The NCAA has gifted its loyal fans with a Saturday of zero ranked matchups (11 UCLA took on 15 Arizona State on Thursday night, but that one just ended up being Brett Hundley's NFL reel), and almost no interesting games/storylines. The most notable discussion topic of the week has been the dominance of the SEC West in the polls, with 4 of the top 10, and 6 of the top 17, hailing from the division. Make no mistake, that fact is pretty remarkable and deserves the attention it is getting. None of the teams's rankings can really be disputed, especially not Mississippi State's #15 spot after its impressive upset at LSU last week (which also officially launched the "Dak Attack" Heisman campaign as a possibility).
Besides this news story, however, there's really not much meat on Week 5's bone. There are only three top 25 games (Missouri-South Carolina, Stanford-Washington, and Oregon State-USC) with spreads lower than 10, and I expect all of them to result in double-digit wins for the ranked squads. Our current Heisman favorite, Marcus Mariota, is on bye this week. Jameis and the Seminoles have a possible trap game at undefeated NC State, but smart money is on FSU up 3 scores by halftime, which would actually be more competitive than their lopsided contest last year. Really, the only game I'm even slightly interested in watching is the Arkansas-Texas A&M matchup, purely to see if Bret Bielema's punishing rushing attack, spearheaded by Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams, can run stride for stride with Kevin Sumlin's hyper-efficient passing game led by Heisman hopeful Kenny Trill (as I've said before: Kenny's real last name doesn't even exist to me anymore).
As a result of this week's snoozefest of games, I've decided to dedicate this post to informing you about the country's most under-appreciated stars that will be taking the field on Saturday unbeknownst to the general public. These guys either play for small schools who beat up on other, less talented small schools which limit their exposure/respectability, or they are stuck on the punching-bag teams of the Power 5 conferences. Either way, my Alfred Morris All-Stars deserve some love.
Why name this 5-man collection after the Washington Professional Football Team running back? It's quite simple actually. Alfred Morris flawlessly satisfied both of the criteria I listed above during his time at Florida Atlantic University. FAU plays in the lowly Sun Belt conference and, in 2011, his last year in college, the Morris-led Owls finished with an awful record of 1-11. These two factors surely were the primary reasons he fell to the 6th round of the 2012 NFL Draft, despite piling up 2,320 yards and 18 touchdowns from 2009-2010. Now does the name make sense? I thought so.
Without further ado, I present to you the Alfred Morris All-Stars, some with an accompanying link to a highlight video (I still haven't figured out how to embed videos, if anyone knows please contact me):
Rakeem Cato
QB, Marshall:
Cato fills the non-power conference aspect of the requirements, as his Marshall squad plays in the relatively ignored Conference-USA. Last season, Cato led the Thundering Herd to a 10-4 record, including an appearance in the conference championship game, as well as a win over Maryland in the Military Bowl. In 3 full years as a starter (2011-2013), Cato has averaged 3392 yards and 30 and 1/3 TD's to only 10 and 1/3 INT's a season through the air, while also adding a running element to his game last year as he rushed for 294 yards and 6 scores on the ground (and remember, in college, sack yardage is subtracted from a QB in the form of negative rushing yards, so Cato's total yards on running plays is likely greater than 294). As a sophomore in 2012, Cato led the nation in passing yards with 4201 along with tossing 37 touchdown passes. Unsurprisingly, he is off to another great start in 2014. Through 4 games, Cato has thrown for 1,163 yards and 10 touchdowns passing, as well as 175 yards and 4 touchdowns rushing. If all these outstanding individual stats can translate into team wins for Marshall (which it has so far; Marshall is undefeated), then Cato and the Thundering Herd look to be among the favorites from the Group of 5 teams to receive the Golden Ticket. Cato is definitely on the smaller side for a QB (6-0, 190), so that will likely limit his NFL potential, but I should hope he at least get a chance to earn a starting job at the next level.
James Conner
RB, Pitt:
This guy is a straight up tank. That's honestly the best way I can describe him. Standing 6-2 and 250 pounds, there may not be a bigger tailback in college football. If there is, they certainly don't move as well as Conner, which is why he is leading the nation in rushing at the moment. His running style reminds me of former Wisconsin bruiser John Clay, except Conner isn't sharing the workload like Clay did. Pitt head coach Paul Chryst (who coincidentally was Clay's OC at Wisconsin) has no qualms feeing Conner as often as possible, evidenced by his FBS-leading 110 carries through 4 games, 12 more than the next player. His best game thus far in 2014 is probably his 14-carry, 153-yard, and 4 touchdown performance in the opener against Delaware. An argument can easily be made for his 214-yard outing the following game at Boston College too. In fact, Connor has topped 150 yards every game so far this season. I guess you could say consistency is his calling card. Pitt is currently 3-1 and is usually a 7-win football team, so how then, may you ask, does he qualify for the Alfred Morris All-Stars? Well, in case you haven't heard, the ACC is kind of being run by Florida State at the moment, and with Louisville and Georgia Tech looking like legitimate contenders as well, I expect Pitt to soon fall back into that .500 range. Conner is surrounded by talented playmakers like QB Chad Voytik and stud WR James Boyd, but I still don't see a surprise 9-win season in the works for the Panthers. However, look for Conner to remain near the top in all the major rushing categories throughout the entire season.
Brandon Doughty
QB, Western Kentucky:
The above link will take you to the box score of the Bowling Green-Western Kentucky game that saw Doughty throw for a school-record 569 yards and 6 touchdowns. 569 YARDS AND 6 TOUCHDOWNS!!! WITH 0 INTERCEPTIONS AND AN 82% COMPLETION PERCENTAGE!!!! Those are some mind-boggling numbers no matter who the competition is. For the season, Doughty is 4th in the nation with 1459 passing yards, and tied for 7th with 12 touchdowns. May I remind you that WKU has played just 3 games so far in 2014. Obviously, Doughty stats are a direct result of WKU employing the Mike Leach-style Air Raid offense that has the Mike Leach-coached Connor Halliday currently sitting atop the leaderboards in passing yards and touchdowns. However, just being the quarterback in the offense doesn't guarantee him otherworldly numbers. If that were the case, many more teams would be following suit. Doughty possesses above-average accuracy to go along with a firm grasp of how to run the show (this is his 2nd season as the starting QB after breaking school records last year). Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, all of Doughty's statistical success hasn't translated to success in the win/loss column. WKU currently sits at 1-2, good for last in the East division of Conference-USA. This does mean, however, that Doughty is perfect for our squad. I look forward to continuing to monitor that right arm of Doughty's as it creeps closer and closer to falling right off his body as his pass attempt numbers continue to balloon into absurdity.
Kaelin Clay
WR/KR/PR, Utah:
The "WR" part is just his listed position; he only has 3 catches for 26 yards on the season. The reason Clay is being named an Alfred Morris All-Star is because he currently holds the title of the nation's most electrifying return man. Clay has 2 punt return TD's and 1 kick return TD so far this year, with his 66-yard punt return TD against Michigan being the one I linked. Clay personally disrespected every U of M fan in the stands (and there were plenty of them; the attendance was 103,890) last week in Utah's somewhat-shocking 26-10 takedown of the Wolverines at the Big House by striking the Heisman pose in the end zone, just as Michigan legend Desmond Howard did in 1991. In the Utes season opener against Idaho St., Clay returned both a punt and kickoff for six. Clay's best return was easily that PR TD in that Idaho St. game that saw him change his direction shortly after catching the ball, begin streaking across the field, break a couple tackles, weave through the traffic, and ultimately walk into the end zone. I may have been hyping his talents up a little too much when I used the word "electrifying" to describe him, as nothing truly spectacular jumps off the film when watching Clay take these kicks to the house. 2 of the 3 were against a really slow-looking Idaho St. team, and the other was against an uninspired Michigan squad that is watching their season gradually descend into despair. If he can add a couple more TD's by the end of the season, however, then I guess there would really be no arguing his potency as a returner. Since it joined the Pac-12 in 2011, Utah has a record of 21-19, including the 3-0 start the Utes are off to in 2014. Therefore, technically, I can't really refer to them as bottom-feeders. But, since elevating themselves from mid-major "BCS Buster" to "just another mediocre high major program", Utah has been pretty irrelevant in the national media. At least when they were securing 10+ wins a year in the Mountain West, they were always being talked about as "threats" to the powerhouses that they, in reality, had no chance of beating (with the 2005 team being the obvious exception). So until Utah proves to me that they can win some real games in the Pac-12, Kaelin Clay will always have a spot on this team.
Zeek Bigger & Scooby Wright III
LB, East Carolina & LB, Arizona:
Full disclosure, these two are on here because of their names. It's reasons #1, 2, and 3. #4 and 5, though, are their actual on-field skills. The link I provided brings you not to a video Bigger or Wright sacking the QB, picking off passes, or laying big-hits, but simply to the FBS leaders in tackles, where Bigger is first and Wright is third. Clearly, these dudes aren't just some scrubs with creative parents (specifically Wright's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, who apparently all had the brilliant idea to name their sons after the most successful crime-solving canine of all time). Also, they do somewhat qualify anyway. East Carolina deservedly has risen to #23 in the latest rankings, but they do still play their conference games in the American, which is not a Power 5 conference. Conversely, Arizona hails from the Pac-12, and is a program of modest notoriety mostly thanks to head coach Rich Rodriguez and alumni-turned-NFL-stars such as Chris McAlister, Tedy Bruschi, and, of course, GRONK. Despite this, I can't really see anyone saying anything more positive about Arizona football than maybe an "Eh" accompanied by a shoulder shrug. Also, it's a committee of one who decides the members of the Alfred Morris All-Star team, and that person will allow the additions of Bigger and Wright. Besides, we needed some defense anyway.
I will conclude this post with my Week 5 Heisman Watch, which I
1. Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
Season stats: 1135 passing yards, 74% comp. pct., 214 rushing yards, 16 total TD, 0 INT
2. Kenny Hill, QB, Texas A&M
Season stats: 1359 passing yards, 70% comp. pct., 106 rushing yards, 13 total TD, 1 INT
3. Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
Season stats: 41 carries, 402 yards, 9.8 YPC, 4 rushing TD, 1 KO-return TD
4. Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
Season stats: 43 receptions, 655 receiving yards, 5 TD
5. Dak Prescott, QB, Mississippi State
Season stats: 964 passing yards, 60% comp. pct., 378 rushing yards, 14 total TD, 2 INT
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