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Maxwell Pundit: week seven

By Joel Hollingsworth

Here's the RTT Maxwell Pundit ballot for week seven.  The weekly standings generally go up over at Rakes of Mallow sometime before lunch on Wednesdays, so head over there noon-ish for this week's results.

Oy, things have changed.  Last week, I was an unabashed homer and had Tennessee QB Erik Ainge at No. 2 and Tennessee WR Robert Meachem at No. 3, primarily based on a belief that early season results were validated by a convincing win over Georgia.  Then Georgia lost to Vanderbilt.  No problem.  Just bump my boys down a bit and move No. 4 up, right?  Well, no.  I cried [Garrett] Wolfe for the third time in a row last week, and this week he failed to show up, running for only 25 yards against Western Michigan.  Okay, so just move No. 5 up, right?  Uh, no again, as last week's No. 5 was Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, who had a solid game Saturday but broke his collarbone in the process.

So, back to the whiteboard:

  1.  Ohio State QB Troy Smith.  Dude just keeps getting it done.  He's been mostly about making great plays at the right time and pulling out victories, but now he's even creeping up the cumulative national passing efficiency rankings.  Best player for best team = award for best player in college football.
  2.  West Virginia running back Steve Slaton.  Third in the nation in rushing yards behind the aforementioned Peterson and Wolfe.  WV QB Pat White stole some of his thunder with a wicked game last Saturday, but that was more a magician's sleight of hand than anything, making the best of diverted attention, pulling a fast one while no one is watching.  Oh, and despite all of that attention, Slaton still gained 163 yards on 20 carries, an average of 8.2 per carry.
  3.  Tennessee QB Erik Ainge.  Okay, so the Georgia game may not have been exactly the impressive win we thought it was, but most of what I said last week still applies, just to a lesser degree:
It's alive!  It's time this guy gets some Heisman/Maxwell talk.  It's one thing to throw up ridiculous numbers against Memphis.  And Marshall.  Oh, and Air Force.  It's another to do it against Georgia.  And, um, Cal, too.  Shoot, even Ainge's game against the Gators got the team to within one point of defeating a potential national champion.  So yeah, the jury's in, and they've reached their verdict.  Ainge is good.  Very.

BONUS hidden webcam video of David Cutcliffe in his basement over the summer:

  1.  Ditto Tennessee wide receiver Robert Meachem, who is still No. 2 in the nation in receiving yards with 112.5 per game.  Michigan WR Mario Manningham is No. 13 with 87.8 yards per game, and .  . .
  2.  Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson is No. 8 with 93 yards per game.  Big.  Fast.  Strong.  Can catch a football.

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