DMac for Heisman in '10?

posted by LW, Thursday, November 12, 2009

Maybe DeAndre McDaniel wasn't actually calling his (kill) shot against Christian Ponder last week against Florida State.

Maybe DMac was actually striking the Heisman pose.

This is mostly tongue-in-cheek at this point, and it's absurdly early, but ... DMac for Heisman in 2010?

He has eight interceptions and needs just one for the school record. An appearance in the ACC title game would give him five games (including bowl) to creep closer to the NCAA season record of 14 (Al Worley, Washington, 1968).

He's already played a snap at receiver (a reward for his pick 6 against Miami), and you have to think that's something that would be explored further during the offseason.

And yesterday, he made a 37-yard field goal during practice.

"Phenomenal," said Dabo Swinney. "Unbelievable."

You know, maybe 'ol Dabo is one step ahead of the game here. When it looked as if C.J. Spiller was bolting early for the pros, he changed his mind in part because of Swinney's promise to fully showcase him as a senior.

Maybe Dabo is getting a head start on his pitch to DMac ...

And hey, McDaniel even has the right number. The only other primarily defensive player to win the Heisman, Michigan's Charles Woodson in 1997, wore No. 2.

Moving right along...

Wow, did you check out Tommy West's parting shots at Memphis the other day?

West has had a foot-in-mouth moment or two during his time as a coach, but this was some strong stuff.

And the columnist at the paper that was on West's list of offenders said West was right.

Check out this passage Geoff Calkins wrote about Memphis AD R.C. Johnson:

Johnson didn't say he had a plan to transform facilities. He didn't say he understood Memphis would have to be much more aggressive in the coming years.

He said, "I think this is a good situation."

Er, why?

"I just think being in a populated area gives us a head start on some people," he said.

Riiight. Because big cities are known for their college football teams.

"We have a great airport," Johnson continued.

Yes, indeed, he really said that.

Coaches can't take private planes to get recruits, see. So Memphis is going to put its dramatic airport-advantage to work.

Let Tennessee and Ole Miss show recruits their indoor practice fields, massive scoreboards and on-campus stadiums. The new Memphis coach can show them Terminal B.

"And if you come play at Memphis, young man, you, too can smoke cigarettes at Maggie O'Shea's!"

It was pathetic, honestly. It's the reason West gave the speech he gave.

West didn't gain anything by trashing the program on his way out the door. He said what he said because he wants Memphis football to succeed.

It can't succeed, the way things are currently structured. It can't succeed unless radical changes are made.

If Johnson is unwilling or unable to understand that, well, Memphis has a great airport.

It's time to put him on an outbound plane.

ZING!

In the AJC, Mark Bradley says the class of the ACC (a team coached by some guy named Paul Johnson) would rank fourth in the mighty SEC.

That wailing you hear are the cries arising from the confluence of North Avenue and Techwood Drive, but hear me out. As good as Tech is — and it is very good — there’s still a difference between the personnel of a top-shelf SEC team and of everyone else. (Ask Jim Tressel.) This doesn’t mean Tech couldn’t up and beat Florida or Alabama or LSU on a given Saturday; it simply means that, on most given Saturdays, talent would prevail.

We’ve seen the difference between the SEC and the ACC three times in this city in the past 15 months. Alabama beat Clemson in the 2008 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic and then whipped Virginia Tech in the 2009 installment. LSU beat Tech 38-3 on Dec. 31, 2008. Three games on a neutral field, three emphatic SEC victories. Anyone who says there isn’t an imbalance between leagues, at least at their respective summits, isn’t dealing in reality.

Also in the AJC, Mistuh College Football wonders if Georgia Tech's defense is ready for Duke's offense.

I'm wondering the same thing.

Speaking of Tony Barnhart, he recently wrote a book with the great Larry Munson. I've been reading bits and pieces of it, and last night I came upon a cool passage.

In talking about the epic Clemson-Georgia games of the late 1970s and 80s, Munson referenced the 1980 game in Athens. The Tigers substantially outgained the Bulldogs, but Georgia won 20-16 largely because of Scott Woerner's 67-yard punt return for a touchdown and 98-yard interception return that set up another score.

"That was the first of a bunch of great games we would have with Clemson over the next six or seven years. The fans of both schools would go back and forth with each other about recruiting wars and the rumors of recruiting wars. Each side questioned how the other side got their players. And the games were just bloodbaths. God, that was a great series."

Tell me that doesn't get your blood pumping. Tell me why these teams aren't playing on a more regular basis.

Looks like yet another year without a BCS at-large team for the ACC.

At N.C. State, the Pack is hoping Toney Baker gets one more year.

In The State, a piece on smooth-as-silk Andre Ellington.

Also the weekly SEC/ACC rankings, complete with some good one-liners from Paul Strelow.

Travis Sawchik writes of Clemson's and Georgia Tech's Tampa collision course.

Man, this has to be the most that's been written about a scout-team quarterback. But Tajh Boyd appears worth the press, no doubt.

In the Independent-Mail, Dye Hard II.

Some technical issues are preventing the cutting-and-pasting of pictures today, and I hate it. A cheesy Bruce Willis photo would've been the perfect capper.

LW

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