Hogs' Wilson makes O'Brien cut

Arkansas' Tyler Wilson was the only SEC quarterback named as one of 16 semifinalists for the 2011 Davey O'Brien national quarterback award.

Wilson leads the SEC with 2,011 passing yards and has thrown 12 touchdown passes and three interceptions.

Given how steady he's been, it's a little surprising that LSU senior quarterback Jarrett Lee didn't make the cut. Lee leads the SEC in pass efficiency and has thrown 13 touchdown passes and only one interception. He's also completing 63.2 percent of his passes.

Here's a complete list of the 16 semifinalists: Matt Barkley, USCTajh Boyd, ClemsonKirk Cousins, Michigan StateSeth Doege, Texas TechRobert Griffin III, BaylorLandry Jones, OklahomaCase Keenum, HoustonAndrew Luck, StanfordKellen Moore, Boise StateKeith Price, WashingtonDenard Robinson, MichiganRyan Tannehill, Texas A&MDarron Thomas, OregonBrandon Weeden, Oklahoma StateRussell Wilson, WisconsinTyler Wilson, Arkansas

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Wilson Tricks Out His Heisman Resume

If Boise State is serious about helping Kellen Moore win the Heisman Trophy, the Broncos need to show off their quarterback's versatility. Throw the passer a pass or two.

It seems to be a trend in college football these days. Or maybe it would be better described as a gimmick, sort of like putting up a website promoting a player.

Stanford's Andrew Luck already has his highlight-reel catch, a one-handed, toe-dragging sideline grab for 13 yards in a 45-19 victory over UCLA a couple weeks ago.

Wisconsin's Russell Wilson made his cameo as a receiver Saturday. Wilson's catch was more routine, but it produced a 25-yard touchdown during a 59-7 rout of Indiana.

Luck and Wilson are worthy Heisman contenders without the trick plays.

Luck, the overwhelming preseason favorite and virtual lock to be the first player taken in the NFL draft, has thrown for 1,719 yards and 18 touchdowns for No. 7 Stanford.

Wilson, the North Carolina State transfer, leads the nation in passer rating and has accounted for 13 touchdowns, including the TD grab from running back Montee Ball.

But with more than 900 voters, the Heisman balloting has a lot of popularity contest in it and schools are always looking for ways to make their stars standout.

So it helps to have something different — such as, say, a quarterback catching a pass — on that resume.

Auburn did it last year with Cam Newton, throwing the towering quarterback a fade in the corner of the end zone for a first-half touchdown in a 51-31 victory against Mississippi.

Maybe you notice a trend?

These plays tend to be pulled off in games where the team with the star has a clear advantage. They also tend to be run early to avoid accusations of trying to embarrass the opponent. Still, seeing a wide-open Wilson haul in that floater and jog into the end zone, it did feel a bit orchestrated.

"We were 10 for 10 during the week on it, so I knew it was going to be a touchdown," Wilson said after the Badgers' latest blowout.

A couple of other Heisman contenders added to their resumes Saturday in more organic fashion.

Alabama running back Trent Richardson had a career game in the Tide's 52-7 win at Ole Miss, with 183 yards rushing and four touchdowns. The last score was a 76-yard run that will go down as one of the best of the season and be the centerpiece of Richardson's Heisman campaign.

Richardson blew through several Rebels at the line, sprinted into the open, then used a stutter-step to collapse the last defender with a chance to keep him from the end zone.

The run prompted longtime Mississippi sports writer Rick Cleveland of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson to tweet: "Trent Richardson reminds me of Walter Payton. There, I've said it."

Cleveland knows a thing or two about Sweetness. He covered the Bears' Hall of Fame running back in high school and in college at Jackson State.

When it comes to jaw-dropping plays, Clemson receiver Sammy Watkins might lead the country.

The freshman receiver had the best game of his already spectacular career, gaining a school-record 345 all-purpose yards in the Tigers' 56-45 victory against Maryland.

The last of Watkins' three touchdowns was an 89-yard kickoff return that came right after the Terps had regained the lead and put Clemson ahead to stay in the fourth quarter.

Watkins has a chance to be the first freshman to win the Heisman.

As for Moore, the senior is having another tremendous season. He's thrown 21 touchdown passes for No. 5 Boise State.

But the Broncos will be harder to find on television this season in the Mountain West Conference. No more of those Friday night league games on ESPN they so often played in the Western Athletic Conference. It might be time for some of that signature Boise State trickery.

Moore caught a 7-yard TD pass against in a 49-20 victory against Louisiana Tech last year, on the way to finishing fourth in the Heisman voting.

He might need to work on his post patterns this year.

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One non-Heisman voters, halfway Heisman ballot — with the understanding that Luck and Wilson haven't played enough big games yet to make the top three.

1) Trent Richardson, Alabama. Fourth in nation in rushing and second in touchdowns, playing in an offense that doesn't pose a great threat throwing the ball.

2) Sammy Watkins, Clemson. He's had huge performances when the Tigers have needed them to win competitive games.

3) Robert Griffin III, Baylor. The difference between Baylor playing in a bowl and Baylor winning three games, is RGIII. Plus, he gets bonus points because his 15-yard catch against TCU came during the winning drive.

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QUICK HITS

—Even if Boise State declines the Big East's overtures and stays in the MWC, it will be hard to make a case that the newly announced Conference USA-MWC merger deserves an automatic BCS bid. CUSA teams are 9-23 out of conference against FBS opponents this season. The MWC, not including TCU which is leaving for the Big 12 next season, is 10-14. Boise State has five of those wins. Nevada, Hawaii and Fresno State, WAC teams that will join the MWC next season, are 2-9 against FBS opponents.

—Ohio State beat Illinois 17-7 while throwing four passes and completing one. It was a key win for the Buckeyes (4-3), who are looking to salvage a tumultuous season and play No. 4 Wisconsin next.

—Terrible news Sunday for South Carolina star Marcus Lattimore, who was lost for the season with a left knee injury. The Gamecocks still control the SEC East race because of that early season victory against Georgia, but the Bulldogs' path to SEC title game looks more manageable.

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LOOKING AHEAD

Time to find out just how good Wisconsin is. The fourth-ranked Badgers play their first true road game on Saturday at No. 15 Michigan State. They follow that trip with one to Ohio State.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at http://Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP

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Russell Wilson Puts Wisconsin on Target for Title Run

Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer , via Associated PressRussell Wilson amassed 76 passing and 17 rushing touchdowns during his three years as the starting quarterback at N.C. State.

MADISON, Wis. — The legend of Russell Wilson as a Wisconsin quarterback began with a dare from Badgers receiver Nick Toon on the 30-yard line of Camp Randall Stadium: “Bet you can’t hit the crossbar from here.”

Interviews, insight and analysis from The Times on the competition and culture of college football.

Russell Wilson is ringing in a new era of Wisconsin football.

Wilson flashed a quick smile before unleashing a 40-yard spiral that collided with the crossbar with such force that the sound — DOINGGGGGGG! — echoed through Camp Randall.

“I just shook my head,” Toon said of his reaction that July afternoon.

With his arrival as a one-year transfer from North Carolina State, Wilson is ringing in a new era of Wisconsin football, which has always been heavy on steak and light on sizzle. The addition of the dynamic Wilson marks an evolution for the Badgers from their between-the-tackles roots.

Wisconsin will still have plenty of tight ends and fullbacks lumbering onto the field, but the skills Wilson displayed in amassing 76 passing and 17 rushing touchdowns during his three years as the starting quarterback at N.C. State will add a shot of third-down innovation to the methodical Badgers.

“He’s so accurate on the move; that’s the part that amazes me,” Wisconsin Coach Bret Bielema said. “It’s kind of overwhelming.” 

Wilson’s most notable pass may have been forgoing the chance to play in Auburn’s productive spread offense for the Badgers’ pro-style attack, a choice that puts No. 11 Wisconsin on the outskirts of the national title conversation. Wilson arrives as a complete package: athletic enough to be picked in the fourth round of the baseball draft, magnetic enough to be elected a Wisconsin captain after less than two months on campus, and smart enough to graduate from N.C. State in three years.

He is also preparing for his final college football season in the aftermath of a difficult year, one in which he struggled to hit minor league fastballs, endured a public break from N.C. State’s football program and buried his father.

But the legend of Wilson is growing here. Asked about the crossbar strike, he said with a smile: “I thought I was standing on the 40. But whatever.”  

A Positive Upbringing

Wilson’s grandfather Harrison Wilson Jr. served as the president of Norfolk State. His father, Harrison Wilson III, attended Dartmouth and bypassed a chance to play in the N.F.L. to attend law school at Virginia. After law school, he went to training camp with the San Diego Chargers and earned the nickname Professor before being released when the team made its final roster cuts.

Harrison Wilson III and his wife, Tammy, sent their three children to the prestigious Collegiate School in Richmond, Va., a K-12 private school with an annual tuition that starts at more than $17,000. Russell’s older brother, Harrison IV, said that he and Russell “stuck out like sore thumbs” because they were African-Americans in a school in which about 90 percent of the students were white.

So when Charlie McFall, who coached Russell and Harrison IV, received a complaint that he recruited Russell to play sports there, he replied, “If I recruited him, I did when he was in kindergarten.”

The tales of Russell Wilson’s athletic prowess began in fifth grade, when he was the ball boy for his brother’s high school games. During a game, a referee hollered over to the Collegiate sideline for a ball, and Russell responded by throwing a laser across the field.

“The official said, ‘Oh my goodness.’ And I thought to myself, I’m going to hang around for Russell,” said McFall, who retired as the coach and athletic director after Wilson led Collegiate to three straight state titles and a 31-2 overall record. “He’s very accurate with a great touch, and he’s been that way since elementary school.”

Wilson watched his older brother go to Richmond and play baseball and football, the sports their father played at Dartmouth. (The brothers claim the family’s best athlete is their sister, Anna, a 14-year-old eighth grader at Collegiate who Russell said was considered one of the best point guards in her age group nationally.)

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: September 4, 2011

A chart last Sunday with an article about quarterback Russell Wilson and his transfer to Wisconsin from N.C. State described incorrectly quarterback Cam Newton’s transfer when he was in college. Newton, now with the Carolina Panthers, transferred from the University of Florida to a junior college and then to Auburn; he did not go directly to Auburn from Florida.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: September 4, 2011

An earlier version of this correction erroneously stated, as did the original article, that Cam Newton transferred directly to Auburn from Florida.

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Q&A: Indiana coach Kevin Wilson, Part II

Here's the second half of my interview with new Indiana coach Kevin Wilson. Check out Part I as well. [+] Enlarge AP Photo/Sue OgrockiNew Indiana coach Kevin Wilson is confident he can build a quality defense.What do you think it's going to take to turn around the defense at IU?

Kevin Wilson: Well, we'll start with our coordinator and structure, and I'm going to take some time to research and get the right person there, myself being much more offensive-oriented. So we'll take a little time and get the right one there and start with the structure standpoint. From there, I don't know because I've not really had the opportunity with our defense to know if there's physical limitations or concerns with certain position groups that aren't as talented, as strong, as big, as fast as we need.

So we'll start here with our defensive leadership, we'll start with our defensive structure. I've got a couple thoughts, but I'm going to wait until we get our defensive guy on staff and not square-peg or pigeonhole him and give him a chance to get it going. We're going to buy some time from the coaching and scheme standpoint, and I don't know a great deal about our actual personnel as we speak.

Is it a concern for you that the defense has been a problem for more than a decade? Indiana has had the offensive players -- Antwaan Randle El, Ben Chappell and those guys -- but the defense hasn't really caught up.

KW: I don't have a clue what their defensive stats have been. I just know for nine years, 15 spring practices, all preseason, every Tuesday and Wednesday going against coach [Bob] Stoops, with the attitude and the mind-set, I might be known as an offensive guy, but having come from the environment that I just came from, I have a great feel for what it looks like and how to structure, practice, recruit, coordinate, prepare, put a defense in great position.

Because I'm coming from one of the greatest defensive places there is with the coaching and the way that thing has been run with Bob, with Mike [Stoops], with Bo Pelini, with Brent Venables, that's been a pretty strong defensive place. Trust me, the hardest thing at Oklahoma isn't game day. The hardest thing at Oklahoma is Tuesday and Wednesday in practice.

There's a perception that Indiana is a basketball school. How do you deal with that? Was it a concern for you when you started talking about the job?

KW: It really wasn't. Coach [Tom] Crean is a great coach and we do have phenomenal tradition in basketball. He's going to be an extremely positive and avid supporter because this school is such a strong school, I don't think it should take a backseat or not be strong in any department. I don't think our school, the way president [Michael] McRobbie has it set up, he doesn't want to be average in anything.

From an athletic perspective, with our new administration with [athletic director] Fred Glass, with resources and dollars and Big Ten revenue and things we're generating and raising, I don't think we want to be just a member of a conference in any sport. We're pushing ourselves to get ourselves in position to play at an extremely high level, to play at a consistent winning level and start putting our teams in position to play for championships in all sports. It's great we're a basketball school, but what we really are at Indiana is we're a great school. We should be great at all things. We're looking forward to the challenge, and we're looking forward to the opportunity to build this thing and make it into a strong program.

I know you haven't been there too long, but from talking to the players or seeing any tape from last year, how close is Indiana to getting over that hump?

KW: I haven't really studied it. I know we're not playing horseshoes, so I don't want to be close. From what I've gathered, there is a strong nucleus of some talent coming back, sounds like a great recruiting class. I know we've done a very nice job in our scheduling and what we've got nonconference. I know the Big Ten league, I know it's going to be competitive. But I also feel we're going to put a plan in place, a process in place, to win.

We're not trying to win three, five years down the road. In fairness to our seniors, our alumni and our fans, we need to win right now. That's not trying to be arrogant or boastful or making statements that can't come true, but we're going to try and build something. It's a process, it's going to take time, but in fairness to our seniors, we're going to do everything we can to be as good as we can as fast as we can.

When you look at scores and you look at the talent, yeah, they're not far off. But being close is not winning. Being close doesn't excite me. But it does make me feel like there are the resources here where we feel like we have a chance. We tried to start [Tuesday] with a change of mind-set, a change of body language, a change of how we act and carry ourselves to see if we can get this thing going in a positive direction and build something that's going to be special here for our school and these players and for the fans and for the state of Indiana.

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