Michigan State’s performance last night was far from pretty. Inexcusable turnovers, dropped balls, and poor coverage were only a few things that went wrong for the Spartans last night in what was a thrilling season opener against Boise State.
Andrew Maxwell is no Kirk Cousins and it that couldn’t have been more
image credit: Startribune.com
apparent, but what Spartans RB Le’Veon Bell did under the Friday night lights was enough to insert his name right next to Matt Barkley (USC), Montee Ball (Wisconsin), Landry Jones (Oklahoma), Tyler Wilson (Arkansas), Marcus Lattimore (South Carolina), and whoever else you want to think of that has a real shot at the 2012 Heisman trophy. He’s not a dark horse anymore to be a legit Heisman candidate. Bell is also living proof you don’t
need to be a four or five star high school recruit to be in the conversation. Bell was a 215lb, 2-star recruit out of high school. Give full credit to Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio for this young man’s athletic and physical development.
If you missed the bruising No.24 hurdling over that Boise State defender, you can watch the clip below- its straight ridiculous. That’s almost 250 lbs of running back going airborne. That’s not supposed to happen. Tack on some video game-like juking, spinning, and stiff arming and he put in an epic work horse performance which featured 44 rushes for 210 yards and two touchdowns. He also hauled in six catches for 55 yards, helping the Spartans edge out the Broncos 17-13.
I realize its only one game, but this kid deserves to be hailed if not for one reason and one reason only- Wearing down Boise State’s defense all by his lonesome. He keeps up this sort of dominance, particularly against some solid Big 10 defenses, and I’ll be absolutely shocked if he’s not a Heisman finalist in December.
Oh and for you bettors out there- the preseason odds for Le’Veon Bell to win the Heisman award were +12,000 compared to +400 for Matt Barkley. Think about that.
Raju Kansagra
Holy bejesus…+12000 to win the Heisman? I can’t even fathom winning that. He really does belong right next to Montee Ball into the conversation. Ball gets all the hype and he should, considering his monster season last year, but what Bell did last night was beyond sensational. It was Trent Richardson-esque. He’s going to turn a lot of heads this year in the B1G and Denard Robinson is no longer at the top of the Heisman convo.
Read a blurb on Covers.com this morning about some wealthy Mich. State alumn laid down $1000 on Bell at Caesers last week. Hmmm….
As a Mich. State alum, I’ll tell you that he’s the most surprising recruit Dantonio has had in recent memory. He willingly recruited Bell as a 2 star recruit knowing he could develop his talents. Its a sweet story- one I hope unfolds all season so the country gets to know not just how great of an athlete Leveon is, but how classy of a young man. He’s super involved in the community and thats more than I can say about most of the Spartans current players.