The Red Zone Report

Can Keenum edge out Ingram for the hardware?

1. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama: See here.

Last Week (24-15 W vs. LSU): 22 carries, 144 yards, 5 catches, 30 yards
Season Stats: 175 carries, 1,148 yards, 8 TD, 24 catches, 216 yards, 3 TD

2. Case Keenum, QB, Houston: Keenum went over 500 yards for the third time this season yesterday at Tulsa, and once again, Houston needed every single yard to overcome Tulsa’s upset bid.

Last Week (46-45 W at Tulsa): 40-60, 522 yards, 3 TD, 6 carries, 21 yards
Season Stats: 325-458, 3,815 yards, 28 TD, 5 INT, 3 rush TD

3. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas: Pardon the cheesy comment, but now Colt is playing like the real McCoy. Finish off with big showings against Baylor (82nd in pass defense), Kansas (69th), and Texas A&M (98th), and another one in the Big 12 title game, and the award could be all his.

Last Week (35-3 vs. Central Florida): 33-42, 470 yards, 2 TD, INT
Season Stats: 231-317, 2,447 yards, 17 TD, 9 INT, rush TD

4. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State: Moore’s third-quarter pick-six was the catalyst for Louisiana Tech’s comeback on Friday night, but to his credit, he didn’t fold, and when he needed to make plays in the fourth to squash the rally, he did.

Last Week (45-35 W at Louisiana Tech): 28-41, 354 yards, 3 TD, INT
Season Stats: 181-268, 2,259 yards, 27 TD, 3 INT, rush TD

5. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida: Even if his numbers remain pretty average (well, for him), he’s still going to get a fair amount of votes. But if he’s going to have a realistic chance to win, these next few weeks are going to have to see some big, big numbers. The main hitch in that, as has been the case for several games this season, is that he hasn’t exactly needed to post big numbers for the Gators to take care of business.

Last Week (27-3 W vs. Vanderbilt): 114-173, 1,531 yards, 11 TD, 4 INT, 155 carries, 578 yards, 9 TD

6. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson: Once again, if he could do what he did on Saturday on a consistent basis, he might not only be a frontrunner, but the frontrunner.

Last Week (40-24 W vs. Florida State): 22 carries, 165 yards, TD, 3 catches, 67 yards, TD, 312 all-purpose yards
Season Stats: 135 carries, 739 yards, 5 TD, 21 catches, 334 yards, 3 TD, 4 return TD (3 kick, 1 punt)

7. Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford: If he can follow up Saturday’s career day with another big day in an upset of USC (which is certainly much more fathomable now than it was before the Cardinal did it two years ago), he could well lock down quite a few votes in the West that may well have gone to Moore.

Last Week (51-42 W vs. Oregon): 38 carries, 223 yards, 3 TD
Season Stats: 233 carries, 1,217 yards, 16 TD, 7 catches, 78 yards

8. Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame: If Notre Dame had been able to complete the comeback against Navy, Clausen would have had another fourth-quarter rally to add to his ledger, and he’d still be a frontrunner. Alas, the lack of a running game (or run defense), a key interception deep in Navy territory early in the fourth, and a late safety, and his career day went for naught. So close, yet so, so far.

Last Week (23-21 L vs. Navy): 37-51, 452 yards, 2 TD, INT
Season Stats: 209-308, 2,770 yards, 20 TD, 3 INT, rush TD

9. Ryan Mathews, RB, Fresno State: Can this guy be stopped? Nevada’s defense is in the top 25 in the nation against the run, but Boise State and Wisconsin’s are as well, and he ran for 234 yards and three scores against Boise and 107 against Wisconsin, so…

Last Week (31-21 W at Idaho): 26 carries, 143 yards, 3 TD, 3 catches, 18 yards
Season Stats: 205 carries, 1,459 yards, 14 TD, 10 catches, 112 yards

10. Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada: You can’t ignore the numbers that he’s putting up right now. Four more touchdowns last night at San Jose State took his total to 22 in the last five games, and he’s closing on in his second straight 1,000 yard rushing season.

Last Week (62-7 W at San Jose State): 9-14, 122 yards, TD, 11 carries, 115 yards, 3 TD
Season Stats: 128-208, 1,593 yards, 14 TD, 5 INT, 111 carries, 920 yards, 12 TD, 1 catch, 6 yards, TD

11. Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon State: Rodgers was held in check for much of the game against Cal, but his 24-yard touchdown run put the finishing touches on the Beavers’ convincing road win.

Last Week (31-14 W at Cal): 25 carries, 67 yards, TD, 9 catches, 30 yards
Season Stats: 197 carries, 989 yards, 15 TD, 58 catches, 401 yards, TD

t12. Bill Stull, QB, Pittsburgh & Dion Lewis, RB, Pittsburgh: No real reason to have much separation between the two. These final few weeks will give both a chance to earn some votes (and for Lewis to enhance his profile for next season), as the Panthers face Notre Dame this weekend and then have games against West Virginia and Cincinnati that will decide the Big East title.

Last Week (37-10 W vs. Syracuse): Stull – 16-23, 225 yards, TD, Lewis – 18 carries, 110 yards, TD
Season Stats: Stull – 148-219, 1,879 yards, 17 TD, 4 INT, rush TD, Lewis – 203 carries, 1,139 yards, 12 TD, 16 catches, 134 yards, TD

14. Jonathan Dwyer, RB, Georgia Tech: Dwyer is getting hot at just the right time, as he has racked up 500 yards in the last three weeks. If he hadn’t had a slow-ish start and the Jackets didn’t have 25 different guys running the ball, he’d be much, much higher on this list.

Last Week (30-24 W vs. Wake Forest): 23 carries, 189 yards, TD
Season Stats: 169 carries, 1,093 yards, 9 TD, 1 catch, 11 yards

15. LaMichael James, RB, Oregon: James had a big day against Stanford, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Ducks from getting upset. With LeGarrette Blount returning, he might see his carries cut into, but with the way he’s been performing, they shouldn’t be cut much.

Last Week (51-42 L at Stanford): 18 carries, 125 yards, TD, 4 catches, 89 yards
Season Stats: 149 carries, 1,043 yards, 8 TD, 11 catches, 128 yards

Honorable Mention

Andy Dalton, QB, TCU: Over the last four games, Dalton has 10 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. While TCU’s defense has so far ensured that the offense doesn’t really need to be prolific, it doesn’t hurt when things are running just as smoothly on that side of the ball as well.

Last Week (55-12 W at San Diego State): 14-20, 239 yards, 2 TD, 5 carries, 44 yards, 2 TD
Season Stats: 132-207, 1,881 yards, 16 TD, 3 INT, 77 carries, 341 yards, 2 TD

Max Hall, QB, BYU: Unfortunately for Hall, his chances to be a serious contender went out the window with an interception-filled start and the end of BYU’s BCS hopes, but he certainly merits a little mention here because of his near-perfect game at Wyoming on Saturday.

Last Week (52-0 at Wyoming): 20-22, 312 yards, 4 TD
Season Stats: 190-269, 2,543 yards, 21 TD, 11 INT, 2 rush TD

Bernard Pierce, RB, Temple: How’s this for being a workhorse? Over the last three games, Pierce has 109 carries for 657 yards and eight touchdowns. I don’t care whether you’re playing for Texas, Temple, or Tulane, that’s downright impressive. And he’s a true freshman!

Last Week (34-32 W vs. Miami (Ohio)): 40 carries, 178 yards, 3 TD
Season Stats: 204 carries, 1,211 yards, 14 TD, 5 catches, 6 yards

Jordan Shipley, WR, Texas: In case you hadn’t heard, Shipley absolutely went off against Central Florida, setting a single-game school record for receiving yards.

Last Week (35-3 W vs. Central Florida): 11 catches, 273 yards, TD
Season Stats: 75 catches, 1,050 yards, 6 TD, 2 punt return TD

Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame: Another game, another big day for Tate, but it was not enough in the end.

Last Week (23-21 L vs. Navy): 9 catches, 132 yards, TD, 2 carries, 2 yards
Season Stats: 65 catches, 1,059 yards, 10 TD, 21 carries, 157 yards, 2 TD