With college football’s opening week behind us, its time to start another kind of college football contest; the battle for college football’s most prestigious individual award, the 2007 Heisman Trophy. While most of the contenders put up great numbers, some stats were padded due to the quality of competition the power teams were playing.
Arkansas’ Darren McFadden, the 2006 Heisman runner-up behind Ohio State’s Troy Smith, enters this season as the man to beat for the 2007 award. The 2006 Doak Walker award winner showed his all-purpose skills in the Razorbacks 46-26 win over Troy. McFadden showed why he is mentioned in every Heisman conversation by rushing for 151 yards and one touchdown. McFadden caught two passes for 30 yards and he threw a 41 yard touchdown pass. The star running back threw a pancake block on a Troy defender to spring teammate Felix Jone's 90 yard kickoff return. With Saturday's performance it’s, unlikely any challenger will replace McFadden as the top-contender.
Rutgers junior running back Ray Rice had a day expected of a Heisman contender in the Scarlet Knights Thursday game with Buffalo, rushing for 188 yards on 25 attempts for a 7.4 yard average and three touchdowns. His longest carry from scrimmage was 41 yard touchdown run. Rice also caught two passes for 21 yards. Rutgers won the game 38-3.
West Virginia running back Steve Slaton stayed in the Heisman mix by rushing for three touchdowns and snaring a pass for another score in the Mountaineers game with Western Michigan. Slaton also had two receptions for 61 yards. While his rushing numbers weren’t stellar, 109 yards on 16 attempts, they were adequate combined with his overall performance in the 62-24 win.
Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm threw for 375 yards and four touchdowns and the 10th-ranked Cardinals, drilled overmatched Murray State 73-10 on Thursday night. Brohm led Louisville to touchdowns on each of the Cardinals' first eight drives. While there is no knock on Brohm’s performance, it must be noted the quality of competition was not challenging.
Colt Brennan threw for 416 yards and six touchdowns in the first half leading the Hawaii Warriors to a 63-6 blowout of Northern Colorado. Brennan played just one half but showed why he is considered a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy as he completed 34 of 40 pass attempts and made sure his receivers would hit the century mark in yards receiving.
Southern California junior quarterback John David Booty led his team to a 38-10 ho-hum victory over the Idaho Vandals. Booty completed 21 of 32 passes for 206 yards with one interception before coming out of the game. Booty was not impressive as his offense sputtered most of the night.
With Chad Henne and Mike Hart returning as Michigan's Heisman hopefuls , this game with Appalachian State was supposed to be a breeze. Hart opened the game with a three-yard touchdown run to give the Wolverines a 7-0 lead. Hart finished the game with 23 carries for 188 yards and three touchdowns. Henne threw for 236 yards and one touchdown for the Wolverines. While both Henne and Hart had good individual performances, a loss to a team from the Division 1 Sub-Division (formerly Div-1AA) does not help the pair’s Heisman hopes.
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