2006 Heisman Contenders

Brian Miner
WI Administrator
9-19-06

After three weeks of college football, I think it is pretty clear who the top four contenders are for the Heisman Trophy. All four of them play in different conferences and likely won't see each other on the field until early January. Two of them are running backs and two of them are quarterbacks. If by this time you are still unaware of who I am talking about (the head picture may have given a clue to some folks), I am talking about Troy Smith of Ohio State, Steve Slaton of West Virginia, Adrian Perterson of Oklahoma, and Chris Leak of Florida.

Troy Smith is the leader of #1 ranked Ohio State. He already lead them to a huge victory at Texas in week 2. Ohio State still has three big games left on their season. They still have to play Penn State and Michigan at home but have to travel to Iowa to play the Hawkeyes.
2006 Season Stats:
Passing: 769 YDS | 7 TD
Rushing: -14 YDS | 0 TD
0 INT | 69.1 CMP%

Steve Slaton is the young leader of the West Virginia Mountaineers. He started the season by rushing for over 200 yards in his first game. WVU is clearly the class of the Big Least (.....oops....I mean the Big East). With UofL's Brohm and Bush hurt, look for WVU to run the table and play for the 2006 National Championship.
2006 Season Stats:
62 ATT | 503 YDS | 6 TD
8.1 AVG | 52 LNG

Adrian Peterson and Oklahoma should be 3-0 heading into the fourth week of the season. But instead suffered a last second loss to Oregon thanks in large part to a Pac-10 referee crew that has since been suspended for terrible calls. After a dissapointing sophomore season, Peterson looks to be back to his freshman form.
2006 Season Stats:
90 ATT | 515 YDS | 4 TD
5.7 AVG | 37 LNG
2 REC | 75 YDS | 1 TD

Chris Leak is living up to his high school reputation this season. He lead the Gators to a come from behind victory against archrival Tennessee last week and looks to shred apart UK's secondary this week. Look for Leak to put up alarming numbers this weekend.
2006 Season Stats:
Passing: 799 YDS | 10 TD
Rushing: -16 YDS | 0 TD
3 INT | 63.5 CMP%