardner played QB. How could you not have Devin in as QB? He played so well, and so consistently in each of his games he played quarterback, you couldn't just bench him, or throw him back into the wide receiver position.

Devin and Denard being on the field at the same time seemed to be what Michigan has needed all season. Devin can throw the ball very accurately. He's not as fast as Denard, but still a fast quarterback, and he's tall. At 6'4", Devin Gardner towers over the 6' Denard Robinson.

Denard however, whenever he's on the field, like I said, magic can happen. He proved it during Michigan's win over Iowa when Michigan faced a 3rd and one, and Denard ran the ball for 40 yards.

So after seeing Devin Gardner perform so well as quarterback for three straight weeks, I wonder, should he have played quarterback for Michigan all along. Or at least, this whole season. We all have seen Denard Robinson struggle as quarterback. I love watching the guy, don't get me wrong. He's an amazing player. But he never could get into the groove of throwing accurate passes day in and day out.

Looking through the stats this season, Denard Robinson went 89/166 as quarterback. He threw for 1,319 yards, nine touchdowns, and nine interceptions. And he ran the ball 144 times for 1,044 yards and six touchdowns. That was starting in seven games (not counting the Nebraska game).

Devin Gardner however, has went 46/70, 834 passing yards, he has thrown for seven touchdowns, and only three interceptions. He also has rushed the ball 28 times for 105 yards, and six touchdowns (the same amount of rushing touchdowns as Denard). And that was with Devin only starting in three games.

If you look at it statistically, Devin Gardner seems to obviously be the hands on favorite for quarterback. He is more accurate with his throwing, almost equalling Denard's total touchdown throws with less interceptions, and Devin has punched the ball into the endzone just as many times. Although Gardner has significantly less rushing yards than Robinson.

I'm sure many Michigan fans will feel I am dogging Denard Robinson. That however is not the case. I just feel like if Michigan coach Brady Hoke, and offensive coordinator Al Borges made the decision to play Devin Gardner as starting quarterback instead of wide receiver, and let Denard Robinson play a running back/wide receiver type of role, Michigan very well could have won the three games they lost, and they might possibly could be in the hunt to play in the National Championship Game.

Michigan plays Ohio State this upcoming Saturday, in Columbus. In what could be the greatest rivalry in college football history, I'm sure Michigan will be looking to have Denard and Devin back on the field at the same time, to open up all kinds of different threats against Urban Meyer's Buckeyes. It should be a really good game.

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle