By Cam Inman
Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, and if he's to repeat next year as a junior, one of his top competitors will be Cal tailback Jahvid Best, who will also be a junior. Best ran for a school-record 311 yards last week and scored four touchdowns in a 48-7 rout over Washington in the Golden Bears' regular-season finale. That effort brought Best his third Pac-10 Player of the Week award this season — his other two came on the heals of his other two 200-yard rushing games. More efforts like that next year will vault Best even further into the national spotlight. Heisman voters drool over offensive superstars, and Bradford certainly fit that bill this year for the Sooners, who became the first team in NCAA history to eclipse the 60-point mark in five straight games. This year's other Heisman finalists — Texas junior quarterback Colt McCoy Florida junior quarterback Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman winner — also will be obvious contenders for next year's Heisman, if they return as expected for their senior campaigns.
It'll be interesting to see how the Bears market Best's very reasonable Heisman candidacy. Cal set up a Web site last year dedicated to wide receiver/returner DeSean Jackson, but neither he nor the Golden Bears lived up to their billing. Cal took more of a team-oriented approach this season, and although the on-field results haven't always been great, there seems to be a welcome camaraderie this season. Best has amassed 1,394 yards rushing this season for Cal, which faces Miami in the Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park on Dec. 27.
A Vallejo native and Salesian High product, Best is a polite and friendly kid. He's doesn't come off as cocky or a self-promoter. His approach in 2009 should be to simply do the best he can to lift Cal's program back up to the Pac-10 pedestal. If he shines as a junior and has his first injury-free season, odds are the Bears will flourish. He'll need help from Cal's quarterback position, which struggled this year behind Kevin Riley and Nate Longshore. Riley will be back in 2009 but could face tough competition from Brock Mansion. Cal has never had a Heisman trophy winner. As for Stanford's chance of producing its second Heisman winner (Jim Plunkett won in 1970), Toby Gerhardt could be the Cardinal's leading candidate, so long as he returns for his senior season and doesn't leave for professional baseball. Then again, running backs will be underdogs to take the 2009 Heisman. Bradford became the eighth quarterback in the past nine years to win the Heisman, with USC running back Reggie Bush the lone exception in 2005.
1 comment:
While dreams of having Cal's first Heisman winner dance in my head, I am reminded that the last few winners as far as I can remember were on teams that were competing for the national championship or had 2 or fewer losses. While personal accolades are always great, the team needs to focus on winning the 2 or 3 games that the Bears manage to piss away each year. The players were complaining about the Emerald Bowl not feeling "like a bowl game" (they quickly changed their tune, probably at the coaches' behest). NOTE TO CAL FOOTBALL PLAYERS AND COACHES: WIN MORE GAMES AND THE REST OF THESE THINGS WILL TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES, HEISMANS AND BETTER BOWL GAMES INCLUDED. First: we need to solve out quarterback problems. Then, let's hope Syd the Kid Thompson decides to stay in school and not try his fate in the NFL draft. And finally, some luck would help our players stay healthy. We do not have the depth of an SC since out athletes are really students first, not the other way around.
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