2008 college football underachievers

December 11, 8:15 PMCollege Sports ExaminerJacob Osterhout

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With college football's regular season concluded and still over a month before the BCS national championship, it seems that everyone is talking about the Heisman Trophy, which isn't that interesting considering it's a three-man race.

Instead, let's take a look at the athletes that were mentioned -- albeit breifly -- as possible Heisman candidates before the season began but have since dropped out of the race.

(This isn't to say that they are bad players or even playing badly.  Just that, statistically speaking, they didn't live up to the preseason hype.)

1. Marlon Lucky, Nebraska - Lucky entered the season as the Big 12's top returning rusher. In his junior season, he rushed for 1,019 yards and had 705 receiving yards. This season, though, Lucky has a new coach and splits time with Roy Helu Jr. and Quentin Castille. Accordingly, his numbers are down across the board. Lucky has carried the ball 125 times for 517 yards and caught 22 passes for 275 yards, which is a big dropoff. One stat that hasn't changed for Lucky is fumbles. He hasn't fumbled the ball once during his college career.

2. Joe McKnight, USC - There's no doubt that Joe McKnight is one of the most talented running backs in college football.  But statistically speaking, he's not had a very impressive season. Hampered all year by a bad case of turf toe, McKnight ran for over 100 yards in a game only twice this season and has accumulated a mere 646 yards on the ground and 184 yards in the air. That's a grand total of 830 total yards for the season. Plus, he's only tallied three touchdowns. Sure, McKnight sat out two games.  But his stat line will not win him any award regardless.

3. Cullen Harper, Clemson - Harper got off on the wrong foot this season, throwing for only 188 yards in a season-opening loss to Alabama. He has since picked up his play a bit, but is still far off last season's numbers. This year, Harper has thrown for 600 less yards, 16 less TDs and six more interceptions.

4. Eugene Jarvis, Kent State - Jarvis ran for 1,669 yards last season and many thought that was only the tip of the iceberg, but 2008 hasn't been kind to the speedy junior. Hobbled by an ankle injury, He rushed for only 801 yards and nine touchdowns this season. Granted, Jarvis didn't play in three games because of an ankle injury.

5. Travis Beckum, Wisconsin - Broke his leg in the Badgers' game against Illinois, prematurely ending a season in which the tight end caught 23 passes for 264 yards.

6. Ian Johnson, Boise State - Johnson was tagged a "dark horse" candidate at the beginning of the season and the Broncos have gone undefeated, so you would think that his Heisman stock would've grown.  But that's not the case. He has run for only 738 yards this season, down from 1041 last season and 1,714 yards the season before. Admittedly, Johnson's stats are not that big of an issue as long as Boise State wins.  But it's safe to say he's got no chance at hoisting that Heisman come December 15. Check out Johnson's Heisman video from 2006 and you'll see why he's under-achieving this season.

7. Demetrius Byrd, LSU - This was supposed to be Byrd's breakout season. Unfortunately, the team's quarterbacks struggled and that tends to hurt the productivity of wide receivers. Byrd ended up with 34 receptions for 503 yards and four TDs, which is significantly lower than his 35-catch, 621-yard, seven-TD performance the season before.

8. Curtis Painter, Purdue - Poor Curtis entered the season has one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 10. He was labeled a "pure thrower" and even mentioned as a possible Heisman candidate. But Painter's performance this season was so bad that he lost his starting spot for a few games. In the final game of the season, Painter exploded, throwing for 448 yards and five TDs against Indiana, but his senior season will go down as a disappointment. Painter threw for 2,400 yards this season and 11 TDs, down from 3846 yards and 29 TDs the season before. Here's Painter's Heisman video. It's a keeper.

9. Brian Robiskie, Ohio State - In October, the speedy wide receiver was named one of 15 finalists for the Draddy Award, often referred to as the Academic Heisman, but that's about as close to the Heisman as Robiskie is gonna get. He caught 55 passes last season for 935 yards. This year, though, there have been times when it's hard to tell if he's on the field. Robiskie has only 37 receptions for 419 yards. The decrease in production just might have something to do with freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

10. Arian Foster, Tennessee - This running back from San Diego was a workhorse last season, carrying the ball 245 times for 1,193 yards and 12 touchdowns. This season he was a first-team All-SEC preseason selection but has only carried the ball 131 times so far for 570 yards and one -- yes one -- measly touchdown. Blame the coach, that's what everyone else did in Knoxville.

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