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Friedgen praises Dobbs, but remains wary of Navy's fullbacks

Senior quarterback Ricky Dobbs is the central point of any discussion of Navy's 2010 football prospects, and understandably so.

He's the guy who set an NCAA record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. He's the guy with the grassroots Heisman Trophy campaign. And he's the guy orchestrating an old-fashioned offense that still causes fits for opponents.

He's a guy Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen respects after having scoured film of the Midshipmen this offseason in preparation for the teams' Sept. 6 opener at M&T Bank Stadium.

But is he the single greatest thing the Terrapins must contain? Maybe not in a larger sense.

"I think the biggest priority you have to do is stop the fullback," Friedgen said. "To them, four yards, they're on schedule. Three yards, they're on schedule because they're going to go for it on fourth down. So that's the problem. What happens is you keep packing it in trying to stop the three yards and that's when it opens it up for a big one."

And that's where Dobbs so often comes in. Not only can he run (and run and run) to frustrate opponents, he's also arguably the best passer the Midshipmen have deployed under center in the Paul Johnson/Ken Niumatalolo years.

Not bad for a lightly recruited guy who figures to flummox more than a few teams this season.

"Dobbs is pretty good," Friedgen said. "He makes a lot of long runs. I think he's more quick than fast. I think he's a probably a 4.7, 4.6 guy, but he's very nifty and he'll break tackles. The thing that worries me is I think he's a better thrower than the guy [Joshua Nesbitt] at Georgia Tech. So now you're in that dilemma --- you have to commit to the extra guy to stop him and it opens up  a lot of things in the throwing game. That's my concern."

Regardless of how dangerous Dobbs and his fullbacks are in the triple option, Navy's philosophy on both sides of the ball plays a role in the problems created for opponents as well.

While Navy's offense is content to eat clock if possible, its defense takes a sound approach that mixes in occasional blitzing with a secondary dead-set against giving up chunk plays. With foes stuck trying to eke out a few yards at a time, aggravation often sets in before long.

"What happens is people get impatient and they get a bad play and all the sudden they're punting and they don't see the field for another 10 minutes; that's the issue there," Friedgen said. "If they could take the fullback for four yards the whole game, that's what they'd do. They'd hand the ball off for four yards all game and think it was a great game plan. If I did that, they'd boo me out of the stadium."

D1scourse Half-Dozen: Quarterbacks who could win the Heisman

Time for a little early-season Heismania.

The truth is, if someone is going to win the Heisman, they're probably going to be on a top-10 team at the end of the regular season.

A quick look, then, at how this has played out since 1980 (and as a pre-emptive move to hopefully avoid the usual bickering, Reggie Bush was voted the Heisman winner at the time; regardless of what's happened since, that event did occur in December 2005):

AP RANKING OF TEAMS WITH HEISMAN WINNER AT REGULAR SEASON'S END, 1980-2009

No. 1 (10): 1982 Georgia (Herschel Walker), 1983 Nebraska (Mike Rozier), 1986 Miami (Vinny Testaverde), 1992 Miami (Gino Torretta), 1993 Florida State (Charlie Ward), 1997 Michigan (Charles Woodson), 2004 Southern California (Matt Leinart), 2005 Southern California (Reggie Bush), 2006 Ohio State (Troy Smith), 2009 Alabama (Mark Ingram)

No. 2 (1): 2008 Oklahoma (Sam Bradford)

No. 3 (1): 2000 Florida State (Chris Weinke), 2003 Oklahoma (Jason White)

No. 4 (6): 1991 Michigan (Desmond Howard), 1994 Colorado (Rashaan Salaam), 1995 Ohio State (Eddie George), 1996 Florida (Danny Wuerffel), 1999 Wisconsin (Ron Dayne), 2001 Nebraska (Eric Crouch)

No. 5 (1): 2002 Southern California (Carson Palmer)

No. 8 (2): 1981 Southern California (Marcus Allen), 1984 Boston College (Doug Flutie)

No. 9 (1): 2007 Florida (Tim Tebow)

No. 12 (2): 1987 Notre Dame (Tim Brown), 1988 Oklahoma State (Barry Sanders)

No. 13 (2): 1989 Houston (Andre Ware), 1990 (Ty Detmer)

No. 16 (1): 1985 Auburn (Bo Jackson)

No. 18 (1): 1980 South Carolina (George Rogers)

No. 20 (1): 1998 Texas (Ricky Williams)

You'll note that 18 of the last 19 Heisman winners came from teams that wrapped up the regular season in the top 10. Moreover, the last QB before Ware and Detmer to win the Heisman from a team outside the top 10 was Stanford's Jim Plunkett back in 1970.

Unsurprisingly, those numbers distinctly color this look at possible Heisman candidates. This should not be considered a ranking of the best at the position, but rather a look at who has the best potential combination of skills, stats and team success over the course of the season to haul home college football's most hallowed hardware.

1. Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State. Everybody knows who Pryor is, and he plays on a team with as good a shot as anyone of making it to the national title game. Hey, look! Five of the last six Heisman winners played in the national title game. If the Buckeyes go 11-1 or better, Pryor will probably receive an invitation to New York --- at minimum.

2. Kellen Moore, Boise State. It all hinges on Labor Day for the gunslinger behind the BCS-busting Broncos. If Moore can play well and take down Virginia Tech, he'll very much be a factor in the Heisman race. Thanks to a relatively soft WAC schedule, his numbers will be excellent and Boise will probably remain in the top five, barring a shocking stumble or a successful Oregon State upset bid. That's a recipe for Heisman relevance.

3. Ryan Mallett, Arkansas. Good news: He's in the SEC, so his name recognition will be high. Bad news: The Razorbacks aren't as good as Alabama. And even if they are on one late September day, they still have to play Georgia, Auburn and Louisiana State at some point. Team success could be the greatest hindrance in Mallett's candidacy.

4. Jacory Harris, Miami. The ACC's most viable Heisman candidate resides in Florida, but he's not the guy with the massive campaign behind him. Harris' Hurricanes will be lucky to make it through the first five games with less than two losses, but that set of opponents --- Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Clemson --- ensures Harris will be a known quantity very early. Should Miami be as good as some (including the Official Dot-Com Diva) believe, Harris will get a ton of credit for it because of the Hurricanes' cast-of-thousands approach to the rest of their skill positions on offense.

5. Ricky Dobbs, Navy. If there's a quarterback who could stay in the discussion without being in the top 10, it's Dobbs. He's already finding grass-roots support, and the service academy angle will at least cause people to consider him. Oh, and he's pretty good, too, and wrapped up his junior year with a surgical dissection of Missouri in the Texas Bowl. Navy probably needs to go 10-2 at minimum and Dobbs might need to come close to his 27 rushing touchdowns from a year ago for this to be even remotely possible. Given Dobbs' abilities and Navy perhaps reaching a talent peak this year, don't count it out.

6. Andrew Luck, Stanford. An efficient quarterback who returns with a nearly intact offensive line in a conference that seems up for grabs after tumultuous offseasons for the two league favorites? That's not a bad Heisman possibility, actually. Sure, Toby Gerhart is gone, but the Cardinal is still in decent shape to make a rare Pac-10 title push. Luck, who threw only four interceptions in 288 attempts last year, will be the guy who makes the offense go this year.

Six more also considered: Matt Barkley, Southern California; Blaine Gabbert, Missouri; Case Keenum, Houston; Jake Locker, Washington; Joshua Nesbitt, Georgia Tech; Christian Ponder, Florida State

Coming tomorrow: A half-dozen running backs who could win the Heisman

Terps' Torrey Smith, Mids' Ricky Dobbs on watch list for new award

Yes, there's about a gazillion college football awards for just about everything under the sun.

Time to add another one --- though it does has a fairly intriguing qualification.

The Hornung Award will be handed out to the most versatile player in college football this season. Two prominent local players made the watch list.

One is Maryland wideout/kickoff returner Torrey Smith. The junior could set the major-college career kickoff return yardage record this season, so he's an obvious inclusion.

Meanwhile, Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs --- he of the 27 rushing touchdowns last season to complement his passing ability --- is also among the 48 players on the watch list. Again, another sensible choice to put on the initial list.

Elsewhere in ACC country, these guys were included:

RB/KR Graig Cooper, Miami
QB Joshua Nesbitt, Georgia Tech
CB/PR Greg Reid, Florida State
WR/KR Dyrell Roberts, Virginia Tech
S/PR Da'Norris Searcy, North Carolina
CB/PR Jarrard Tarrant, Georgia Tech

If there's an obvious omission in the ACC, it's Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor. It's fair to wonder (as was the case here) whether he's capable of leading multiple comeback victories . But he did lead the ACC in passing efficiency last year and ran for 370 yards and five touchdowns. That might not be Dobbs/Nesbitt/Colin Kaepernick territory, but it's still awfully good.

For Ricky Dobbs and Navy, the third H might be the most important

It wasn't five minutes into Navy's media day press conference Thursday afternoon before the topic of external expectations for a strong season popped up for the Midshipmen and quarterback Ricky Dobbs in particular.

This is no surprise. Navy is being touted as a possible top-25 team. Dobbs is getting grassroots support as a Heisman candidate.

It's also no surprise the Mids (and especially Dobbs) aren't trying to play this up.

"Part of our motto is three Hs --- it's stay humble, stay hungry and try to stay healthy," Dobbs said.

"You added in that third H," coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "I don't remember that third H. That's a good H, though."

It's really good.

Actually, it's exceptional. And critical.

While the personable-and-wildly-skilled-quarterback-at-a-service-academy is a fantastic storyline certain to be gobbled up as long as Navy is winning, Dobbs isn't the best player in the country. He's unquestionably talented, but so are more than half the starting lineups at Alabama, Ohio State, Texas and a half-dozen other schools.

Dobbs, however, is incredibly valuable, perhaps moreso than nearly anyone on any major college roster. He's in the discussion, certainly.

And that's why Navy fans need to be nervous about the team's history at quarterback over the last four years.

Lamar Owens started the entirety of the 2005 season. And since then? Here's the consecutive starts streaks in chronological order:

7: Brian Hampton (2006)
5: Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada (2006)
1: Jarod Bryant (2006)
10: Kaheaku-Enhada (2007)
1: Bryant (2007)
2: Kaheaku-Enhada (2007)
2: Bryant (2008)
3: Kaheaku-Enhada (2008)
3: Bryant (2008)
1: Kaheaku-Enhada (2008)
1: Bryant (2008)
1: Ricky Dobbs (2008)
2: Kaheaku-Enhada (2008)
7: Dobbs (2009)
2: Kriss Proctor (2009)
5: Dobbs (2009)

That's 15 quarterback switches --- most because of injuries --- in four years. By comparison, Maryland has 13 such changes (with a 14th on tap for this year's opener) in nine seasons under Ralph Friedgen.

"After the '05 season, we've had more QB injuries in this offense than we've ever had prior in the first 14 years," said Navy offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper, who played in the triple-option while he was at Hawaii. "Even when I played in it, nobody ever got hurt. But then Hampton goes down and the Kaipo goes down and then Ricky goes down. These past few years have been something that have never really happened in this offense."

Granted, there aren't a lot of catastrophic injuries to hit the Mids in that span. And those ailments haven't derailed Navy from reaching bowl games and beating Army and Air Force every year.

Yet for as valuable and dynamic as Dobbs is, perhaps the greatest threat to his ability to make a splash in a few major awards races is simply remaining on the field.

And while Kriss Proctor could be the latest quarterback to step in and effectively run Navy's offense if necessary, he also owns four career passes and has appeared in three games in his first two seasons in Annapolis. He's not a particularly tested commodity.

More to the point: A Dobbs injury also endangers Navy's chances of double-digit wins or even a perfect season. Most teams would face the same situation if they lost their best player.

"We have two huddles," Jasper said. "Every single drill we do --- team, whatever --- we rep two huddles every single day so the backup guy gets all the reps that the starter gets. Kriss is just as ready to play as Ricky. Back in the [national title] game, [Texas' Colt] McCoy got hurt and that kid came in the came in --- I mean, he didn't look ready . So we don't want to be in that position. We want to make sure our backup come in right away, and that's why we practice the way we practice."

Even if Proctor is completely prepared to step in, he isn't as good as Dobbs. No coach has to say so; the depth chart does it for them.

Dobbs, naturally, would not be so boastful if that idea was broached with him. He's got the humble and hungry parts of his credo down pat.

It's the healthy facet that is probably the trickiest of all to adhere to --- not to mention the one absolutely no one wants to consider until it is required.

"It's something honestly you can't worry about, because when you worry about it, that's when they get hurt," Jasper said. "You just have to let them play. We're going to be smart as coaches. The main thing is to get your horses to the gate. That's the main thing."

Navy's Dobbs, five ACC QBs make O'Brien watch list

Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs is on the Davey O'Brien Award watch list.

So are five ACC quarterbacks, including Jacory Harris, Josh Nesbitt, Christian Ponder, Tyrod Taylor and Russell Wilson. The five representatives match the Big 12 for most by a league on the list.

A conference-by-conference rundown of the 30 nominees:

ACC (5): Jacory Harris (Miami), Josh Nesbitt (Georgia Tech), Christian Ponder (Florida State), Tyrod Taylor (Virginia Tech), Russell Wilson (N.C. State)

Big 12 (5): Blaine Gabbert (Missouri), Robert Griffin (Baylor), Jerrod Johnson (Texas A&M0, Landry Jones (Oklahoma), Taylor Potts (Texas Tech)

Pac-10 (4): Matt Barkley (Southern California), Nick Foles (Arizona), Jake Locker (Washington), Andrew Luck (Stanford)

Big Ten (3): Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State), Ricky Stanzi (Iowa), Scott Tolzien (Wisconsin)

Conference USA (3): Case Keenum (Houston), G.J. Kinne (Tulsa), Kyle Padron (Southern Methodist)

WAC (3): Nathan Enderle (Idaho), Colin Kaepernick (Nevada), Kellen Moore (Boise State)

Big East (2): Zach Collaros (Cincinnati), Tom Savage (Rutgers)

SEC (2): Ryan Mallett (Arkansas), Greg McElroy (Alabama)

Independent (1): Ricky Dobbs (Navy)

Mountain West (1): Andy Dalton (Texas Christian)

Sun Belt (1): Dwight Dasher (Middle Tennessee)