No Damn Respect for Luke, Colin, or Marko

It appears our Nevada Wolf Pack's big three on offense just aren't going to get any national respect yet.

In case you are wondering what I am exactly talking about, the 2008 Maxwell Award Watch list came out this week. The award is supposed to be for the player who is deemed as the best in the United States.

Now before you get going on the whole notion that none of these players is realistically the best in the country, you have to see some of the other nominees to understand why we are a little more than irritated by this slight.

RB's ahead of Luke: James Davis, Clemson (400 yards behind Luke last year), Noel Devine, West Virginia (800 yards back), Arian Foster, Tennessee (200 yards back), Mike Goodson, Texas A&M (800 yards back), Keegan Herring, ASU (600 yards back), P.J. Hill, Wisconsin (200 yards back), etc, etc.

Look, the point is this. Luke finished 18th in yards rushing last season. Take out the seniors who graduated and players who left early for the NFL, and he is the #6 leading returning rusher in NCAA football and was the leading rusher in the WAC last season. WTF is up with him not getting a nod?

How about QB's next: The first biggest joke on the whole list is that Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame golden boy, is on the watch list. Why? For what? The Maxwell award is now given to the player in all of football with the most hype? This is the kind of thing that seriously takes away from an award. Just blatant politics.

Again, same situation as with Luke. 26 quarterbacks put on the list. Not Kaep. Even though he finished 10 overall in rating. And take out players who are gone and he is the 5 highest rated returning QB in the NCAA. Not to mention has the best TD:INT ration in the nation returning and his stats both running and throwing are more than respectable amongst returning players even when not accounting for that he really didn't play in the first 4 games of the season.

Most of the players (outside of Clausen) are deserving of a nod. So we'll blame the Notre Dame QB for taking Kaep's spot.

And last but not least, the WR: Considering Marko was #2. overall last year in the nation at YPC, and that he was #23 in the nation in YPG (12th best returning minus the 11 that have moved on) plus his 8 TD's puts him in the upper half of NCAA WR's we just don't get this one either. How can 23 WR's and TE's be given the nod ahead of Marko? sure there are a lot of good quality players on these lists. Isn't a man judged on his body of work any more? Does it mean nothing to be amongst the best statistically in your field?

So folks, there you have it. A conspiracy against Nevada Wolf Pack football players. You can't deny the facts. And I've provided those for you right here in black and white.

(P.S. Other WAC players named to the list are: Ian Johnson and Chase Holbrook. We understand IJ with all the TD's. Chase is a reach though. Too many picks on a losing team does not equal best in college football!)