(Photo by Shotgun Spratling)

Last Monday, the 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the top college receiver in the country, were announced. This week, the three semifinalists were announced (which I believe are incorrect).

Since the beginning of the season, I've been accumulating stats for the top receivers, beginning with an article I wrote about just how good Robert Woods had been through the first five games.

I've added a receiver every week or two when they've jumped toward the top of the national leaderboards for the primary receiving stat categories of receptions, yards and touchdowns. Going beyond those three categories, I culled through stat sheets and the play-by-play records of each game to see how many times these receivers had the ball thrown to them, aka targeted.

After looking at all the data, I continue my rankings of the 10 Biletnikoff semifinalists (in ascending order with their candicacy pros and cons):

Robert Woods (USC)

Reception % - 65.13
Yards per Target - 7.76

CONFERENCE TOTALS: 102 targets, 62 receptions, 801 yards, 7 touchdowns
Reception % - 60.78
Yards per Target - 7.85

Candicacy: Robert Woods may actually be the most difficult receiver to cover in the nation. He's extremely quick, has good speed, a great burst and catches just about everything. Plus, he's seemingly always open when the ball is coming his way because of his prestine route-running. But that's a healthy Woods.

A month ago, Woods was a frontrunner to win the Biletnikoff Award. He was battling for the national lead in receptions and receiving yards. But then all the small chinks in his armor began to build up as an ankle he sprained in the spring began to give him troubles again. Elbow and shoulder injuries significantly hampered the sophomore.

After the Notre Dame game, Woods was catching 69.9 percent of the passes thrown his way and was averaging 8.76 yards per target while averaging 129 yards per game. Since then, Woods has caught only 55.1 percent of the passes Matt Barkley has thrown him and averaged only 5.65 yards per target while averaging 60 yards FEWER per game.

Woods' 7.76 yards per target is the worst of any of the Biletnikoff semifinalist (5.26 yards less per target than leader Patrick Edwards) and his reception percentage is eighth on the 10-man list. The game Woods had against Washington (two catches for five yards on seven targets) was the worst performance by any of the Biletnikoff semifinalists this season.

Woods is currently fourth in the nation in receptions, tenth in receiving yards and fifth in receiving touchdowns. He's still a threat, evidenced by the five touchdowns he has scored the last month. And even a beaten up Woods draws enough attention of opposing defenses that freshman Marqise Lee has been able to capitalize on single coverage on the opposite side of Woods. (Lee has broke out with 33 catches for 479 yards and scored six touchdowns, five receiving, over the last four games). 

But the Biletnikoff is given to the nation's best receiver, not the best decoy. I know Woods isn't playing at 100 percent, but that's not a viable excuse to me. If you are on the field, you are expected to produce if you want to win individual awards.

That's why I have a problem with Woods even being one of the three Biletnikoff finalist. When you only pull in 277 yards in four games during the stretch run of the season, then you aren't one of the top three receivers this season. Houston's Patrick Edwards had more than that in one game!

I'm a huge fan of Robert Woods. I love the way he plays and everything about his game. I also think he's a great kid with his head on straight (not always the case with receivers of his caliber). However, I would rather have any of the other nine Biletnikoff semifinalists at 100 percent over a 60 to 80 percent Woods, which is what I think is what we've seen this last month.

Shotgun Spratling

(Creative Commons - Kaleb Fulgham)

Last Monday, the 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the top college receiver in the country, were announced. This week, the three semifinalists were announced (which I believe are incorrect).

Since the beginning of the season, I've been accumulating stats for the top receivers, beginning with an article I wrote about just how good Robert Woods had been through the first five games.

I've added a receiver every week or two when they've jumped toward the top of the national leaderboards for the primary receiving stat categories of receptions, yards and touchdowns. Going beyond those three categories, I culled through stat sheets and the play-by-play records of each game to see how many times these receivers had the ball thrown to them, aka targeted.

After looking at all the data, I continue my rankings of the 10 Biletnikoff semifinalists (in ascending order with their candicacy pros and cons):

6. Patrick Edwards (Houston)

Reception % - 65.35
Yards per Target - 13.02

CONFERENCE TOTALS: 71 targets, 49 receptions, 850 yards, 11 touchdowns
Reception % - 69.01
Yards per Target - 13.38

Candicacy: Patrick Edwards is second in the nation in receiving yards. He's averaging 13.02 yards every time he's thrown the ball, when none of the other Biletnikoff semifinalists are even at 11 yards per.

So how come he's not a top five Biletnikoff contender? Consistency and the great disappearing act.

Edwards is in a pass happy offense with a great quarterback in Case Keenum slinging it around. As Houston's top receiver, he's expected to put up huge numbers. He's done that...at times.

He had probably the most impressive game of the season by a receiver when he hauled in five touchdowns on a 7-catch, 318-yard night against Rice. The game propelled him onto the Biletnikoff scene. However, the next week, he had only 79 yards on five catches, pushing him to the back of the Biletnikoff list.

He rebounded with a three-touchdown performance last week against Tulane...only to fall flat this weekend against SMU. With all eyes on the Cougars with ESPN College GameDay coming to visit, Edwards managed just five catches for 38 yards on 11 targets. It was his second worst performance and the second disappearing act. Just like in the Cougars other biggest game of the year, when they took down BCS-conference foe UCLA in the opener, Edwards disappeared. Against UCLA, he had only two catches on six targets.

In the two games with a potential national audience, Edwards finished with 59 combined yards and no touchdowns. The UCLA and SMU games were also the only two he's had a reception percentage of less than 50 percent when the ball was thrown his way.

Edwards is the only semifinalist in the top 65 of yards per catch at 19.9, but he also has the fewest receptions of any semifinalists. He's a home run threat, but not necessarily the well-rounded wideout deserving of the Biletnikoff.

Shotgun Spratling

(Creative Commons - Parker Anderson)

Last Monday, the 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the top college receiver in the country, were announced. This week, the three semifinalists were announced (which I believe are incorrect).

Since the beginning of the season, I've been accumulating stats for the top receivers, beginning with an article I wrote about just how good Robert Woods had been through the first five games.

I've added a receiver every week or two when they've jumped toward the top of the national leaderboards for the primary receiving stat categories of receptions, yards and touchdowns. Going beyond those three categories, I culled through stat sheets and the play-by-play records of each game to see how many times these receivers had the ball thrown to them, aka targeted.

After looking at all the data, I continue my rankings of the 10 Biletnikoff semifinalists (in ascending order with their candicacy pros and cons):

7. Sammy Watkins (Clemson)

Reception % - 69.39
Yards per Target - 10.55

CONFERENCE TOTALS: 71 targets, 47 receptions, 742 yards, 6 touchdowns
Reception % - 66.20
Yards per Target - 10.45

Candicacy: This kid may very well win a Biletnikoff before he leaves Clemson. It will be fun to watch the battles for the Biletnikoff that will take place between Watkins, USC's Robert Woods and Marqise Lee, Washington State's Marquess Wilson and the other fabulous freshmen and sophomores the next two seasons, especially knowing that we will get to continue watching all of them on Sundays after they finish they're college days.

But this year, the only freshman among the semifinalists just didn't put up the big numbers consistently. It's not a knock on Watkins necessarily because it was usually the cause of defenses overloading to shut him down and leaving his teammates free to have big games.

And defenses had to account for him at all times because Watkins is probably the top playmaker of all the semifinalists, which is saying something when you consider Woods, Justin Blackmon and Ryan Broyles are still to come in our Biletnikoff rankings. Watkins had a 20+ yard catch in every game this season, three rushes of 20+ yards and an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Despite the number of big plays, Watkins is one of only three semifinalists without a 200+ yard game. The shoulder injury he sustained last week kept him from playing against North Carolina State this weekend and potentially having a standout performance.

Shotgun Spratling

(Photo by Shotgun Spratling)

On Monday, the 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the top college receiver in the country, were announced. Since the beginning of the season, I have been accumulating stats for the top receivers, beginning with an article I wrote about just how good Robert Woods had been through the first five games.

I've added a receiver every week or two when they've jumped toward the top of the national leaderboards for the primary receiving stat categories of receptions, yards and touchdowns. Going beyond those three categories, I culled through stat sheets and the play-by-play records of each game to see how many times these receivers had the ball thrown to them, aka targeted.

After looking at all the data, here's my current ranking of the 10 Biletnikoff semifinalists (in ascending order with their candicacy pros and cons):

8. Michael Floyd (Notre Dame)

Reception % - 70.64
Yards per Target - 8.46

Candicacy: Like the rest of the golden domers, Michael Floyd hasn't necessarily lived up to the expectations this season.

A team that many people expected to be in a BCS bowl is only 7-3 with a trip to Stanford still on the schedule. Similarly, many people expected the team's biggest playmaker, the physical Floyd to break out this season after having four 100+ yard games last season and getting a second chance after some off-the-field issues.

Floyd jumped out of the gates with back-to-back 150+ yard performances to begin the season, but he's had only two 100+ yard games since. He also has been held under 50 yards three times -- the only Biletnikoff semifinalist to do so. He is also the only Biletnikoff semifinalist that doesn't have 1000 yards yet or averaging more than 100 yards per game.

Floyd is also one of only three Biletnikoff semifinalists that doesn't have a 200+ yard game this season (and Keenan Allen is actually very close with a 197-yard performance).

So what keeps Floyd from being even farther down the Biletnikoff rankings? Floyd is actually the only non-Big-12 receiver that is hauling in 70 percent of the passes thrown his way.

He just needs the ball to be thrown his way more. For example, in the Pittsburgh game, Floyd had three receptions on the opening possession. He had another pass thrown his way late in the first quarter and then only saw one pass thrown his way in the final three quarters of a tightly-contested ballgame.

Floyd also has touchdown catches in each of the last three games. Look for him to have a huge game against faux-rival and defensively-challenged Boston College this weekend.

Shotgun Spratling

(Creative Commons - John Martinez Pavliga)

On Monday, the 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the top college receiver in the country, were announced. Since the beginning of the season, I have been accumulating stats for the top receivers, beginning with an article I wrote about just how good Robert Woods had been through the first five games.

I've added a receiver every week or two when they've jumped toward the top of the national leaderboards for the primary receiving stat categories of receptions, yards and touchdowns. Going beyond those three categories, I culled through stat sheets and the play-by-play records of each game to see how many times these receivers had the ball thrown to them, aka targeted.

After looking at all the data, here's my current ranking of the 10 Biletnikoff semifinalists (in ascending order with their candicacy pros and cons):

9. Keenan Allen (Cal)

Reception % - 63.93
Yards per Target - 9.04

CONFERENCE TOTALS: 88 targets, 58 receptions, 802 yards, 3 touchdowns
Reception % - 65.91
Yards per Target - 9.11

Candicacy: Against USC, Keenan Allen had a career-high 13 catches and eclipsed 100 yards receiving for the fifth time in Cal's first six games. Since then Allen hasn't broke the 100-yard mark.

He did average 82 yards receiving in the three games following the USC Thursday night matchup, but he produced a dud last weekend when he only caught three passes for 29 yards. He was also targeted a season-low five times.

Though Allen hasn't produced as well, his production has been an inverse of the team's performance. Cal is 3-1 in the last four games after losing the three games Allen produced his best numbers.

That possibly could be attributed to his quarterback/half-brother Zach Maynard relying too heavily on Allen against Cal's toughest competition so far this season (Washington, Oregon, USC). If that's the case, expect Allen to have a "Big Game" against Stanford this weekend that could possibly push the sophomore back up the rankings.

Shotgun Spratling

A.J. Jenkins hasn't seen this end zone in a long time. (Creative Commons)

On Monday, the 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the top college receiver in the country, were announced. Since the beginning of the season, I have been accumulating stats for the top receivers, beginning with an article I wrote about just how good Robert Woods had been through the first five games.

I've added a receiver every week or two when they've jumped toward the top of the national leaderboards for the primary receiving stat categories of receptions, yards and touchdowns. Going beyond those three categories, I culled through stat sheets and the play-by-play records of each game to see how many times these receivers had the ball thrown to them, aka targeted.

After looking at all the data, here's my current ranking of the 10 Biletnikoff semifinalists (in ascending order with their candicacy pros and cons):

10. A.J. Jenkins (Illinois)

Reception % - 65.52
Yards per Target - 9.77

CONFERENCE TOTALS: 80 targets, 48 receptions, 768 yards, 5 touchdowns
Reception % - 60.00
Yards per Target - 9.60

Candicacy: A.J. Jenkins rose up the ranks after putting up amazing numbers in back-to-back games against Northwestern and Indiana that helped Illinois move to 6-0.

It's been all down hill since then. The Fighting Illini have lost four straight and part of the problem has been the inability to get Jenkins in the end zone.

Jenkins had three consecutive games below 100 yards and only got past the century mark against Michigan when the Illini threw the ball his way 19 times. The 11 incomplete passes intended for Jenkins were the first time any of the Biletnikoff semifinalists has reached double digits in that category.

Shotgun Spratling

Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy is no stranger to being a YouTube sensation. In case you didn't know, he's a man, he's 40 and he doesn't read the newspaper.

But with the Cowboys being undefeated and ranked in the top 10, Gundy has been doing more celebrating than ranting. After Oklahoma State rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit, scoring 27 points in the final 30 minutes against eighth-ranked Texas A&M, Gundy showed the players he still has some moves and then lauded his team's effort (skip to 3:30) in the locker room.

Since the clip of Gundy has made the rounds on the internet and TV, even appearing on Sportscenter, a "Teach Me How to Gundy" remix has surfaced. And it was just too good not to share with you:

(H/T Jason Phillips)

Shotgun Spratling

(Photo by Shotgun Spratling)

How good is Andrew Luck?

The Stanford senior quarterback is already the hands-on favorite to be the No.1 overall pick in next year's NFL Draft after he would have been the likely No. 1 pick in this year's NFL Draft had he left school early.

Luck has led the Cardinal to four blowout wins so far this season, including a 45-19 thrashing of UCLA on Saturday. Luck put on a dazzling performance completing 23 of 27 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns.

And then there was this...


They say every Heisman Trophy winner has a "Heisman moment." Though I don't think this is Luck's, since it was in a blowout win against a bottom-tier conference for, the play will definitely be on the highlight reel, showing the athleticism and versatility of the 6-foot-4, 235 pounder.

(H/T Cork Gaines at Business Insider)

Shotgun Spratling

(Photos by Shotgun Spratling)

Robert Woods has been phenomenal this season. But just how good has USC's super sophomore been?

Besides leading the nation in receiving by 79 yards more than Western Michigan's Jordan White, Woods' 55 receptions is tied with White for the most in the nation. Woods is averaging 11 catches and 149.4 yards receiving per game while hauling in six touchdowns -- one behind the nation leaders.

Woods is averaging 203 total yards per game and has been targeted 73 times (almost 15 times per game). He is currently on pace to break the NCAA record for yards by a sophomore set by Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon last season, even without the possibility of a 13th (conference championship) or 14th game (bowl game).

Teams have started to shift coverages toward Woods, opening things up for freshmen Marquis Lee, on the opposite side, and Xavier Grimble, in the middle. However, Lane Kiffin continues to move Woods around and find creative ways to get him the ball in space, as was evidenced in Saturday's 14-catch, 255-yard performance against Arizona.

The synergy that Woods and quarterback Matt Barkley have is apparent on the field and in the numbers as well.

After Neon Tommy's USC football beat writer Scott Enyeart asked me to tally up how many times both Robert Woods and Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles have been targeted this season, I decided to look at Woods in comparison to Broyles, White, Blackmon and Notre Dame's Michael Floyd. 

In my opinion, Woods, Broyles, Blackmon and Floyd are currently four of the top five receivers in college football. The fifth in that group would be South Carolina's Alshon Jeffrey, but he hasn't put up big numbers this season, in part due to Stephen Garcia's terrible inconsistency.

Here's the data:

Robert Woods (USC)

Reception % - 75.34
Yards per Target - 10.23

Woods was only five yards shy of breaking USC's single game receiving record Saturday. He has proven he can do it all. He has blown by defenders on the outside, caught balls in traffic over the middle and showed his moves in space on quick passes into the flats (including a 82-yard touchdown against Arizona on a quick flick to a motioning Woods).

Ryan Broyles (Oklahoma)

Reception % - 82.61
Yards per Target - 10.35

After leading the nation in receptions last season, Broyles could have left early for the NFL Draft. Instead, he decided to come back and has received plenty of attention early this season. He had a down game against a solid Florida State secondary, but he bounced back the next week against Missouri. Broyles is currently 13 catches shy of Taylor Stubblefield's (Purdue) NCAA record for career receptions. 

Michael Floyd (Notre Dame)

Reception % - 77.05
Yards per Target - 9.20

Floyd didn't know if he was going to get to play this season after his third alcohol-related offense while at Notre Dame. But after being cleared to play, he came out of the gates with a renewed vigor, leading the nation in receptions after the second week of the season. However, he had an average game (for this group) against Michigan State and was shut down by Pittsburgh, catching three passes on Notre Dame's first four plays and then making only one catch the rest of the game. He had a solid game against a bad Purdue team last week. It will be interesting to see how he plays against Air Force.

Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State)

Reception % - 79.17
Yards per Target - 9.38

From coach Mike Gundy: "Blackmon is smart. He's got savvy. He's got great hands. He's got great body control. He has deceptive speed. He's improving his route-running abilities. He can finish -- in my opinion, and I've seen 'em all -- the best ever that's come through here." (And that includes budding NFL star Dez Bryant.)

Blackmon hasn't had a great start to the season, by his normal standards. Tulsa held him below 100 yards receiving, ending his NCAA record 14-game, 100+ yard streak. Blackmon shouldalso have had another touchdown against Texas A&M, but he inexplicably fumbled the ball out of the end zone with no one around him.

Jordan White (Western Michigan)

Reception % - 73.33
Yards per Target - 8.91

The NCAA doesn't officially count White's 12 catches and 119 yards against Michigan since the game was called, due to inclement weather, before the end of the third quarter. Nevertheless, the sixth-year senior has played his best against the stiffest competion, including his 13 catches, 177 yards and two touchdowns in a blowout of rival Central Michigan, who Western Michigan hadn't beaten in White's first five years. White is the best receiver in the Mid-American Conference since Freddie Barnes set the NCAA record with 155 catches in 2009.

Speaking of Barnes, I decided to take a look at what he did at Bowling Green in 2009 and what Broyles did last season for Oklahoma when both led the nation in receptions. Woods, in contrast, is on pace to finish with one more reception than Broyles 131 last season.

Freddie Barnes (2009) - 231 targets, 155 receptions, 1770 yards, 19 touchdowns
Reception % - 67.10
Yards per Target - 7.66

Ryan Broyles (2010) - 183 targets, 131 receptions, 1622 yards, 14 touchdowns
Reception % - 71.58
Yards per Target - 8.86 

Robert Woods (projected 2011) - 175.2 targets, 132 receptions, 1792.8 yards, 14.4 touchdowns
Reception % - 75.34
Yards per Target - 10.23 

It should be noted that Barnes' reception percentage and yards per target increased during conference play while Broyles' numbers declined in each category. That could potentially be looked at as the Sooners playing tougher competition in the Big XII rather than their non-conference games while the MAC competition Bowling Green faced being easier than its non-conference schedule of Troy, Missouri, Marshall, Boise State and playing Idaho in a bowl game.

If we take that to be the case, it could be expected that Woods' numbers should decline in conference play. However, with three of USC's games thus far having been Pac-12 games, we can see that he has actually performed better against conference foes:

Woods' Non-Conf - 35 targets, 25 receptions, 259 yards, 4 touchdowns
Reception % - 71.43
Yards per Target - 7.4

Woods' Pac-12 - 38 targets, 30 receptions, 488 yards, 2 touchdowns
Reception % - 78.95
Yards per Target - 12.84

Shotgun Spratling

Was passed along this video yesterday of some highlights from the Under Armour All-American high school football game. I'm just wondering how many of those kids actually listened to anything Mike Ditka said. Check it out:

Shotgun Spratling