Like other voters for the Heisman Trophy, I have a dilemma on my hands.
Cameron Newton, whom I announced as the object of my latest man crush in this Sept. 9 blog entry, has established himself as the most outstanding player in college football.
And it's not even close. Even the most ardent Alabama supporters could not say, with a straight face, that Newton does not tower over everyone else in Heisman contention.
But there's a lot of smoke swirling from Newton's recruitment to Mississippi State and Auburn. And if the fire is discovered between now and the early-December deadline for Heisman voters, it's going to result in the destruction of Newton's chances of winning the prestigious award.
The past week has been difficult for me as a voter. You hear the allegations that Newton and his father had their hands out during the recruiting process, that Newton chose Auburn because the Tigers were willing to pay the price of two ... hundred ... thousand ... dollars.
Two-hundred grand. Remember the agent scandal that rocked the college football world over the summer and into the season? Most of those guys received benefits totaling a few grand. The most, that we know of, was Marvin Austin getting stuff totaling somewhere between $10,000 and $13,000.
The past week has also been difficult for me as a college football fan. Like a lot of other folks, I got swept up in the Newton-mania as he put Auburn on his broad shoulders and did incredible things by the week while leading the Tigers to a series of dramatic wins. It's good for the sport.
But at this point, it's hard to keep from thinking all this wasn't too good to be true. I know we have to operate under the standard that the kid is innocent until proven guilty, but it's looking more and more as if the day of Newton's proven guilt is coming, and coming soon.
The latest revelation comes from ESPN's Joe Schad, who reports that Newton and his father spoke of a pay-for-play plan in phone conversations with recruiters from Mississippi State.
Prior to Newton's commitment to Auburn, one of the recruiters said Cecil Newton told him it would take "more than a scholarship" to bring his son to Mississippi State, a request the source said the school would not meet. Cecil Newton also referred the recruiter to a third person that would provide more specifics, the source said.
After Newton committed to Auburn, another source said an emotional Cam Newton phoned another recruiter to express regret that he wouldn't be going to Mississippi State, stating that his father Cecil had chosen Auburn for him because "the money was too much."
Keep in mind, reports from this Schad guy warrant some extra scrutiny. He's the same person who breathlessly told us the Big 12 was imploding, hours before the Big 12 remained intact. Same guy who told us Rich Rodriguez was going to Alabama a few years ago, before he didn't.
This alone is not enough to prove Newton's guilt. But the bet here is that we'll soon be presented with sufficient evidence, whether in the form of voice mails, financial records, whatever.
The feeling here is that Newton's days at Auburn are numbered. And so is his status as the Heisman front-runner.
Regarding these reports about Newton's alleged transgressions at Florida -- academic misconduct, and a mountain of traffic violations -- I've gone back and forth on the journalistic value of these revelations as they pertain to the NCAA's investigation of something that's entirely unrelated.
But it's becoming a scathing indictment of Urban Meyer and the program he runs. It dramatically amplifies the notion that Florida's players get away with just about anything.
Moving on to some Wednesday linkage...
Andy Staples has a well-written piece on the Newton saga (keep in mind it was written before the latest revelations).
In Alabama, Newton still has F-Bomb's vote for the Heisman.
Another Alabama columnist says the revelations about Newton's alleged transgressions at Florida amount to character assassination.
Way back when, Georgia recruited Newton as a ... tight end?
"I remember him. He was a very talented guy, a guy we did take a look at,'' Richt said. "We actually had him pegged more as a tight end prospect. A lot of it had to do with what we like to do offensively. He was more of a fit at tight end for what we do. That's no disrespect to his ability to play quarterback. He's proven to be pretty darn good.''
In Tallahassee, Christian Ponder was in a sling at last night's practice.
Yesterday, Clemson seemed convinced Ponder would play Saturday. DeAndre McDaniel told me the Tigers hadn't yet watched film of Ponder's backup, E.J. Manuel, because they didn't think Ponder would miss the game.
Better fire up that Manuel tape, fellas.
We might not have seen the last of Joshua Nesbitt after all.
In Newport News, David Teel notes that this might be the worst run defense in Frank Beamer's entire tenure at Virginia Tech.
The only Beamer squads to allow opponents more than 3.6 yards per rush were 1987, his first year, and 1992. Virginia Tech yielded 4.6 and 4.2 in those seasons.
Not coincidentally, those teams finished 2-9 and 2-8-1, Beamer's worst records.
These Hokies are allowing 4.8 yards per carry. Granted the average was "only" 4.4 before Georgia Tech's option gouged them for 346 yards Thursday, the most they've allowed in Bud Foster's 200 games as coordinator, but there's no masking the issue.
A few other numbers, courtesy of cfbstats.com:
Through nine games, Virginia Tech (7-2, 5-0 ACC) has allowed 52 runs of 10 yards or more. The Hokies gave up 51 such gains in 13 games last year, 53 in 14 games in 2008.
Trouble for Bill Stewart in Morgantown.
Not long ago, Dan Hawkins was considered a sure thing when Colorado hired him away from Boise State. Now, not so much.
Say, what do you think is going through Gus Malzahn's mind right now? Is he checking on prices for the quickest flight to Colorado?
LW
No comments:
Post a Comment