The College Gridiron 2004 Award Winners

Wiggum

The College Gridiron's 2004 Awards
QB - Alex Smith - Utah - Jr.
RB - J.J. Arrington - California - Sr.
WR - Braylon Edwards - Michigan - Sr.
TE - Heath Miller - Virginia - Jr.
OL - Jammal Brown - Oklahoma - Sr.
DL - David Pollack - Georgia - Sr.
LB - Derrick Johnson - Texas - Sr.
CB - Antrel Rolle - Miami (FL) - Sr.
S - Ernest Shazor - Michigan - Sr.
K - Mike Nugent - Ohio State - Sr.
AP - Reggie Bush - Southern Cal - So.
Mr. Obscurity - Roddy White - UAB - Sr.

Jason Socal Award (QB of the Year)

Alex Smith - Utah - Jr.
He used to play in the shadow of Helix HS teammate Reggie Bush, but Alex Smith was a cut of above the rest of college football this year. In a system set up for the big boys of college football, Smith led Utah to an undefeated season and a date in a BCS bowl game. Utah became the first midmajor team to invade the BCS and destroyed Pittsburgh in their Fiesta Bowl matchup. In a season where he put up great numbers on the field, Smith also began work on his master's degree, having received his bachelor's degree at the end of his sophomore year.

Season stats
214 Attempts/317 Completions 67.5 % Completion rate
2952 Yards Passing, 32 TD/4 Int
143 Rushes, 631 Yards, 10 TD

Voting
Alex Smith - 11
Stefon Lefors - 7
Omar Jacobs - 5

J.C. Sixx Award (RB of the Year)

J.J. Arrington - California - Sr.
When the season opened there was alot of talk about Marshawn Lynch being the starting tailback of the California Bears. J.J. Arrington made that conversation a joke by the end of the year by rushing for over 100 yards in each game of the season, and topping 2000 yards on the year. Despite his phenomonal year Arrington did not receive an invite to New York for the Heisman ceremonies. Arrington won this vote by the closest margin of all thecollegegridiron.com voting by receiving 9 votes compared to 8 for Adrian Peterson and 6 for Cedric Benson.
Season stats
289 Rushes, 2056 Yards, 15 TD, 7.0 YPC
21 Receptions, 121 Yards, 10.1 YPC

Voting
J.J. Arrington - 9
Adrian Peterson - 8
Cedric Benson - 6

Gary Goo Award (WR of the Year)

Braylon Edwards - Michigan - Sr.
One of the top receivers in college football the last few seasons, Braylon returned for his senior year to improve his draft status. It was the best choice Edwards could have made as he put up fantastic numbers and helped freshman quarterback Chad Henne develop into one of the top young signal callers in the country. Unlike the Sixx award Edwards had the widest margin of victory with 13 more votes than second place finisher Chad Owens. Edwards finsihed his career with 109 yards and 3 touchdowns in a Rose Bowl defeat to Texas.

Season stats
97 Receptions, 1330 Yards, 15 TD, 13.7 YPC
6 Rushes, 62 Yards, 1 TD

Voting
Braylon Edwards - 17
Chad Owens - 4
Roddy White - 2

Mike Wiggum Award (TE of the Year)

Heath Miller - Virginia - Jr.
A former high school quarterback/safety, Heath Miller evolved into the top pass catching, run blocking TE in the country. While he didn't have the offensive numbers of the other two finalists, neither of them was a conference offensive lineman of the week for their blocking efforts. Miller will be taking his game to the NFL next season, having decided to forgo his senior season. The decision is a good one in his case, with a majority of the Virginia offensive line not returning for 2005.

Season stats
41 Receptions, 541 Yards, 5 TD, 13.2 YPC

Voting
Heath Miller - 9
Zach Miller - 8
Alex Smith - 4

Matt Sparty Award (OL of the Year)

Jammal Brown - Oklahoma - Sr.
The best player on an offensive line that put up over 6000 yards of offense this season. Adrian Peterson and Jason White should give credit to Jammal for helping them get to NYC this year for the Heisman presentation. Brown has gone from being one of the most touted defensive tackle prospects in Oklahoma's history to one of the best offensive tackles the program has had. For a player who considered quitting the team in 2001 to become a 3 time All Big 12 selection and 2 time All American is quite a turn around.

Voting
Jammal Brown - 11
Elton Brown - 6
Marcus McNeil - 1

Ray Warning Award (DL of the Year)

David Pollack - Georgia - Sr.
One of the most feared pass rushers in the country, Pollack has a motor that doesn't stop. He spent his entire senior season putting pressure on quarterbacks, finishing the season with 12.5 sacks and 32 quarterback hurries. Pollack like some of the other award winners could have left early the past couple years, but stayed for his entire career, hoping to combine with his Pop Warner teammate David Greene to win a championship for Georgia. David Pollack closed his Georgia career with 36 sacks and an eye popping 108 quarterback hurries.

Season stats
52 Tackles (35 solo, 17 assists), 17.5 TFL
12.5 Sacks, 32 QBH
3 FF, 2 FR
2 Blocked kicks

Voting
David Pollack - 9
Mathias Kiwanuka - 7
Erasmus James - 4

Adrian Brockway Award (LB of the Year)

Derrick Johnson - Texas - Sr.
For a guy whose favorite superhero is Superman, DJ did a good job acting like him this season. Johnson has been arguably the best linebacker in his class, if not one of the best in the country since he exploded on the scene as a freshman out of Waco HS. One of the top playmakers at the LB position Johnson forced 9 fumbles and also blocked a kick. There is little reason to believe Johnson won't continue to be very successful in the NFL, after 4 great season at the University of Texas.

Season stats
130 Tackles (73 solo, 57 assist), 19 TFL
2 Sacks, 10 QBH
9 FF, 8 PDF
1 Int 18 Yards
1 Blocked Kick

Voting
Derrick Johnson - 11
Lofa Tatupu - 3
Spencer Havner - 1

Dustin GoDucks (CB of the Year)

Antrel Rolle - Miami - Sr.
After a rocky offseason, Antrel proved to be the best corner in college football and lived up to all his preseason accolades. While he finished with only 1 interception, he made teams pay when they threw in his direction by posting 10 pass deflections. A sure tackler Antrel posted 62 tacles from the corner position. A sure fire first rounder with great size for a corner, we no doubt will be hearing about Antrel for years in the NFL.

Season stats
61 Tackles, 8 TFL
1.5 Sacks
1 Int, 9 PDF
1 FR

Voting
Antrel Rolle - 7
Carlos Rogers - 4
Adam "Pacman" Jones - 2

Brad Pahdz Award (Safety of the Year)

Ernest Shazor - Michigan - Sr.
Built like a linebacker Ernest Shazor spent the year punishing ball carriers like one too. One of the leaders on the Michigan defense Ernest has a great senior campaign registering 84 tackles to lead the Wolverines. Shazor went from being an All Big 10 honorable mention to the best strong safety in the college game in one season. His great senior year helped his pro prospects considerably.

Season stats
84 tackles (67 solo, 17 assist), 10 TFL
2 Int 92 Yards 1 TD
2 FF, 2FR

Voting
Ernest Shazor - 8
Josh Smith - 4
Jason Allen - 4

Tommy Cane Award (Kicker of the Year)

Mike Nugent - Ohio State - Sr.
The guy who carried Ohio State on his leg as a sophomore, had another great season as a senior and became Ohio State's career scoring leader in his last game. For a guy who has proven to be so clutch during his career, it is hard to imagine he won't have a Morten Anderson type NFL career.

Season stats
27/27 XP, 20/23 FG, 55 Long

Voting
Mike Nugent - 9
Tyler Jones - 3
Mason Crosby - 1

Michael Volball Award (All Purpose Player of the Year)

Reggie Bush - Southern Cal - So.
Simply the most explosive offensive player in perhaps all of football. He has shown an ability over and over again to make defenders look like they are running in concrete shoes. Norm chow uses what amounts to the Queen piece on a chess board to perfection. You just can't figure out which way he is going to move. With speed like his and the weapons on that USC offense look for a repeat at this award next season. The only question with Reggie Bush concerning his future is what position will he play in the pros?

Season stats
1/1 Passing 52 Yards 1 TD
137 Rush 833 Yards 6.1 YPC 6 TD
41 Rec 478 Yards 11.7 YPC 7 TD
19 KR 501 Yards 26.4 YPR
23 PR 369 Yards 16.0 YPR 2 TD
16 Total TDs

Voting
Reggie Bush - 10
Devin Hester - 7
Chad Owens - 5

JK Seltzer Award Mr. Obscurity Award

Roddy White - UAB - Sr.
At 6'2 205, Sherrod White has the size and talents that make coaches salivate. This season White used both of those tools to explode on the college scene as one of the top pass catchers in the country. Some receivers catch alot of balls, and some gain alot of yards per catch, White does both by averaging 20 yards per catch to go along with his 71 receptions. White finished his career on the losing end of a 59-40 bowl game against Hawaii, but should be amongst the better prospects at wide receiver in this years draft.

Season stats
71 Receptions, 1452 Yards, 14 TD, 20.5 YPC

Voting
Roddy White - 5
Jonathan Goddard - 4
Kyle Eckel - 2