Mind of Mike: Jimbo will win a natty and more
In a short version of the Mind of Mike, which I hope to do more often, here are some random thoughts that have entered my brain recently regarding college football.
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1. Jimbo Fisher will win another national title ....
Mark it down, folks. Everyone thinks it's impossible to do in the SEC West with Nick Saban as the bully on the block but Auburn and LSU have done it. Fisher will be next.
It might not be this season (although I love his defense), but it will happen and Texas A&M will get that "never won anything" burden off its back.
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2. Oh, and Kirby Smart will as well ....
I tweeted this a few of years ago based on the level of recruiting Smart is doing at UGA and I still truly believe it. He's not as good a coach as Fisher, let's get that clear, but the talent at UGA is enough to win it all as early as this season.
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3. Ndamukong Suh is the biggest defensive Heisman snub ever ....
I tweeted out my top 10 most talented players since 1990 to not win a Heisman and I didn't include any defensive players at all. I should have. Looking back on Suh's 2009 season at Nebraska, he clearly should have won the Heisman.
Mark Ingram from Alabama finished first that year with a solid season of 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns and Toby Gerhart from Stanford had better stats (1,871 yards and 28 scores) and finished second.
Amazingly Colt McCoy from Texas with his 12 interceptions finished third and Suh was fourth. Suh was McCoy's daddy in the Big 12 title game with 12 tackles, six for a loss and 4.5 sacks as Nebraska lost a controversial 13-12 game on a last-second field goal that put the Longhorns in the national championship game.
Suh had 85 tackles that season with 20.5 for a loss and 12 sacks. Oh, and he also had an interception. Amazing.
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4. But Aaron Donald was a better college football player than Suh ....
Donald would have never sniffed a Heisman, not at Pitt, but when comparing him vs. Suh in college I feel that Donald was more dominant. And that won't sit well with Nebraska fans. But look at the film and numbers.
Donald had 170 tackles over his final three seasons at Pitt with 63 tackles for a loss and 26.5 sacks. And yes, he was double-teamed all the time, just the same as Suh.
Suh had 42.5 for a loss and 21.5 sacks. It's an excellent debate.
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5. Anthony Richardson could be a massive factor for the Gators ....
I'm not sold on Emory Jones but I'm not a fool either -- I know Dan Mullen values experience over anything at quarterback. But with such a small sample size for both Jones and Richardson, one thing stood out to me: Richardson is so much quicker.
So if Jones falters in the passing game and struggles early, Mullen is smart enough to change the offense around a bit and might want the more sudden Richardson in a less pass-oriented offense. Some Gators fans think I'm crazy, some don't.
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