8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 1, 2003
Wpo will strike the pose in the Big Apple?
I
A look at the
young
superstars who might have a chance to walk away with the Heisman Trophy
4
APPHzOO
Oklahoma quarterbackJason White
6-foot-3, 221 pounds -
3,479 yards, 40 TDs, 6 INTs
Oct.11: Oklahoma 65, Texas
13 - White throws for 290
yards and four touchdowns
in the rout.
Nov.8: Oklahoma 77,
Texas A&M 0 - White
completes 16 of 18 passes
for 263 yards and five
touchdowns.
, Why White? White leads the nation with
177.87 quarterback rating, and his touchc
interception ratio is phenomenal. While 1e
the Sooners to the only undefeated season
ion I, White has thrown at least four touc
in half of his games and at least two in eve
game. White gets one more chance to prc
worth in this week's Big 12 Championsh
AP PHOTOw
JNorth Carolina State quarterback
Philip Rivers
6-foot-5, 218pounds -4,016 yards, 29 TDs, 7INTs
*Nov.15: Florida State 50, North Carolina State 44 (20T) - Rivers
completes 28 of 38 passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns in the
double-overtime loss.
Why Rivers? Rivers ranks second in both passing yards and quarterback
rating, and he was ver efficient - he completed 71percent of his asses.
Rivers threw at least 400 yards four times and threw or more than 200 yards in every g
His Wolfpack will play Kansas in the Tangerine Bowl on Dec. 22.
sissippi quarterback Ali Manning
6-foot-5, 218 pounds -3,341 yards, 27 TDs, 9 INTs
27: Texas Tech 49, Mississippi 45 - Manning completes 29 of 49 passes for 409
nd three touchdowns.
1: Mississippi 43 South Carolina 40 - Manning completes 30 of 42 passes for
ds and three touchdowns.
Why Manning? Manning's numbers lag behind
the other two quarterback contenders (his quar-
terback rating is 22nd and he's 10th in passing
yards), but his value has more to do with his
team's overall performance.
This was the first time since the SEC was sepa-
rated into two divisions that Ole Miss finished
above .500. And the Rebels' 7-1 record tied
Louisiana State for tops in the conference. Mis-
sissippi's success this season was due largely to
its senior quarterback.
Manning put up solid numbers, as his Rebels
almost pulled off the upset of their biggest rival,
Louisiana State. Manning's Ole Miss team is
still waiting to find out its bowl fate, but it will
likely be picked to play on Jan. 1 in either the
Cotton, Capital One or Outback Bowl.
Pittsburgh wide receiver
foary Jitzgerald
87 a 6-foot-3, 210 pounds -
down-to_ 87 catches, 1,595 yards, 22 Tds
eading * Oct. 18: Pittsburgh 42, Rutgers 32~~.
, in Div- Fitzgerald snags eight catches for 207
chdowns yards and two touchdowns.
ery
ove his Nov.8: Pittsburgh 31, VirginiaTech
ip game. 28 - Fitzgerald makes eight catches for
108 yards and a touchdown.
Why Fitzgerald? He has more yards and
touch downs than an other receiver in the
countr. His 22 touchdowns were nearly
double his 2002 total and the next closest
receiver was seven behind him. Fitzgerald
caught at least one touchdown in alE 12 of
the'7Panthers' games, and his 18-game
streak that dates back to 2002 is an NCAA
record. Fitzgeraldput up a 12-catch per-
formance against oledo. The sophomore
averaged more than 18 yards per catch ord
POOwhile leading Pittsburgh to an 8-4 record
AP PHOTO and a third- place regurar season finish in
game. the Big East. The Panthers will play Vir-
ginia in the Continental Tire Bowl.AHOT
Michigan tailback
Chris Per
6-foot-1, 228pounds -
315 carries, 1,589 rushing yards, 17 TDs -
42 catches, 366 receiving yards, 2 TDs
. Sept. 13,2003: Michigan 38, Notre Dame 0 - Perry
picks up 177 total yards and scores four touchdowns.
Nov.1, 2003: Michi an 27, Michigan State 20 - Perry
carries the ball a schoorecord 51 times for 219 yards and a
touchdown.
Nov. 22,2003: Michigan 35, Ohio State 21- Perry
rushes 31 times for 154 yards and two touchdowns, and
catches five passes for 55 yards.
Why Perry? The Bi Ten Offensive Player of the Year showed up
big-time in all three o Mi 's rivalry games,and he ran through a
vaunted Ohio State defense at many xpced to stop him cold. And
Perry gave quarterbackjohn Navarre ano heo tion through the air.
His 5I cares against Michigan State and the Ohio State game -
when Perry played through pain -showed that the senior never quits.
I
I
a
AND DENNNNNN ...
While there were no major BCS
shake-ups this past holiday weekend,
the Wolverines, BCS No. 4, still have
a chance to back their way into the
No. 2 slot in the standings after next
weekend.
There is precedence for a jump like
this on the last Saturday of the season.
In 1998, the first year of the BCS,
No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 UCLA and
No. 3 Kansas State all played on the
final Saturday. Tennesee beat Missis-
sippi State; UCLA lost to Miami
(Fla.) and Kansas State lost to Texas
A&M, opening the door for one-loss
No. 4 Florida State to join the Volun-
teers in the Fiesta Bowl. Here are the
scenarios for the Bowl Championship
Series.
Saturday's games:
- No. 1 Oklahoma v. Kansas State
(Big 12 Championship game)
- No. 2 Southern Cal. v. Oreegon
State
- No. 3 Louisiana State v. No. 7
Georgia (SEC championship game)
Scenario 1 - Oklahoma wins, South-
em Cal. wins, Louisiana State wins.
Unless the Tigers received enough of a
boost in strength of schedule and in the
computers by beating the Bulldogs,
Oklahoma and Southern Cal. would
play for the title.
Scenario 2- Oklahoma wins, South-
em Cal. loses, Louisiana State wins.
Oklahoma and Louisiana State play for
the title.
Scenario 3 - Oklahoma wins, South-
em Cal. wins, Louisiana State loses.
Oklahoma and Southern Cal. play for
the title.
Scenario 4 - Oklahoma wins, South-
em Cal. loses, Louisiana State loses.
Odds are, Oklahoma and Michigan
would play for the BCS title. If Okla-
homa lost to Michigan, the Wolverines
would win the BCS national champi-
onship (Coaches' poll), and Oklahoma
would likely win the AP poll vote, by
virtue of its better record than Michi-
gan (the Coaches' poll is obligated to
rote the BCS title game winner as its
national champion).
Scenario 5 - Oklahoma loses, South-
em Cal. loses, Louisiana State loses. A
one-loss Oklahoma plays two-loss
Michigan for all the marbles, unlike
Scenario 4.
Who will Michigan play, assuming the
Wolverines go to Pasadena?
BCS conference champions to choose
from: Michigan (Big Ten), Miami (Big
East), Florida State (Atlantic Coast),
Southern Cal. (Pac-10), the Okla-
homa/Kansas State winner (Big 12) and
the Louisiana State/Georgia winner
(SEC).
At-large possibilities: No. 5 Ohio State,
No. 6 Texas, No. 8 Tennessee and (if it
loses to Georgia) Louisiana State.
I
6
6I
i m