2013-12-12 06:41

The last regular season game is here.
Traditionally the Army-Navy game is played one week after the other last games.
More about that game in the preview.

The Bowl-matchups are set and there are some very nice ones coming.
I will cover them step by step in the upcoming weeks when the games will be played from mid-December on until beginning of January.

The next big think coming is the Heisman trophy.
Awarded to the best college football player of the year it became the most hyped trophy of all awards you can get.
Even the NFL MVP is not hyped that way.
In the past many Heisman-Winners did become stars in the NFL, but that time is long over.
Here are the names of the last 20 players. Now tell me, who made a difference in the NFL?
1992 Gino Torretta Miami Quarterback
1993 Charlie Ward Florida State Quarterback
1994 Rashaan Salaam Colorado Running back
1995 Eddie George Ohio State Running back
1996 Danny Wuerffel Florida Quarterback
1997 Charles Woodson Michigan Cornerback/Punt returner
1998 Ricky Williams Texas Running back
1999 Ron Dayne Wisconsin Running back
2000 Chris Weinke Florida State Quarterback
2001 Eric Crouch Nebraska Quarterback
2002 Carson Palmer* USC Quarterback
2003 Jason White Oklahoma Quarterback
2004 Matt Leinart USC Quarterback
2005 Reggie Bush USC Running Back
2006 Troy Smith Ohio State Quarterback
2007 Tim Tebow Florida Quarterback
2008 Sam Bradford Oklahoma Quarterback
2009 Mark Ingram, Jr. Alabama Running back
2010 Cam Newton* Auburn Quarterback
2011 Robert Griffin III Baylor Quarterback
2012 Johnny Manziel Texas A&M Quarterback
I give the last 5 years a pass, since they would still have time to get it done (or did not have the chance yet), but except Charles Woodson none of those players were more than solid. Some even worse.
So, what does this say about this year’s finalist?
Luckily, nothing, since everybody has his career in his own hands.
But don't expect the winner to be a future NFL Hall of Famer. He might become one, but the odds are bad.
This season did 6 players have an invitation for the ceremony in New York, which is a bit odd, since normally there are only 3-4 invited.
The players are:
Jordan Lynch, Northern Illinois Quarterback
Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M Quarterback
AJ McCarron, Alabama Quarterback
Jameis Winston, Florida State Quarterback
Tre Mason, Auburn Running back
Andre Williams, Boston College Running back
Everybody does expect that FSUs Winston will win the trophy.

Now let's have a look at the BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 16

Saturday, December 14 2013 3:00 PM ET
Army vs. Navy @ Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
Played since 1890, yearly played since 1930.
Navy is leading the series 57-49-7 and is driving on a winning streak of 11 games so far, the longest they had ever.
The reason for that is the very bad state of Army Football.
Rich Ellerson is their HC since 5 season and his record is 20-40 so far, including one 7-6 season with a bowl win.
He survived so far the axe, but with a 3-8 season this year it doesn't look that good.
But you never now with those service academies.
Navy is coached by Ken Niumatalolo since 6 years and HIS record is 47-30 so far and 7-4 this season, which is very good for a service academy.
The service academies do have some problems with the BIG talents, since those want to play pro, not serving a few more seasons AFTER their final year as player for Uncle Sam.
So those schools are left out of the best players.
But in the Army-Navy game, both teams have the same background and somehow Navy does play good football and Army ... not.
The game is part of the Commander in Chief trophy, which is played for by all three service academies by playing each team once each season.
Army did lose to Air Force and Navy won against Air Force so far this season.
In case of a tie in the game result (means every team lost once and won once), which would happen in an Army win, the trophy is kept by the winner of last season, which was Navy.
So Navy will keep the trophy this season any way, but the main reason to play this game is not to win the trophy, it's to show those mud crawlers called Black Knights who is the better football team and for sure those Midshipmen will try to win, in best case, big.
Of cause the Army players will try to show those sea whips that there is strong and there is army strong .... Or something like that.
Honestly, I doubt an Army win, even if this game is different than a normal college football game.
Army football is far from being on top and at the end quality will win.
I pick Navy for the win.

‘Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

Tags: Block of Granite