12-08-2015, 04:24 PM
The "Voldemort voters" is not a single monolithic entity with a clearly defined consensus of criteria on which to pick a winner. The instructions for the award, which goes to "most outstanding player" college football player, are intentionally vague, and are subject to the whims and biases of 800+ different people. Moreover, those individuals do not necessarily have to disclose their reasons for voting a certain way, and any attempt to put rationale onto why player X won it and player Y did not is post facto conjecture no different than explanations for why "the market" lost 350 points today and gained 180 the next.
The voters are charged with trying to determine the relative outstandingness of a multitude of very different players, often playing different positions, on very different teams. Some put up gaudy statistics influenced in part by the offensive system their teams run; others put up less impressive statistics but are no less important to their teams. Some play for better teams, or in bigger conferences than others.
Putting my bias for McCaffrey aside, he has had an outstanding season. Even if his numbers are inflated from kick returns, he leads the nation in yards from scrimmage (rushing yards plus passing yards). Even though I don't believe that a single "Voldemort moment" ought to determine the race, it is clear that voters pay attention to that sort of thing, and, in the most important game of the season, against one of the most talented collection of athletes on defense (never mind that the whole is less than the sum of its parts), he had one of the most impressive games in recent memory, breaking one of the longest-standing college football records of one of the most revered football players in history.
And/but, one of the other guys going up for the award had quite an impressive season too. Keep in mind that Henry broke Herschel Walker's SEC rushing record. In most year's where there was no dominant QB candidate, Henry would win that automatically. Without disparaging what either Ingram or Gerhart accomplished, I don't think too many of us would be quite as upset if it had been Henry (339 rushes, 1986 yards, 23 TD's, 5.9 ypa) beating out Toby (343 rushes, 1871 yards, 28 TD's, 5.45 ypa minus 32 rushes for 135 yards and 2 TD's against Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl that Voldemort voters wouldn't have seen). It's a tribute to what McCaffrey has accomplished that he is making a race out of this, let alone has a small chance of winning it, especially given that Henry was the favorite going into the championship week and put up a pretty good game of his own (189 yards on 44 rushes) against a good defense in Florida.
Ultimately, I go back to the following. What McCaffrey has accomplished speaks for itself. While it is a nice validation, whether he wins or not doesn't change what he did. I thought he had the right attitude; when asked about being a finalist, he said something along the lines of being gratified to have a chance because it meant that the team was winning games. Winning or not winning the award won't change McCaffrey and won't change my opinion of him.
BC
The voters are charged with trying to determine the relative outstandingness of a multitude of very different players, often playing different positions, on very different teams. Some put up gaudy statistics influenced in part by the offensive system their teams run; others put up less impressive statistics but are no less important to their teams. Some play for better teams, or in bigger conferences than others.
Putting my bias for McCaffrey aside, he has had an outstanding season. Even if his numbers are inflated from kick returns, he leads the nation in yards from scrimmage (rushing yards plus passing yards). Even though I don't believe that a single "Voldemort moment" ought to determine the race, it is clear that voters pay attention to that sort of thing, and, in the most important game of the season, against one of the most talented collection of athletes on defense (never mind that the whole is less than the sum of its parts), he had one of the most impressive games in recent memory, breaking one of the longest-standing college football records of one of the most revered football players in history.
And/but, one of the other guys going up for the award had quite an impressive season too. Keep in mind that Henry broke Herschel Walker's SEC rushing record. In most year's where there was no dominant QB candidate, Henry would win that automatically. Without disparaging what either Ingram or Gerhart accomplished, I don't think too many of us would be quite as upset if it had been Henry (339 rushes, 1986 yards, 23 TD's, 5.9 ypa) beating out Toby (343 rushes, 1871 yards, 28 TD's, 5.45 ypa minus 32 rushes for 135 yards and 2 TD's against Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl that Voldemort voters wouldn't have seen). It's a tribute to what McCaffrey has accomplished that he is making a race out of this, let alone has a small chance of winning it, especially given that Henry was the favorite going into the championship week and put up a pretty good game of his own (189 yards on 44 rushes) against a good defense in Florida.
Ultimately, I go back to the following. What McCaffrey has accomplished speaks for itself. While it is a nice validation, whether he wins or not doesn't change what he did. I thought he had the right attitude; when asked about being a finalist, he said something along the lines of being gratified to have a chance because it meant that the team was winning games. Winning or not winning the award won't change McCaffrey and won't change my opinion of him.
BC
