Boise's Johnson Has No Shot At '07 Heisman

Not enough publicity and exposure for Broncos star RB

April 13, 2007

By Trev Alberts

Special to CSTV.com

	TREV ALBERTS Trev Alberts is a football analyst for CSTV and CSTV.com. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- TREV's MAILBAG 2/20: Show Some Patience 1/23: Cutcliffe Can Be Successful At Duke 1/16: To Each His Own 1/10: Watching Different Games 1/2: Brennan's Sugar Performance Won't Hurt Him 12/26: LSU Hater I Am Not 12/19: Rodriguez Licking His Chops 12/12: Buckeyes Have A Chip 12/05: Missouri Got Hosed 11/28: Some Coaching Changes Ludicrous 11/21: Love Woodson's Poise 11/14: Dixon Can Be Contained, But Not Stopped 11/7: Pac-10 Far From Overrated 10/31: Appalachian State Loss An Afterthought 10/24: No Halves Off In College Football 10/17: Nebraska In Good Hands With The Doctor 10/10: Trojans Still A Player 10/03: Don't Hate On South Florida 09/26: Hangovers Part of The Game 09/19: Nebraska's Performance Disappointing 09/12: DeSean As Explosive As It Gets 09/05: Tebow Impressive In First Start 08/29: ACC QBs Better Than Advertised 08/24: McFadden Not Quite In Bush's Class 08/17: From Overrated To Underrated 08/10: Florida's Overrated 08/03: Spurrier's Got That Twinkle 07/27: Big East Deserves More Credit 07/20: Badgers Playing For Second, At Best 07/13: Gators Repeat? Not So Fast 07/06: Pac-10 Still Owned By USC 06/29: One Big's Better Than The Other 06/22: WAC Ain't All That 06/15: Text Messaging Ban Excessive 06/08: Fifth Year of Eligibility A Good Idea 05/25: Hot Seat Warming Up For Some Coaches 05/18: Big Ten Falling Behind SEC 05/11: 'Canes, Seminoles Have Ways To Go 05/07: Sleeping Dawgs 04/20: Look Out For South Florida 04/13: Boise's Johnson Has No Shot At '07 Heisman 03/30: The Best Atmosphere In College Football Belongs To... 03/23: Tough To Compare QBs With Different Styles 03/16: Top Coaches Need To Be Appreciated 03/9: Woodson Nation's Most Indispensable QB 03/2: Things Just Not The Same At Nebraska 02/23: Rodriguez Does Well With His Chips 02/16: Believe It Or Not, I Don't Have An FSU Agenda 02/09: Yes, I Do Know College Football 02/02: Of Course Huskers Make Adjustments 01/26: Coach Alberts In Lincoln? No Chance 01/19: Can't Begrudge Kids For Leaving Early 01/03: Saban Heads to Alabama 12/29: Some Coaching Changes Come As Surprise 12/22: Too Many Bowl Games Way of Life 12/15: Who Has The Best Talent In The Nation? 12/7: Who's The More Deserving National Title Participant? 12/1: Irish Don't Deserve BCS Bid 11/16: Ohio State the Better Team 11/9: Give the Big East Its Due 11/2: What's Wrong With D at USC? 10/26: Where Will Bowden Be in '07? 10/20: Who Belongs in the Top 20? FOOTBALL 1/8: In Surprise, Ohio State Beats Itself 1/6: Good Start Vital For Buckeyes 12/26: LSU Hater I Am Not 11/23: LSU Loss A Microcosm Of The Season 11/19: Give It Some Time 10/13: Give Kentucky All The Credit 10/7: USC Loss Sends Shockwaves 9/1: Michigan's Loss Nothing Short of Stunning 6/19: Hoeppner Did Things His Way 4/27: Unexpected Reigned In 1994 02/22: Combine Experience Can Be Eye Opening 02/08: Signing Day Observations 02/07: Walk Down Recruiting Memory Lane 11/17: Remebering Schembechler 9/5: One Week Is Just One Week 8/25: The Return Of Trev

You've got college football questions and CSTV football analyst Trev Alberts has answers and opinions. Each week Alberts will be answering questions and queries on the world of college football. So if you've got a question for Trev? Just ask him.

Typical Alberts "take" on the Heisman question. He still wants to relegate Boise State to some "mid-major" status with no mention of Ian Johnson, clearly a legitimate prospect in the Heisman race.

Oh yeah Trev, I didn't even mention that Jared Zabransky will end up being a late first day or early second day pick in the NFL draft. Furthermore, he will run circles around Brady Quinn! - Denny Freeburn

There is no denying the ability of Ian Johnson; nobody said he wasn't a great player. No one said Jared Zabransky wasn't a very good player. But just as Zabransky will not be drafted higher than JaMarcus Russell or Brady Quinn, neither will Ian Johnson be in New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. That's just the way it works. That doesn't mean it's fair.

I was asked who has a legitimate shot at winning the Heisman Trophy and it would be disingenuous to suggest that somebody from Boise State would have a legitimate shot. That's simply the way it is. I would like it to be different. I would like the award to be the presented to the most outstanding player in college football - supposedly that is the requirement to win.

But the reality is Ian Johnson is not a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate because of where he plays and the exposure that he'll get. That doesn't mean that he might not have deserved it and that he's not as good as other hopefuls. It's just the realties of college football today.

Typical email from a "mid-major" fan.

West Virginia is going to have the best quarterback and running back combo in the nation with Pat White and Steve Slaton. There's no way they're not better than Louisville. Why are people so hung up on the Cardinals winning the Big East? - Jeff, Maryland

I think there's a lot more that goes into making a successful football team than the quarterback and running back. I would have to agree that the explosiveness of Pat White and Steve Slaton are unquestioned, but you have to look at it as a whole. I'm not one who is saying Louisville is necessarily better as a whole this year and they're going to win the conference over West Virginia. You have to look at their losses on both sides of the ball.

You know, West Virginia lost its offensive line coach - Rick Trickett - and he was a really good coach. You can easily gloss over just how good that offensive line was last year because of White and Slaton. But understanding how important the line was in giving White and Slaton the opportunity to be successful goes to show you that there's more to it than just two players. If it was only about one or two players then you would easily pick that team to win the national championship. Football is still a team game and certainly some players get more exposure than others, but I think it's going to be a great race.

Kudos to the Big East for the quality of play in the conference. Who would have thought a few years back, sitting here in early April, we would be arguing who is going to win the Big East? It shows how far the conference has come.

Is Texas A&M going to have enough to overcome Texas in the Big 12? - Aaron Jessup, Dallas, Texas

Whoa, Aggieland. I would slow down a little bit.

I really think it's an important year for Dennis Franchione. There are high expectations this year. They took a step forward last year and they have an unquestioned leader in quarterback Stephen McGee.

It isn't like they haven't had talent. They've had opportunities and chances to knock off some of the higher powers and they haven't gotten it done. Before we start talking about Texas A&M winning the Big 12 South, let's not forget Oklahoma is in there, as well as Texas Tech.

I think they should make progress, but I would not pick them to beat Texas in the South.