Forde-Yard Dash: Spoiler alert ... which teams are best equipped to ruin playoff dreams
Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (copy of the Wainstein Report on North Carolina’s academic scandal sold separately to the folks at Tulsa, who reportedly may be interested in hiring Butch Freakin’ Davis):
THE SABOTEURS
Time flies when you’re having fun watching football all fall, and look where we are: December. Seems like just a few minutes ago it was October and Notre Dame actually mattered. But now we have made it to the brink of the College Football Playoff becoming a reality, and you’re all forgiven for acting as giddy/goofy as the Dr. Pepper concession dude in the commercials.
But a challenging and potentially tumultuous Friday-Saturday separates us from Selection Sunday. It could yet get crazy. In emergency preparedness for a calamitous event, The Dash appraises the eight things that could blow up the bracket and create a spasm of panic for the selection committee at the last minute. Listen all y’all, it’s a sabotage – and below is the list, in order of threat level.
Georgia Tech (1). Sabotage target: Florida State. Location: ACC championship game in Charlotte, N.C. Threat level: very high. The Yellow Jackets are on a roll, winning five straight games – capped by consecutive triumphs over Clemson and rival Georgia. They have an unorthodox option scheme that puts a premium on preparation and assignment discipline. FSU has only played Tech once under Jimbo Fisher, two years ago in this same game, so it doesn’t have a lot of familiarity with Paul Johnson’s version of the option. Then there is the matter of cumulative effect: the Seminoles have played five straight weeks against fairly physical opponents, with every outcome in doubt in the second half. Tech had a bye week Nov. 22. FSU is overdue to lose, but somehow doesn’t; can it get by one more time? With a win, would the saboteur have a playoff argument: unlikely. Virtually impossible to get from No. 16 in the CFP rankings last week to the top four. Tech would need to completely dominate Florida State and hope for anarchy elsewhere.
Wisconsin (2). Sabotage target: Ohio State. Location: Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis. Threat level: high. The Badgers have won seven in a row and will present the strongest rushing challenge yet to a defense that is giving up more yards per carry (4.03) than any Ohio State team since last century. If Melvin Gordon can continue performing at something approaching his record-setting current level, Ohio State will have to score plenty of points to win – and that may not be easy for two reasons. One, Wisconsin is second in the nation in total defense and fourth in scoring defense. And two, well, there was the brutal break the Buckeyes endured Saturday against Michigan (see below). With a win, would the saboteur have a playoff argument: unlikely. At No. 14 in last week’s CFP rankings, there are too many teams to leapfrog. And a loss to 5-7 Northwestern is pretty much grounds for automatic disqualification from playoff contention.
Kenyon Martin (3). Sabotage target: Ohio State. Location: hotel meeting room in Grapevine, Texas. Threat level: moderately high. Martin was the star of Cincinnati’s 2000 basketball team, which was steamrolling toward a No. 1 NCAA tournament seed and potential favorite role when he broke his leg in the Conference USA tournament just days before Selection Sunday. The selection committee demoted the Bearcats to a No. 2 seed without Martin, and with good reason – they were eliminated in the round of 32 by Tulsa. Thus the Martin injury provides a frame of reference for appraising the J.T. Barrett situation in the wake of the quarterback’s broken ankle. This Ohio State team is on the outside looking in already, and without Barrett that standing becomes even more precarious. Even if the Buckeyes beat the Badgers, they will be appraised on the quality of the team that would take the field in the playoff, and it’s hard to envision elevating Ohio State without a Heisman Trophy contender QB. Maybe Ohio State is the deepest quarterback program in America and has three guys who can really play – it already had two better than most teams – but Cardale Jones has an absolutely huge load on his shoulders in his first college start. It’s more than a case of simply winning the game – that’s the bare minimum. It’s looking like a top-four team with Jones at quarterback while winning.
Arizona (4). Sabotage target: Oregon. Location: Pac-12 championship game in Santa Clara, Calif. Threat level: moderate. The Wildcats already have beaten the Ducks once this season – and, in fact, have beaten them the last two meetings going back to 2013. Arizona boss Rich Rodriguez and defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel know something about combating a no-huddle, spread offense, since the Wildcats run a similar brand of it. Arizona held Oregon to a season-low 24 points in October and held it to a season-low 16 last year. But the Ducks are healthier now than they were in October, playing at a very high level, and they undoubtedly will not take the Wildcats lightly the way they probably did earlier. With a win, would the saboteur have a playoff argument: Yes. First, anticipate a move up from No. 11 to No. 8 in this week’s CFP rankings. Then think of the power of a sweep of Oregon, neither game at home, which would probably qualify as the best two wins of any team in 2014. In addition, Arizona would have played 10 conference games, more than the champion of any other league. In addition to quality wins over Arizona State and Utah, the Wildcats would have tolerable losses to USC (on a last-second missed field goal) and UCLA (by 10 points on the road). The sticking point would be a non-conference schedule of UNLV, UTSA and Nevada.
Kansas State (5). Sabotage target: Baylor. Location: Waco, Texas. Threat level: moderate. The Wildcats lacked the athletes to compete with TCU in November, and figure to be at a similar disadvantage at Baylor. But the Bears gave up a ghastly 712 yards to Texas Tech on Saturday – that doesn’t happen unless there are weaknesses to be exploited. Baylor also ranks 127th out of 128 teams in penalty yardage, so it could give up a lot of hidden yardage to the disciplined Wildcats. Biggest issue of all for Baylor may be the health of quarterback Bryce Petty, who suffered what was called a mild concussion in the third quarter against Texas Tech and did not return. Petty said he will play Saturday, but we’ll see. With a win, would the saboteur have a playoff argument: a slim one. K-State would be co-champions of the Big 12 – or win it outright if TCU somehow flops against Iowa State. It would own victories over Baylor and Oklahoma, both on the road. It would own losses to quality teams (Auburn and TCU). But it would be difficult to look past the three-touchdown margin of defeat in Fort Worth, and beating the No. 7 team in the CFP rankings isn’t the same as beating a team that already is in the top four.
Missouri (6). Sabotage target: Alabama. Location: SEC championship game in Atlanta. Threat level: low. The Tigers have overachieved to win the Eastern Division and make their second straight SEC title game – and the result this time could be similar to last year’s 17-point defeat against Auburn, at least in point spread. Not so much in style. That was 59-42; there is no way Missouri could score 42 this year, but it also has a defense that should be too sound to give up 59. Quarterback Maty Mauk doesn’t have the blazing quickness and speed of Auburn’s Nick Marshall when it comes to eluding the Alabama rush and making plays. Despite rightfully feeling great about getting to Atlanta, it’s a difficult matchup for Missouri. With a win, would the saboteur have a playoff argument: Very slim one. Being SEC champion would count for something. Beating the No. 1 team to become SEC champion would count for even more. But that home loss to Indiana is like a giant red “X” on Mizzou’s resume.
Iowa State (7). Sabotage target: TCU. Location: Fort Worth, Texas. Threat level: very low. The Cyclones are terrible: 2-9 and winless in the Big 12. They figure to get destroyed at the Horned Frogs' home. But there is one caveat to consider, and that caveat is named Paul Rhoads. The Iowa State coach has won a whopping 14 games as an underdog in six years, including some shockers: as a 20-point 'dog against Nebraska in 2009 and Texas in 2010; and as a 27-point 'dog against Oklahoma State in 2011 to deprive the Cowboys of a spot in the BCS championship game. And among those upset victories is a 27-23 win over then-No. 15 TCU in Fort Worth in 2012. But this is Rhoads’ worst team yet at Iowa State. Neither Baylor nor Ohio State should hope for a divine bailout here. With a win, would the saboteur have a playoff argument: Nah.
Major Harding (8). Sabotage target: Florida State. Location: Tallahassee, Fla. Threat level: almost nonexistent. He’s the former Florida Supreme Court chief justice who will adjudicate Jameis Winston’s student code of conduct hearing Tuesday. While Harding could rule that Winston violated the school’s conduct code and is subject to discipline that could include suspension from the football team, most observers believe his ruling will not be handed down between Tuesday and Selection Sunday. Any impact Harding has on Winston’s standing with the football team is likely to come after playoff bids are handed out – and perhaps not until after the playoff has played out.
BIG 12 MAY LAUGH LAST
Despite season-long bloviating from Analyst World about the lack of a championship game hurting the Big 12, which league is best positioned to potentially get two teams in the playoff? The Big 12, with Baylor (9) and TCU (10).
As of Tuesday morning, the Horned Frogs look like the leading candidate to move into the bracket in place of exiting Mississippi State. The Bears should be right behind them – but aren’t, thanks to the infatuation with an Ohio State team that cannot match quality wins or quality losses with Baylor. Still, both Big 12 teams have a chance to get in if they take care of business Saturday and get some help from upsets of Florida State, Oregon and/or Alabama.
The criticism of the Big 12 for not having a title game lacks merit. The league plays a nine-game, round-robin schedule, so nobody has padded its record by dodging a conference heavyweight. Then there is this consideration: If you split the conference into two five-team divisions, North and South, guess who the champions would be? Baylor in the South and Kansas State in the North. And guess who plays each other Saturday in Waco? Yes, Baylor and Kansas State.
The conference has created its share of controversy this week. Baylor hired a PR firm to help plead its case to the media – one of the PR reps reached out to The Dash via email asking if there was interest in interviewing Baylor athletic director “Ian McCall.” Perhaps Baylor could have hired a firm more familiar with the school, or at least one that knows that the AD’s last name is McCaw, not McCall. And then there was the report that the Big 12 will not name a lone champion in event of a tie at the top of the standings – it will have co-champions. This from the league that spent all season running ads touting it as the home of “one true champion.”
Despite that, Bob Bowlsby could emerge from this first-ever playoff scrum as the big winner in the Commissioner’s Club. His league has the best chance of any to end up with half the playoff field.
WAITING FOR ACTION IN ANN ARBOR
Since September, Michigan coach Brady Hoke (11) has seemed destined to be fired. That inevitability was reinforced in the last two weeks, when the Wolverines lost their last two games to finish 5-7 and miss bowl eligibility. Yet interim athletic director Jim Hackett has done nothing and said nothing Sunday or Monday. The sense of urgency seems to be just a wee bit lacking in Ann Arbor.
A Hackett-Hoke meeting is set for Tuesday afternoon, presumably after Hackett’s mani-pedi and some Christmas shopping. While we wait, The Dash speculates what Hackett actually has been doing since mid-afternoon Saturday:
• Flipping a coin 100 times and tallying the results – heads Brady stays, tails Brady goes.
• Conducting a séance with Bo Schembechler in hopes of afterlife guidance on what to do. (Hackett is, after all, another in an endless line of Michigan Men who played for Schembechler and therefore has been entrusted with plotting the future of a program that clings tenaciously to its past.)
• Hanging out at a yacht club in Florida – oh wait, that was former AD Bill Martin, who couldn’t be reached by Les Miles’ agent during the Michigan coaching search in 2007.
• Consulting Dashette Eva Green (12), who may have a better idea how to handle this than Hackett.
TRENDS OF THE YEAR
Death to Cinderella (13). Due to the gradual absorption of quality “outsider” programs into the power-five conferences, the ranks of quality mid-major programs (for lack of a better term) are dwindling. Of the ones that are left, it has been an inglorious year. The only team in the latest AP Top 25 from outside the power-five conferences is Boise State. (The Broncos are in great position to pick up the “group of five” automatic bid to one of the CFP’s six bowl games, due largely to lack of competition. Colorado State and Marshall were in the picture, but both lost Saturday.) Even proven giant killer Boise failed to put a major skin on its wall this year, though, and very few other mid-majors did. There was exactly one win by an “outsider” over a power-five team that finished the year with a winning record: Colorado State over Boston College. As power programs look to schedule each other more and distribute even more revenue among themselves, the lower half of FBS figures to only be increasingly marginalized in the future.
Shrinking home-field advantage (14). Jeff Sagarin’s ratings put a 2.44-point value on home field for the season, the smallest it has been since 2006 and the second-smallest in the 17 years of ratings on Sagarin’s website. The only year it was lower was 2006, at 1.94. Why? Possibly the widespread decrease in attendance, as more fans opt to stay home instead of go to the stadium and voice their support for the home team – a trend that particularly is relevant with the loudest and rowdiest of fans, the students. Perhaps to compensate for smaller and quieter crowds, schools have turned more to pre-packaged, piped-in noise bellowing out of stadium sound systems and telling fans when to cheer. (Among the most tiresome 2014 trends: turning third-down defense into a Synchronized Fan Participation Event triggered by stadium P.A. announcers and the same audio cue played over and over until insanity ensues. Stop it.)
APB for passers (15). Offenses are still moving the ball and scoring at prolific rates (see below), but that might be due more to tempo than great quarterback play. In broad terms, this season marks a five-year low in terms of passing accuracy. A total of 49 quarterbacks are completing 60 percent or more of their passes, way down from 62 last year, 65 in 2012, 63 in 2011 and 55 in 2010. Only five are averaging nine yards or more per attempt, down from 11 last year and seven the year before. There are two passers with an efficiency rating of 170 or better, six with a 160 rating or better, and 17 with a 150 rating or better – all the lowest totals since 2009. Are defenses finally catching up with the passing game? Are more teams turning to quarterbacks who can run, at the expense of quarterbacks who can throw from the pocket? It’s a topic worth exploring.
Defenses under siege (16). Despite the downturn in accurate passing, it seems harder than ever to stop opposing offenses – probably due to quicker tempo and more plays being run. As it stands today, Mississippi leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing 13.8 points per game. If that holds, it easily would be the most points allowed for the national leader in scoring defense on record with the NCAA, which has data back to 1937. Likewise, Clemson’s nation-leading 259.6 yards allowed per game also would be the highest on record for an FBS statistical champion.
STATES OF THE YEAR
Mississippi (17). Despite ranking 31st in population and lower than that in a lot of quality-of-life indices, the Magnolia State has a pair of top-15 teams that few people saw coming. (Though The Dash did label Mississippi State the SEC’s dark horse in August.) The surprise, side-by-side ascension of Mississippi and Mississippi State was a major storyline all season, from some breakthrough victories in early October right through an Egg Bowl that knocked the Bulldogs out of playoff contention. It was fun and fresh, even if it didn’t result in a conference championship or playoff berth for either team.
Arizona (18). The Territorial Cup battle between Arizona and Arizona State has never meant more than it did last week – winner advancing to the Pac-12 championship game. Combined record of 19-5 (.792 winning percentage) for the Wildcats and Sun Devils is their best since going 19-4-1 in 1986. Third-year coaches Rich Rodriguez and Todd Graham have hit their stride simultaneously.
Texas (19). The Lone Star State showcased quality depth in a year when Texas was ordinary and Texas A&M fell back to Earth. In place of those two comes Baylor and TCU, in tandem if not arm-in-arm. The Horned Frogs are among the biggest surprises of the season, and the Bears have showed staying power as a Big 12 title contender. For two programs that spent decades during the Southwest Conference days as conference doormats, these are giddy times.
NOT STATES OF THE YEAR
California (20). Preseason Pac-12 South favorite UCLA disappointed, struggling to live up to its hype from the opening game. So did preseason No. 11 Stanford, which lost more games (five) than it has since 2009. USC was great some weeks and lousy others, as first-year coach Steve Sarkisian added another so-so record to a career full of them.
Oklahoma (21). OU once again conned the nation into believing it was a national title contender, then failed to deliver. Oklahoma State is a mess, riding a streak of five straight blowout losses into the Bedlam game with the Sooners. Tulsa went 2-10 and fired coach Bill Blankenship on Monday.
Michigan (22). This was supposed to be the Spartans’ year at last. Once again, it wasn’t. It was a very good season, but double-digit losses to the two best opponents they faced scuttled any and all title hopes. And we all know about the dumpster fire at Michigan.
Now, conference-by-conference Dashies:
AAC
Player of the Year: Shane Carden, East Carolina. Nobody was more consistently good than the Pirates’ quarterback, who has thrown for more than 3,900 yards and 25 touchdowns with only six interceptions. He was at his best in back-to-back triumphs over ACC teams Virginia Tech and North Carolina, totaling 865 passing yards and seven TDs in those two games. His only bad outing was in the cold at Temple in an upset loss that will keep East Carolina from at least a share of the American title.
Coach of the Year: Justin Fuente (23), Memphis. How big is a nine-victory season at Memphis? It equals the school’s win total the previous three years combined. It’s also tied for the most at the school since 1938. The hard part now could be keeping Fuente.
Bust of the Year: SMU. The Mustangs were thought to be a mid-pack team this season. Instead, they head into their last game winless and darn near hopeless. Every defeat but one was by double digits, the lone exception being a one-point loss to a South Florida team that is the runner-up Bust of the Year.
ACC
Player of the Year: Gerod Holliman (24), Louisville. It sure isn’t Jameis Winston. Looking at other candidates, Holliman gets the nod over receiver Rashad Greene of Florida State and defensive end Vic Beasley of Clemson. The Cardinals safety has tied a 46-year-old NCAA record with 14 interceptions, pacing a defense that leads the nation with 25 picks. Holliman’s 14 interceptions are five more than runner-up Senquez Golson of Mississippi, and more than 105 entire teams.
Coach of the Year: Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets had settled into something of a mediocre rut the last four years, going a combined 28-25 after a 20-7 record in Johnson’s first two seasons. This was quite a bounce-back season, with a team few predicted could do it. This is Johnson’s best passing team, throwing more touchdowns (17) and fewer interceptions (4) than his previous six. Georgia Tech has peaked at the right time and should take a ton of confidence with it to Charlotte.
Bust of the Year: North Carolina (25). A lot of people (including The Dash) thought the Tar Heels would win the Coastal Division. A lot of people (including The Dash) were dead wrong. Larry Fedora’s third team is dead last in the league in rushing defense, passing defense, total defense and scoring defense. The Heels lost by 29 points to East Carolina and 28 to North Carolina State, 27 to Miami, 17 to Virginia Tech and 15 to Clemson. An off-season makeover of the defense would seem mandatory.
BIG 12
Player of the Year: Trevone Boykin (26), TCU. The Horned Frogs brought in Texas A&M transfer Matt Joeckel to take the starting job from Boykin, but he wouldn’t let it happen. Instead, the Frogs’ new wide-open offense set him free to become a dynamic dual-threat player who is fourth nationally in yards per game at 350.2. TCU has always had solid defense, but the quantum leap by its offense has made it a national title contender – and a lot of that goes back to Boykin’s huge improvement.
Coach of the Year: Gary Patterson (27), TCU. He won 11 or more games six times from 2005-11. But when the Frogs stumbled in their first two years of Big 12 play, going 7-6 and 4-8, some wondered whether Patterson could hang with the big boys. Wonder no more. TCU is a walkover against Iowa State away from another 11-win season, and perhaps a playoff berth. Give Patterson credit for recognizing the need to modernize his offense, while sacrificing very little of his trademark defense.
Bust of the Year: Oklahoma State. After starting 5-1, it will take an upset of Oklahoma and a bowl victory for the 5-6 Cowboys to avoid their lowest victory total since 2005. There have been injury issues, but that shouldn’t equate to a complete lack of competitiveness with the top half of the Big 12. Oklahoma State has not beaten a team that ranks higher than 69th in the Sagarin Ratings.
BIG TEN
Player of the Year: Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin. Having one of the greatest rushing seasons ever. Gordon has run for more than 2,200 yards, and unless he is completely stuffed by Ohio State on Saturday and in the Badgers’ bowl game, he can break NCAA yards-per-carry records set by Heisman winners Mike Rozier and Barry Sanders. If anyone can beat Marcus Mariota for the Heisman, it’s Gordon.
Coach of the Year: Urban Meyer (28), Ohio State. Lost all-Big Ten quarterback Braxton Miller in August and reloaded with J.T. Barrett. Lost Barrett against Michigan and got through that with Cardale Jones. Lost defensive impact player Noah Spence and dealt with it. Nothing has kept Meyer and the Buckeyes from yet another outstanding season.
Bust of the Year: Michigan (29). See multiple entries above. Narrowly beats out Northwestern, which was supposed to bounce back from last year’s 5-7 debacle but instead repeated it.
CONFERENCE USA
Player of the Year: Rakeem Cato (30), Marshall. His passing statistics were down, but much of that was a byproduct of the Thundering Herd becoming a much better running team and balancing out its offense. His 9.01 yards per attempt and 159 passer rating both were career highs, and he was the catalyst for an 11-1 team that frankly was the only reason to notice C-USA for much of the year.
Coach of the Year: Bill Clark, UAB. Took over a program that had endured nine straight losing seasons and coaxed it to 6-6, 4-4 in the league. Now there are reports that the football program may be terminated by an Alabama board of trustees that has done its best to squelch the Blazers’ growth for many years. If this is Clark’s one and only year at UAB, he maximized it and should be an attractive candidate elsewhere. Nice work by Skip Holtz at Louisiana Tech and Doc Holliday at Marshall, but Clark gets the nod.
Bust of the Year: UTSA. A trendy pick to win their division, the Larry Coker-coached Roadrunners got off to a nice start by upsetting Houston and then floundered to a 4-8 record. The season was marked by long periods of offensive futility – UTSA scored 16 or fewer points in half its games, and threw just seven touchdown passes all year. With C-USA never more diluted than this year, this was an opportunity missed for the Roadrunners.
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Player of the Year: Drew Hare, Northern Illinois. He’s Jordan Lynch Ultra Lite, but still a productive dual-threat quarterback who makes the Huskies’ offense go. Hare came off the bench to guide Northern Illinois past Northwestern in the second game of the season and never left the starting lineup after that, leading NIU to a 10-2 record and a fifth straight appearance in the MAC championship game. He’s passed for nearly 1,900 yards and leads the team in rushing, but Hare’s best stat is this: he’s thrown one interception in 250 attempts.
Coach of the Year: P.J. Fleck (31), Western Michigan. In his first season, the nation’s youngest head coach went 1-11. In his second, he’s 8-4 – the school’s highest victory total since 2008. Fleck has signed a couple of skill-position stars in sophomore receiver Corey Davis and freshman running back Jarvion Franklin. Future looks bright in Kalamazoo.
Bust of the Year: Akron. The Zips looked like preseason contenders but finished 5-7, 3-5 in the league, despite playing in an awful East Division. Akron lost five of its last six games, including a season-ending dud against 2-9 Kent State.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
Player of the Year: Jay Ajayi (32), Boise State. If it weren’t for Melvin Gordon, Ajayi would be in the conversation for best running back in the nation. He’s seventh nationally in rushing at 135 yards per game and tied for second in touchdowns at 24. He’s also one of just three backs to average more than 25 carries per game. In big games against Colorado State and Utah State, he went for a combined 448 yards and seven touchdowns.
Coach of the Year: Jim McElwain, Colorado State. Rapid and remarkable progression at a CSU program that was way down when he arrived: from four wins his first year to eight last year to 10-2 this season. That and a Nick Saban pedigree have gotten the attention of Florida, which has shown interest in McElwain as a candidate to replace Will Muschamp. Mac wins the Dashie narrowly over Troy Calhoun of Air Force.
Bust of the Year: The West Division. All of it. When Fresno State wins it at 6-6, it’s a bad division.
PAC-12
Player of the Year: Marcus Mariota (33), Oregon. A winner who plays a beautiful game. Mesmerizing to watch, yet meticulously efficient at the same time. Would have to be unfathomably bad the rest of the year not to be the nation’s leader in pass efficiency by a mile. As it stands, he’s threatening Russell Wilson’s all-time season record in that category. He’s thrown just two interceptions in 334 pass attempts; if he doesn’t throw another pick this year and attempts another 16 passes, he will break former Boise State QB Kellen Moore’s single-season record for lowest interception percentage.
Coach of the Year: Rich Rodriguez, Arizona. The Wildcats were a distant fourth in the media’s preseason predicted finish in the Pac-12 South. Now they’ve won the thing, and posted their first 10-win season since 1998. Not only that, Rodriguez did it with a freshman starting quarterback who wasn’t named the starter until mid-August.
Bust of the Year: Stanford (34). It’s a measure of the Cardinal’s transformation over the past six years that a 7-5 season is a major disappointment. But the expectation level now is for more than an offense that wheezed to 17 or fewer points in every loss, misfiring too often to win on a consistent basis. Stanford couldn’t run the ball the way it usually does, and Kevin Hogan’s passing talent went missing in several games. But David Shaw has recruited well enough that this season should be a blip, not a trend.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
Player of the Year: Amari Cooper (35), Alabama. He’s the best receiver in the nation by a pretty wide margin, and he now owns the receiving portion of the Crimson Tide record book. Cooper has had three games of more than 200 receiving yards against SEC competition, most recently his devastating performance against Auburn on Saturday. He wins the Dashie barely over Dak Prescott of Mississippi State.
Coach of the Year: Dan Mullen (36), Mississippi State. When have the Bulldogs ever captivated the nation like they did this season? Never. And they did it with a lot of players who were either unrecruited or lightly recruited by the established powers in the SEC. Mullen now sits in a position similar to where his old boss Urban Meyer was at Utah – happy and hugely popular, but wondering if it’s time to move. We’ll see. Mullen is the choice by a narrow margin over Missouri’s Gary Pinkel, who did an even better coaching job this year than last year.
Bust of the Year: South Carolina. The year began with a dreadful dud: a 24-point home loss to Texas A&M. It ended with a dreadful dud: an 18-point loss to bitter rival Clemson. In between were several other duds: blown leads against Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. There was a high point or two, beating Georgia and Florida, but 6-6 is a long way from the established expectation under Steve Spurrier.
SUN BELT
Player of the Year: Kevin Ellison, Georgia Southern. He’s excelled at the controls of the Eagles’ option offense, running and passing for 1,000 yards each. Most importantly for a guy who makes ball-handling decisions on almost every play, Ellison is a fastidious caretaker of the pigskin. He’s thrown just three interceptions, and the Eagles have only eight fumbles in 641 rushing attempts.
Coach of the Year: Willie Fritz (37), Georgia Southern. He’s won at all levels of college football – and in his first season at the FBS level, he’s done it again. Georgia Southern is undefeated in league play and the undisputed champion of the Sun Belt, even if it can’t go to a bowl game this season as a provisional FBS program.
Bust of the Year: Louisiana-Monroe. The WarHawks had a veteran returning team and added high-major transfer quarterback Pete Thomas – and still went 4-8, 3-5 in the league. After a 3-1 start that included a win over Wake Forest, UL-M lost seven of its last eight – five of them by a touchdown or less, and three times losing leads in the fourth quarter.
COACH WHO EARNED HIS COMP CAR THIS WEEK
Jeff Brohm (38), Western Kentucky. In what ranks as one of the biggest wins in the school’s eight seasons as an FBS program, the Hilltoppers shocked undefeated Marshall on Friday – and they did it with an onions-double-order decision by Brohm. The Thundering Herd forced overtime in an absurd shootout, then scored on its first possession for a 66-59 lead. Western Kentucky answered with a touchdown, and Brohm did not hesitate to go for two and the win. Quarterback Brandon Doughty (eight touchdowns on the day, 44 on the season) rolled and threw a lovely pass to Willie McNeal for the instant victory. The Hilltoppers finished the regular season 7-5 and on a four-game winning streak.
COACH WHO SHOULD TAKE THE BUS TO WORK
Mark Richt (39), Georgia. The Bulldogs’ season has been all over the place – some great wins and some bad losses and all kinds of Todd Gurley drama thrown in for seasoning. But at 9-2, they were still on the periphery of the playoff picture when they took on rival Georgia Tech on Saturday. At times in spite of itself, Georgia took a 24-21 lead on a field goal with 18 seconds left – and that’s when Richt screwed up. He called for a squib kickoff that only went 38 yards, and Tech returned it 16 yards to its own 43. Yellow Jackets quarterback Justin Thomas then ran for 21 yards to set up a 53-yard field goal on the final play of regulation, and Tech won in overtime. Ever the stand-up guy, Richt took the blame postgame. But then again, he should have.
POINT AFTER
When SEC championship game fans are hungry and thirsty in Atlanta this weekend, The Dash recommends the King & Duke (40). The Buckhead joint has a cool, upscale vibe, a creative menu and an impressive drink list. The signature cocktails, named after acclaimed novels, will appeal to the literati. If you’re more of a beer drinker, there are plenty of those from local breweries – have a Terrapin Hi-5 IPA and thank The Dash later.
