5112 Q&A

This week we feature a Q&A between two old roommates in Couzens dormitory. He has questions, I have answers, and all things considered we make a pretty good team.

Q) What does Terrelle Pryor have to do to win the Heisman?

A) Interesting question. He is already getting a ton of hype from the media, which is critical in the quest for winning that trophy. If ESPN doesn’t love you, you don’t have much of a shot. It doesn’t hurt to be on the #2 team in the country, generally the best player on one of the two national championship teams is the one taking home the Heisman. A quick glance at the last ten years shows us that only Carson Palmer and Tim Tebow didn’t play for the national championship the year they won the Heisman. He has been putting up big numbers on the field, although more performances like the Illinois game can hurt him. He will need Cam Newton and Denard Robinson to get injured, drop off their production or start losing a significant amount of games. I think right now he has to be considered the favorite to win the Heisman, only because he is a high profile player on a very good team.

Q) Will Rich Rod win a national championship, Big-10 title, or Rose Bowl in his career? Could he be fired for not winning one of these?

A) Honestly I can’t say whether or not he will win any one of these at Michigan. I can’t even say for sure he will be the coach of this team at the end of this season. They have started off very well for the second year in a row, but lets not forget he went 1-7 last year in the Big-10, including a 0-6 stretch to close the season out. If he has a similar collapse this year (very possible with that defense) then he will end up out in the cold. However, if I had to pull out my crystal ball on Rich Rod, I would have to say I think he will win a Big-10 title in his time here, I don’t know about a national championship, he will need a much stronger defense. I believe he can win a Rose Bowl as well, as his offense would make him a much tougher opponent than the traditional Big-10 team that generally ends up in the Rose Bowl. And I don’t think he will get fired for not winning a national championship or Rose Bowl here (Bo lost in the Rose Bowl all the time and didn’t win a national championship) but I do believe he could get fired eventually for not winning a Big-10 title.

Q) Will Boise State become a BCS team? Will they be allowed to play for a National Championship?

A) I’m a little confused as to your question so I will answer both of the ways I’m interpreting it. If you’re asking whether or not Boise State will be in a BCS bowl this year, the answer is an unequivocal yes. They survived the toughest part of their schedule (VT and Oregon State), and the WAC is pretty weak this year, their two toughest games are vs. Fresno State and @ Nevada, neither of which are really powerhouse opponents (although Nevada is having a decent season thus far). If you are asking whether or not they will eventually join a BCS conference, that’s a bit more difficult to answer. I don’t think they will anytime soon, given that they are joining the Mountain West conference next year I believe, which makes that conference by far the best non BCS conference in the country (I would put the Mountain West with Utah, TCU, Boise State, Air Force and BYU against the Big East straight up this year and it wouldn’t be close as to who is a better conference). However, it sounds like TCU is thinking about joining the Big East, and Utah will be leaving the conference for the Pac-10. The whole thing is pretty convoluted, and when all is said and done I do think Boise will end up one of the mega conferences that seem to be on the verge of reshaping the NCAA.

As to your other question regarding the Broncos having a shot at the national championship, I think they could do it, but they will need some help. Their strength of schedule in the WAC is going to hurt them badly in the eyes of the national media. They will need 2 of the 3 teams ahead of them (Alabama, Oregon and Ohio State) to lose, and they will probably need TCU and Nebraska to lose as well, only because both are right behind Boise and have far more significant games left on their schedule (mark your calendar for the TCU – Utah game, its going to be great). If Virginia Tech manages to win the ACC it should help them immensely as well. However, if all those things fall into place, I believe they should be allowed to play for the national championship, because I think they are one of the best teams in the country, but I don’t know if anyone can beat Alabama this year.

Q) Can Michigan have a losing record and Denard Robinson still win the Heisman? If he becomes injured against a team like Iowa or Wisconsin, how badly will it hurt his Heisman chances, and can Michigan beat one of those teams without him? Do you see him playing in the NFL? If so, what position?

A) I’m going break this answer down into parts.

1) Given my earlier answer about Terrelle Pryor and how important being on a winning team is, the answer is pretty much no. Paul Hornung did it in 1956 on a 2-8 Notre Dame team, but that was back in the day when any halfway decent player on Notre Dame was immediately considered a Heisman contender. Now we have much greater exposure to all the athletes and it’s harder to overlook great performances. In order for the Wolverines to have a losing season they would have to go 0-7, and unless every game’s final score was 56-49 and Denard was averaging 200 yards rushing and passing (which is entirely possible with that defense, like I said before), he won’t win the Heisman with that record.

2) General consensus around the country right now is that Denard is the Heisman frontrunner – if he stays healthy. That statement alone pretty much sums up my answer. If he goes down in a big game then his chances of winning the Heisman drop significantly. Those defenses are big and hit hard, and he plays in a way that could very well lead to him being injured. Tate Forcer looked sharp in his relief against Bowling Green, and I honestly believe that he could lead this team to victory against a team like Iowa or Wisconsin, but he would need some help from the defense, because the offense won’t be nearly as explosive with him at he helm. He is a little more experienced, a little more mature and I think he is a little better at throwing the ball than Denard, and he can still hurt opposing defenses with his feet, he just lacks the game breaking speed that Robinson possesses.

3) I’m not sure exactly what will happen to Robinson when he graduates from Michigan. On the one hand, he is blazingly fast, so I could see him being used as combo back, somewhat akin to Reggie Bush, a fast, slashing rusher who is equally adept at coming out of the backfield catching passes. My initial thought was wide receiver, but he isn’t built like one (only standing around 6’0” and 185 pounds). I suppose a team like the Dolphins could take a flyer on him as a Wildcat type quarterback, but Pat White flamed out quickly in that role and I’m not sure he would do much better. It’s largely a mystery to me right now. Who knows, he may end up like Michael Vick and being one of those quarterbacks who can legitimately change the way the position is played at the highest level.

Q) If you guys got your flag football team back together what BCS college football team could you beat given home field advantage and you win the coin toss.

A) Well let me start by saying we wouldn’t beat anybody without our awesome fans. There wasn’t a single player on the field who didn’t appreciate the loud pan banging on the sidelines, spurring us to greater athletic heights. If I had to pick one BCS conference school we could beat I would have to say it would be Minnesota (I hate picking on the Big-10, but these guys are awful). Check out their schedule, they started with a come from behind win against Middle Tennessee State, then they lost to the mighty South Dakota Cougars from D-1AA. They followed that with losses to USC, Northern Illinois and Northwestern, bringing them to a pretty bad 1-4. With The Architect at the helm and the great defense we had, I think that we could pull off a win against them, 32-20.