| FTBL CBS Sports' Tony Barnhart on AJ McCarron: 'We've got to give this guy some love for the Heisman'

[PhillyGirl]

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/11/cbs_sports_tony_barnhart_on_aj.html#incart_river_default

Can a game turn on one play?

Yes, it can.


And you don't have to look any further than Alabama's 38-17 win over LSU on Saturday, according to CBS Sports college football analyst Tony Barnhart.


"In the first quarter, I'm watching that game and I said, 'LSU is kicking their butt up front,'" Barnhart told The Tim Brando Show on Monday. "They are dominating this game. They're right on track to it the way they want to do it. They look confident. They are moving the ball. Then halftime Nick Saban tells Tracy Wolfson, 'Hey, we have to take control of the line of scrimmage. We're going to run the ball.' And guess what? You have to give Saban a lot of credit because on that fake punt they could have given up the ball. ...


"From the fake punt on, Alabama dominated that football game. ...


"From that fake punt on, that was as perfect an Alabama team can play and he knew that."


Barnhart was then asked about quarterback AJ McCarron's chances at the Heisman Trophy.


His response:


"We've got to give this guy some love for the Heisman," Barnhart said. "At some point it has to be about how you play the game. I know everyone gets hung up on numbers, but this guy is perfect for ... he's 34-2 as a starting quarterback, two national championship rings. He has a chance to get a third. ...


"This guys just an incredible football player. He's got to get a trip to New York"


McCarron finished 14 of 20 for 179 yards and threw touchdown passes of 52, 9 and 3 yards against LSU.


Barnhart also pleads his case for McCarron in a piece he wrote for CBS Sports, which you can read here.

 

[riz]

I think if McCarron was on any team not named Alabama, it might be a different story.

 

[bamaraider]

Idk if he deserves the Heisman, but I think he should at least get a trip up to New York. If not, I can see why. The award is basically decided on statistics and flashiness. While McCarron is having a good year, people look at a guy like Jameis Winston, who is a freshman, is putting up over 2500 yards and has a 26-7 TD-INT ratio. Stats like that are what get you in the Heisman discussion, and sadly, McCarron is in a system where he isn't asked to do that.

I don't care what award he wins. As long as he holds up that crystal ball at the end of the year, I'm sure he and all of us will be fine.

 

[planomateo]

I think if McCarron was on any team not named Alabama, it might be a different story.

The same argument should be made for Winston, I don't care that he's a freshman. He has a pretty stacked team around him.

That being said, my pick is for McCarron based on his career. Manziel would be second, and everyone else would be distant third. The other guys they talk about don't wow me like Manziel does...

 

[JoshB]

Idk if he deserves the Heisman, but I think he should at least get a trip up to New York. If not, I can see why. The award is basically decided on statistics and flashiness. While McCarron is having a good year, people look at a guy like Jameis Winston, who is a freshman, is putting up over 2500 yards and has a 26-7 TD-INT ratio. Stats like that are what get you in the Heisman discussion, and sadly, McCarron is in a system where he isn't asked to do that.

I don't care what award he wins. As long as he holds up that crystal ball at the end of the year, I'm sure he and all of us will be fine.

Its not SUPPOSED to be about statistics, its SUPPOSED to be the best player in the country and some have argued the player that means the most to his team. Is there any ONE player that Alabama could lose that would be as devastating as losing AJ? I think that speaks pretty highly of being the player his teams the most.

 

[bamaraider]

Its not SUPPOSED to be about statistics, its SUPPOSED to be the best player in the country and some have argued the player that means the most to his team. Is there any ONE player that Alabama could lose that would be as devastating as losing AJ? I think that speaks pretty highly of being the player his teams the most.

It is suppose to be about the best player in the country, the sad part is, most voters don't look at that. They look straight at the statistics and use that as their support for best player in the country.

I think Tebow should have won it again in '08, but Bradford got over him because of his gaudy stats. AP could have won it his freshman year, but Leinart got the vote.

 

[Bamabacker]

I think AJ will win it under these circumstances....1) We win the rest of the regular season games 2} AJ has decent games 3) Johnny Football doesn't have huge gaudy games. Winston wont be a huge factor unless he has another gaudy game. AJ will get it by strictly 'career achievement' at that point. Those are big contingencies though. IMO

 

[PhillyGirl]

Y'all think Mariota is still in it? And Petty?

 

[bamaraider]

Mariota is still in it, but definitely does not have as good of a chance of winning it like he did before Stanford. Petty, yes.

 

[JoshB]

I think the Stanford loss and the fact that he didnt play well until they went into prevent defense kinda killed his chances.