Rose Bowl revisited: The curious case of Andy Dalton

TCU's win over Wisconsin saw them become the first non AQ (automatic qualifier) school to win the Rose Bowl, joining Utah who won the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and the 2009 Sugar Bowl.  No redemption could have been greater, especially after Ohio State president Gordon Gee dissed them and compared their schedule to the "Little Sisters of the Poor".

Tank Carder made what proved to be the biggest play in the Horned Frogs season, when he batted down a pass on two point conversion attempt, that would have surely sent the game into overtime.  That was just one of the many plays that he made for TCU.  He was no doubt the man about town that day.

While Carder's efforts could have earned him the game MVP, and rightfully so, that honor deservedly went to Quarterback Andy Dalton.  A four year starter, Dalton seemed nothing like the player from last year's Fiesta Bowl.  In that 17-10 loss to Boise State, he was picked off 3 times in what was agreeably one of the worst games of his career.

Dalton scoring on a quarterback keeper in the first half

In this trip, following another stellar showing in the regular season, he saved his best game for last.  He passed for a touchdown, ran for another and helped TCU control the game long enough to pull off the historic win.

His 42-7 record makes the him the school's career leader for wins by a starting quarterback.  What makes this even more impressive, are the names on that list; Sammy Baugh and Davey O'Brien.  Should Andy Dalton be considered the best quarterback to have played for TCU?

Slingin' Sammy Baugh was a two time All-American in 1935 and 1936.  He went on to a 16 year career in the NFL, all with the Washington Redskins.  The Sammy Baugh trophy, awarded to the nation's top passer, is named in his honor.  He was enshrined in both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame. 



Baugh & O'Brien were legends at TCU and in college football too.

Davey O'Brien won the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Heisman Trophy; becoming the first player to win all three awards in the same season.  In that same season, 1938, he led TCU to an undefeated season and a national championship.  Some of the records he set still stand to this day.  The Davey O' Brien Award, which is awarded to the nation's best quarterback, is named in his honor.

There has been many a legend that has passed through Forth Worth; Larry Brown (a three time Super Bowl winner with the Dallas Cowboys), LaDainian Tomlinson (Doak Walker Award winner who led the nation in rushing in both 1999 & 2000), Dutch Meyer (played for TCU and coached them to National Championships in both 1935 & 1938)...... this list could go on.

It would not be far fetched to say that Andy Dalton has more than secured his legend at TCU.  By the time the program has its next great quarterback, we might have a college football playoff in place.  Now that might be far fetched.

 



Cam Newton vs the Heisman Jinx; who wins?



Since the 2000 season, the winner of the Heisman trophy has played in the national championship game in all but 2 seasons (2002 & 2007).  Only two of those winners (Matt Leinart, 2004 & Mark Ingram, 2009) have added the crystal ball to their bronze statue.


For some reason, the Heisman trophy winner has followed up a great season with probably one of their worst performances ever.  Even though the trophy is awarded for the regular season performance, I'm starting to think that maybe it should be awarded after the bowl games.  If bowl game stats count toward a player's total stats for the season, then I see no reason why they just can't move the Heisman Ceremony to mid-January.  It's only a one hour special anyways.


If they did so, we might have had a different winner in each case and Vince Young and Tim Tebow would probably join Archie Griffin as 2 time winners.  It's already bad enough that the Heisman trophy now is almost exclusive to only Quarterbacks and Running backs whose team is playing for a national title.  I'll cover that in another discussion.

Will he fall victim to the jinx?

For all the off field headlines and what not, Cam Newton definitely proved himself a worthy winner of this year's award.  Every time his team needed him, he answered the bell.  Despite a flawless performance in the SEC Title game, his crowning moment was when he led his team, down 24-0, to a win against Alabama.  Did I forget to add that this game was in Tuscaloosa and that Alabama were the defending national champion?

At 6'6", 250 lbs, he's just as big as his offensive linemen, if not bigger, but is he too big for the jinx?  Last year, Mark Ingram proved himself against a Texas team that was among the best at stopping the run.  However for the most part, 'Bama had a good defense as well and created enough turnovers to hold of the Longhorns.


Matt Leinart led a very good USC team against an Oklahoma team that quite honestly, should not have been in that game.  I'm not just saying that because OU lost, but Auburn was just as deserving as any; they beat more ranked teams down the stretch including Tennessee (twice).


Let's take a quick look at past winners who failed in the big game.


Chris Weinke, 2000.  Led a high flying Florida State into the title game against Oklahoma.  The offense never really found its rhythm against a stifling Oklahoma defense.
Eric Crouch, 2001.  Despite an outstanding season, Eric Crouch and Nebraska were overmatched against Miami and have never been the same since.
Jason White, 2003.  Written off before the season even started due to his 2 reconstructed knees, he ended up posting what was one of the most prolific seasons for a QB in school history.  Against LSU, he played through hand and foot injuries.  What's crazy is that as bad as Oklahoma played, they still could have won the game.
Reggie Bush, 2005.  Say what you may, but he put together a season that hasn't quite been seen in recent times (well, at least until Cam Newton this year).  While Bush wasn't quite as explosive in the title game, Vince Young was.  Enough said.
Troy Smith, 2006.  Had quite an outstanding season and was the very reason Ohio State was playing in the title game.  In the game against Florida, Ted Ginn was injured only seconds into the game and Smith desperately missed his "go-to" guy.  He spent the entire evening running for his life.
Sam Bradford, 2008.  Despite being the trigger-man in Oklahoma's point-per-minute offense, Florida got the better of the Sooners in this game due to one simple aspect; coaching.

Newton's law states that an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.  Let the games begin.