1967, that was the year former UCLA QB Gary Beban won the Heisman Trophy. Beban is the only Heisman winner in the schools history, but 47 years later UCLA may have their next winner. When Brett Hundley announced on January 6th that he was returning for his redshirt-junior season high expectations instantly came upon the Bruins and their star QB. For the team conference championship and playoff talk arose, for Hundley, Heisman and top draft pick is all everyone could talk about. After two solid seasons look for Hundley and the Bruins to take a giant leap in 2014.
Hundley had a phenomenal freshman campaign that saw him set the school record with 3,745 passing yards, while throwing for 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. To go along with his 3,745 passing yards Hundley also added 355 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground. Hundley led the Bruins to a Pac 12 South championship and a berth in the Pac 12 championship game that season. Coming off that freshman season he was seen as a blue chip NFL prospect coming into the 2013 season.
In 2013, UCLA coaches and fans, as well as, NFL scouts saw Hundley have not as great of a year passing, but saw him mature more as a quarterback. He finished 2013 with 3,071 passing yards and threw for 24 touchdowns and tossed 9 interceptions. The decrease in passing yards might have been due to Hundley using his legs more. Hundley ran for 748 yards and had 11 touchdowns on the ground last year. The Bruins finished the year at 10-3 and a #16 ranking in the AP and coaches poll.
Coming in to 2014 the Bruins are expected to be a top 10 team and compete for not only a Pac 12 championship, but also for a spot in the new playoffs. For a personal goal Hundley will look to set some school records that he is very close to. Hundley enters the 2014 season ranked third on the school career touchdown pass list, third on school total offense list, fourth on the school passing yards list, and third on the school passing list for completions. With lofty expectations and the schedule the Bruins are facing lets take a look at why Hundley will and will not win the Heisman in 2014.
Why Brett Hundley WILL win the Heisman in 2014
The Schedule and Conference
The Bruins play in the Pac-12 which may or may not be the best conference in football—it depends which side of the country the person you are asking is from—so Hundley will have plenty of nationally televised games and nationally ranked teams to play against. Hundley has a chance to get off on the right foot with games against Virginia and Memphis, with those two games being followed by a nationally televised tilt with Texas in Arlington. This will be the first test for Hundley and I expect him to pass the test. After the Texas game UCLA starts Pac-12 play, where every game will be a chance for Hundley to increase his Heisman chances. He gets a chance to play one of the other Heisman favorites in Oregon’s Marcus Mariota once, if not twice, in games that could end up deciding the Heisman winner. Hundley has the advantage of playing Utah, Oregon, Arizona, USC, and Stanford all at home, but still has to go on the road to play Arizona St. and Washington. Hundley will face tough defenses, a lot of adversity, and tough road crowds all season that will test his abilities as an elite QB. If he can overcome all three of the above and lead the Bruins to a Pac-12 championship Hundley will be in New York for the Heisman presentation.
Why Brett Hundley WILL NOT win the Heisman in 2014
Play in Loses
Last season UCLA played Oregon at Oregon in what was a huge game in the middle of the season. Coming off a loss at Stanford in the previous game a lot rode on Brett Hundley’s shoulders to come up with a big win. Instead, what UCLA fans saw was the worst performance in the Brett Hundley era. He only managed 64 pass yards, 1 touchdown, and threw 2 interceptions. He did have 72 rushing yards and added a TD, but it was not a Heisman trophy winning performance. Heisman hopefuls cannot win the trophy in a loss, but they can certainly lose them and that is exactly what Hundley does in UCLA losses. In the three UCLA losses last season Hundley only averaged 170 passing yards a game, recorded no more than 2 passing touchdowns, and recorded at least 1 interception in all three games. If Hundley wants any chance of winning the Heisman he cannot be the reason UCLA losses any games next year because it only takes one really bad performance to ruin any dream of winning the most coveted trophy in college sports.
My gut feeling is that if three things fall the Bruins way that Brett Hundley will be holding up the Heisman in December. First, UCLA needs to go to the PAC-12 championship at the very least, if not win it. Second, UCLA has to beat Oregon and Hundley needs to out perform Marcus Mariota. Finally, Jameis Winston needs to come down to Earth this year, which will be tough for him to do with his tools and Florida St. loaded team.
Besides Winston and Mariota, Baylor QB Bryce Petty, Ohio State QB Braxton Miller, Auburn QB Nick Marshall, and Georgia RB Todd Gurley will also be stiff competition for the Heisman trophy. It should be an exciting season of college football and these next few months will be hard to sit and wait through.
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