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BEAUMONT, Texas — A bunch of junior-college transfers ganged up to whip BYU with an ugly stick for most of the contest and then Lamar, of the Southland Conference, delivered a deadly knockout blow in overtime Wednesday, capturing an 86-77 win over the Cougars in the Montagne Center before a crowd of 3,150.
Des News
Todd Christensen, former BYU fullback and All-Pro tight end for the Oakland Raiders, offers his view that Beck is the best QB in the nation. He rests on his credentials as a "sports jock" and forty years of football experience as a player and broadcaster. Of course, he readily admits that everything is subjective:
His points:
* Neither Ohio State nor Notre Dame's schedule was stellar: (i) The Big-10 had a less than stellar year, and Ohio State was able to have its toughest game at home and avoided playing Wisconsin; and (ii) Notre Dame padded its schedule with service academies and bottom feeders of the Big 10/11 (struggling against Mich State, Purdue and a last gasp win against average UCLA)
* Ohio State and Notre Dame have the top five to top ten recruiting classes in the nation each year, while BYU rarely gets even one blue-chip prospect. Simply, Beck doesn't get the advantage of a team mate of top caliber. That's proven with Beck throwing TDs to 14 different players and seven BYU receivers having 20+ catches. Beck has to spread it around to everyone because there aren't any star receivers on the team.
* Beck bests the other two in QB rating, ypg, completion percentage and yards per attempt. Quinn bests Beck only in TDs, but Beck had to skip an easy game against Utah State thus unable to pad his stats like Quinn did against cellar dwellers.
* Beck was uncommonly consistent. His worst game was against Colorado State, where Beck went 22 of 30 (73% completion rate) for 290 yards.
* Beck made it count when it mattered. He didn't turnover the ball when the game was on the line, and he delivered against Utah in the clutch and destroyed then #15 TCU.
* Smith almost choked against Michigan. He played well against Texas on the road with so-so numbers, and had a great first half against Michigan. But in the second half, Smith had "turnovers and scared play" which nearly doomed Ohio State. He was bailed out by 100-yard games by his tailbacks. Quite simply, take away those tailbacks and Smith goes down in flames, and Michigan is #1. Smith needed help.
* Quinn laid a pair of eggs against Michigan and USC. He didn't step up when he was needed.
Herald Extra
Personally, I think that it's refreshing that Todd Christensen, who has more experience than anyone here in playing and analyzing football, comes up with the same conclusion that I have expressed: that Ohio State struggled against Michigan and that but for those two tailbacks, Smith goes down hard and Michigan is #1.
