Half-season awards

Honoring the best in what so far has been a thrilling season

This college football season has been every bit as good as promised, and that's saying a lot. It may just be the magic of television highlight shows, but it seems as if there have been more close games, more exciting finishes and more stomach-churning excitement this year than in the last few. You can't point a finger at a reason. You just have to say thanks and hope it continues.

Miami continues to be ranked No. 1, but after the Florida State game the Hurricanes look like first among equals, a statement no one was willing to make beforehand. Notre Dame continues to wow the critics in its role as Cinderella. It is only mid-October, though. Because the bulk of conference schedules await, the promise of more close games and great finishes is almost guaranteed. But as we stop to catch our breath before the second half, let's recognize the best we've seen so far.

Player: The annual debate concerning what the Heisman criteria should be is moot. Iowa State senior quarterback Seneca Wallace has been both the Most Valuable Player and the most outstanding. Whether Wallace wins the Heisman depends upon how well he does at Oklahoma and at Texas the next two weeks. If he maintains the quality of his play, Wallace will get my vote.

Coach: Tyrone Willingham of Notre Dame. Like Wallace, Willingham still has a lot of work to do. The Irish must play at Air Force, at Florida State and at USC. For one half of a season, however, Willingham has proven he is a master teacher. Notre Dame refuses to beat itself and forces its opponents to do the same.

Most Improved Coach: After all the grief he took for his lack of clock management as a rookie last season, Georgia's Mark Richt has made a number of gutsy calls and come out on the right side of all of them. At the end of the Clemson game on Aug. 31, nursing a 31-28 lead, he elected to go for a fourth-and-1 near midfield. The Dawgs got the first down, kept the ball and won. Last Saturday against Tennessee, nursing an 18-13 lead near midfield, Richt did the same thing and Georgia converted again.

Catch: It looked like a cross between a pirouette and a man slipping off the end of a diving board. But no matter how many times I've seen the touchdown reception that Charles Rogers made in the fourth quarter of Michigan State's 21-17 loss to Notre Dame on Sept. 21, I still can't figure out how the wide receiver got a foot down before he careered out of bounds.

Run: For the stunning, game-setting tone of it, the 80-yard touchdown burst by Alabama's Shaud Williams on the first play of the Tide's 30-12 victory at Arkansas On Sept. 28, a win that looks even more impressive after the way the Razorbacks manhandled Auburn last Saturday.

Arm: Still, and until the end of the season, Byron Leftwich of Marshall.

Foot: Nate Kaeding of Iowa. For all the attention given to quarterback Brad Banks and the five grain silos that block for him, the Hawkeyes' most dependable weapon has been their kicker, who has made all 14 field-goal attempts this season. That's hard enough to do in practice, much less in front of a live studio audience.

Collapse: As much as Auburn tried to wrest away the award by giving up 426 rushing yards to an Arkansas team that had played six overtimes on the road the previous Saturday night; as much as Florida quarterback Rex Grossman tried to win this prize by throwing eight interceptions in two Saturdays, more than half of the 14 that he threw last season; Nebraska fell too long and too hard not to take this one. The Huskers' spectacular lack of competitive play at Penn State and at Iowa State doesn't bode well for future trips to Texas A&M and Kansas State.

Freshman: Ohio State wasn't supposed to challenge for the national championship until 2003. Thanks to the thigh-churning, chain-moving effect of tailback Maurice Clarett, the Buckeyes still have a seat in the Saturday game of musical chairs. His ability to carry the ball and carry the offense has allowed inexperienced quarterback Craig Krenzel to develop with fewer burdens. Clarett looks unpolished only when he boards a plane. He may hate to be 30,000 feet up, but when you can run as well as he does, why fly?

And just keep in mind, those of you who have written this season off, that Pittsburgh began last season 1-5. The Panthers finished it 7-5.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Ivan Maisel covers college football for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send a question to his Mailbag.

 

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