The Maestro
12/3/2008, 11:37 AM
So before I begin, a look at Sam’s numbers to date compared to the last ten Heisman winning quarterbacks…copied from OU Insider…
Sam Bradford - 2008 . 190.97 .. 268 / 393 . 68.2 .. 4080 .. 46 .. 6
Past 10 Winners ............. Efficiency.......Comp / Att ..... Pct ..... Yds ..... TD ... Int
Tim Tebow ----- 2007 172.46 .... 234 / 350 ... 66.9 ..3286 .. 32 ... 6
Troy Smith ----- 2006 161.91 .... 203 / 311 ... 65.3 ..2542 .. 30 ... 6
Matt Leinart ---- 2004 156.54 .... 269/ 412 ... 65.3 ..3322 .. 33 ... 6
Jason White ---- 2003 158.11 .... 278 / 451 ... 61.6 ..3846 .. 40 .. 10
Carson Palmer -- 2002 149.08 .... 309 / 489 ... 63.2 ..3942 .. 33 .. 10
Eric Crouch ---- 2001 124.31 ..... 105 / 189 ... 55.6 ..1510 .. 7 ... 10
Chris Weinke --- 2000 163.09 .... 266 / 431 ... 61.7 ..4167 .. 33 .. 11
Danny Wuerffel - 1996 170.6 ..... 207 / 360 ... 57.5 ..3625 .. 39 .. 13
Charlie Ward --- 1993 157.84 .....264 / 380 ... 69.5 ..3032 .. 27 ... 4
Gino Toretta --- 1992 132.8 ...... 228 / 402 ... 56.7 ..3060 .. 19 ... 7
As you can see, Sam has 6 more TD passes than the best over that span (Jason White, by the way) and only Charlie Ward’s 4 picks were fewer in that category. Basically, Sam owns this list and it would be a shame to leave him off. But I also wondered, “What if Billy Tubbs were the football coach at OU?” Meaning, what if Sam had not missed so much game time.
I went over to soonersports.com and checked out the participation aspect of each game. Bottom line, Sam missed a lot of opportunities to rack up more numbers because of the way we scored so easily. I looked at drive charts and started figuring when Sam was either replaced by Joey Halzle or when OU just ran the ball out. Other than the Texas game, Sam had at least one possession where he did not play. In fact, OU HAD 21 OFFENSIVE POSSESSIONS WITHOUT SAM BRADFORD IN THE LINEUP! If you add up the time, Sam was out of the game for 7 QUARTERS AND AN EXTRA 9:34!!! So, he basically compiled these stats while not playing in what equates to about 2of the games.
So for those who are impressed with Sam, realize he could have even done more. For those who think OU ran up the score, just think what Sam could have done with 21 more possessions!
People have talked about Sam’s numbers since the Texas game. Well, that includes not even playing in the 4th quarter of two games and not playing the final 10:50 against Texas Tech.
This Heisman race should not even be a race. The clear winner is Sam Bradford…absent for two games this year, but still with better numbers than the past ten winners!
Sam Bradford - 2008 . 190.97 .. 268 / 393 . 68.2 .. 4080 .. 46 .. 6
Past 10 Winners ............. Efficiency.......Comp / Att ..... Pct ..... Yds ..... TD ... Int
Tim Tebow ----- 2007 172.46 .... 234 / 350 ... 66.9 ..3286 .. 32 ... 6
Troy Smith ----- 2006 161.91 .... 203 / 311 ... 65.3 ..2542 .. 30 ... 6
Matt Leinart ---- 2004 156.54 .... 269/ 412 ... 65.3 ..3322 .. 33 ... 6
Jason White ---- 2003 158.11 .... 278 / 451 ... 61.6 ..3846 .. 40 .. 10
Carson Palmer -- 2002 149.08 .... 309 / 489 ... 63.2 ..3942 .. 33 .. 10
Eric Crouch ---- 2001 124.31 ..... 105 / 189 ... 55.6 ..1510 .. 7 ... 10
Chris Weinke --- 2000 163.09 .... 266 / 431 ... 61.7 ..4167 .. 33 .. 11
Danny Wuerffel - 1996 170.6 ..... 207 / 360 ... 57.5 ..3625 .. 39 .. 13
Charlie Ward --- 1993 157.84 .....264 / 380 ... 69.5 ..3032 .. 27 ... 4
Gino Toretta --- 1992 132.8 ...... 228 / 402 ... 56.7 ..3060 .. 19 ... 7
As you can see, Sam has 6 more TD passes than the best over that span (Jason White, by the way) and only Charlie Ward’s 4 picks were fewer in that category. Basically, Sam owns this list and it would be a shame to leave him off. But I also wondered, “What if Billy Tubbs were the football coach at OU?” Meaning, what if Sam had not missed so much game time.
I went over to soonersports.com and checked out the participation aspect of each game. Bottom line, Sam missed a lot of opportunities to rack up more numbers because of the way we scored so easily. I looked at drive charts and started figuring when Sam was either replaced by Joey Halzle or when OU just ran the ball out. Other than the Texas game, Sam had at least one possession where he did not play. In fact, OU HAD 21 OFFENSIVE POSSESSIONS WITHOUT SAM BRADFORD IN THE LINEUP! If you add up the time, Sam was out of the game for 7 QUARTERS AND AN EXTRA 9:34!!! So, he basically compiled these stats while not playing in what equates to about 2of the games.
So for those who are impressed with Sam, realize he could have even done more. For those who think OU ran up the score, just think what Sam could have done with 21 more possessions!
People have talked about Sam’s numbers since the Texas game. Well, that includes not even playing in the 4th quarter of two games and not playing the final 10:50 against Texas Tech.
This Heisman race should not even be a race. The clear winner is Sam Bradford…absent for two games this year, but still with better numbers than the past ten winners!