Wonderlic Revealed: It's A Good Thing Cam Newton's Got Other Skills

According to Chris Mortenson, a well-known NFL analyst, teams "get uncomfortable" anytime a quarterback scores less than a 20 on the Wonderlic. Well, if that's true, GM's must have done some collective shifting in their seats when they got word of Cam Newton's score—who scored an unimpressive 21 on his test.

Newton's score, along with other notable quarterbacks, was released today and—aside from Jake Locker's damning 20 (I hope that kid still has some baseball skills)—Newton's was the lowest. Even Ryan Mallett, the guy whom many thought was the biggest question mark as far as intelligence was concerned scored a 26. So, what does this mean for Newton?

Will his draft stock plummet? Not likely.

If the past has proven anything, it's that teams are willing to take chances on guys whose skill-sets are as special and potential-laden as Cam Newton's. Take Vince Young, for example, he scored a 16 on his Wonderlic in 2006, but still managed to be selected No. 3 overall and I'm willing to bet that the decision to select him had more to do with his body of work than anything—so Newton may still be sitting pretty despite his eye-brow raising score.

The highest score was achieved by former Alabama quarterback, Greg McElroy (43), but it's tough to see him being anything more than a career back-up, if anything, in the NFL. By contrast, Blaine Gabbert's 42 can only help his rising stock as he appears to be steadily climbing up draft boards everywhere.

If Gabbert can impress scouts at his pro day, he could easily leapfrog Newton as the most coveted quarterback in the 2011 NFL Draft.

It will be interesting to see the spin the QB conversation takes now that this information has been leaked—I mean, honestly, the comparison to Vince Young can go either way, ya know?— then again, with the NFL big wigs and their "slaves" still not finding any common ground, it could be 2012 before any of this even matters and by then, perhaps, no one will care who scored what.

ATS Bowl Predictions 2010: Can UConn Upend Oklahoma In The Orange Bowl?

It's another week of bowling and some of the biggest of the big boys are on the slate to make their appearance on an E$PN network near you.

No matter your opinion on the Connecticut Huskies' (UConn) "worthiness" to be a participant in the Orange Bowl you have to respect what Randy Edsall has done at UConn.

His teams have consistently proven themselves to be both competitive and resilient and, despite how this game looks, you cannot give the win to either team based solely on what the stats on a piece of paper shows.

Oklahoma is the obvious pick for most, but they always have been. Unfortunately, they have often failed to live up to expectations where BCS bowls are concerned—suffering disappointing and embarrassing losses to teams that were considered underdogs—and while UConn doesn't tout a Landry Jones at quarterback, Bob Stoops unflattering reputation for blowing it in BCS games could become an unspoken factor.

Don't count Connecticut out of this game—despite what you hear—they have every bit the opportunity and talent to pull the upset if the Sooners come out flat, undisciplined, or minus the appropriate focus.

The picks that follow are for all games played from December 27th through December 30th. All lines are courtesy of VegasInsider.com.

(The 'Lady's bowl record thus far: 6-2).


December 27th:


Georgia Tech at Air Force, Advocare V100 Indepence Bowl: Air Force (-2.5)

The Jackets are short-handed in this one and Air Force sports a better-than-average pass defense (6th in the nation). If the Falcons can get on the board early and force Tech to go to their passing game, there is no reason they shouldn't win this game.

On the other hand, if Tech manages to make mince meat of that Falcons run defense early, forget about it, this game will be over long before halftime.

The Lady's Pick: Air Force to cover

December 28th:


North Carolina State at West Virginia, Champs Sports Bowl: West Virginia (-2.5)

The Wolfpack were one win away from an ACC Championship and they frittered it all away with bad play. West Virginia was inconsistent early and it cost them the Big East—UConn sits where they might have been—has either team recovered from their mishap?

The Mountaineers have shown that they can beat teams if they have everything clicking, but Russell Wilson—of NC State—is every bit as capable of leading his team to victory if he decides to show up and play. That said, it's hard to see the Wolfpack having enough offense to keep up with the sizzling hot Mountaineers.

The Lady's Pick: West Virginia to cover

Missouri Tigers at Iowa, Insight Bowl: Missouri (-2.5)

Iowa isn't looking like a team with much cohesiveness at the moment and that won't serve them well against a Missouri team that, despite their record, was once considered a BCS contender.

The Lady's Pick: Missouri to cover

December 29th:


Maryland vs. East Carolina, Military Bowl: Maryland (-7.5)

These Pirates aren't the same ones that beat Virginia Tech and went on an early tear a mere two seasons ago. No, these are Ruffin McNeill's Pirates and they know how to do one thing very well—score.

Maryland will be looking to send Ralph Friedgen out on a winning note and the emotion of that could propel them to play big in this game. That said, McNeill will be playing for some respect of his own, and could have just enough in place—on both sides of the ball—to pull the minor upset.

The Lady's Pick: East Carolina to cover


Baylor vs. Illinois, Texas Bowl: Baylor (-1)

They do it big in Texas and Robert Griffin III (Baylor) will be looking to do big things in Baylor's first bowl game in a very long time.

Illinois was hoping for better than 6-6, but the fact that they looked markedly better on offense and slightly better on defense this past season is a start—if you're looking for a silver lining—however, the edge has to go to the Bears in this game.

The Lady's Pick: Baylor to cover

Arizona Wildcats at Oklahoma State, Valero Alamo Bowl: Oklahoma State (-5.5)

The Cowboys are just going to be too much for the Wildcats. Love their defense and love what they have been able to do minus initial starter, Foles, but this Cowboys team is too potent to be stopped for four quarters.

The Lady's Pick: Oklahoma State to cover


Army at Southern Methodist, Armed Forces Bowl: Southern Methodist (-7)

June Jones knows how to engineer an offense and Kyle Padron will be far too much for the Knights to contain.

The Lady's Pick: SMU to cover

Kansas State at Syracuse, New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Syracuse (-1)

Kansas State relies heavily on the run and that will serve them well against the Orange—who give up a lot of yards on the ground—but their lack of balance here could be there downfall. Syracuse has one of the best pass defenses in the nation (3rd) and if they can shut down Daniel Thomas, they stand a good chance of running away in this contest.

The Lady's Pick: Syracuse to cover

North Carolina at Tennessee, Music City Bowl: North Carolina (-2)

The Tarheels are a scrappy bunch but Tennessee has found their stride late with Tyler Bray at the helm. If he can get the offense going, and the Vols can play football for 60 minutes, they win this game—no question.

The Lady's Pick: Tennessee to cover

Washington at Nebraska, Holiday Bowl: Nebraska (-14)

Washington's problem lay in their lack of a competent defense. By contrast, Nebraska has plenty of that to spare, and then some. Look for Jake Locker to try his best to keep this game close but, in the end, Nebraska just has too much talent to be overtaken.

The Lady's Pick: Nebraska to cover

Heisman Oversight Committee: What College Football Players Aren't Getting Enough Love?

Cam Newton?...Yeah, we know all about him.


Denard Robinson?...Old news—next!

Kellen Moore?...Boring.


Mark Ingram?...Meh.


All of the above either have been, are, or will be placed in a discussion that suggests possible Heisman Trophy candidacy. However, there is not enough chatter about the following four guys, in particular, who have been lighting the scoreboard up for their respective teams as well.

For them, this site has appointed itself chair of the Heisman Oversight Committee. The number one goal of which is to bring these players to your attention since no one else seems willing or able to do so:


1. Robert Griffin III, QB—Baylor Bears 


It's amazing how much love you get when you play in the SEC or the Big Ten. Neither Cam Newton nor Denard Robinson have lacked in the attention department this season.

Robinson, despite having played bits and pieces of the last several games (losing them all) is still mentioned in the same breath as Newton based on what he did in the first five games of the year— when he seemed unstoppable.

Meanwhile, Robert Griffin has been doing a little playmaking of his own for the Baylor Bears.

He might not have the staggering rushing totals of either Newton or Robinson, but he's been an efficient passer, used his legs when he needed to, and has the Bears (7-2) bowl eligible for the first time in 15 years. Oh, and did we mention that his team is currently tied for first place in the Big 12 South?

Baylor is in position to win the Big 12 South. If that's not worthy of a little more love, then what is?


2010 season stats: 196/294 for 2,592 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. 92 carries for 401 yards and 7 touchdowns. 



2. Bilal Powell, RB—Louisville Cardinals


LaMichael James is all you hear about these days. He's the man that the Heisman committee drools over as he gets closer to eclipsing the 1,600 yard mark on the season. That said, Bilal Powell has come on mighty strong the last four weeks, breaking the 200-yard rushing mark in consecutive weeks as well as making mince meat of a tough Connecticut run defense (rushing for 105).

He's only hit paydirt nine times this season, but that's more than Mark Ingram or Roy Helu Jr. Add to that, he's averaging nearly 20.0 yards per carry—for the year.


2010 season stats: 153 carries, 1,067 yards, and 9 touchdowns.  



3. Da'Quan Bowers, DE—Clemson Tigers

Ryan Kerrigan of Purdue and Nick Fairley are both monsters—no question. But, how about a little more props going the way of the equally beastly Da'Quan Bowers? On top of his 17.5 tackles for loss—through just eight games—he's managed to record 10 sacks and 42 tackles.

His most impressive game this season came against Maryland a couple weeks ago where he tallied four tackles for loss and three sacks. The kid is sick—don't sleep on him.


2010 season stats: 42 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles, and 8 hurries



4. Dan Persa, QB—Northwestern


If it's impressive to see the efficiency ratings of both Kellen Moore (188.30) and Ricky Stanzi (180.28), then it's downright awe-inspiring to look at Dan Persa's numbers as well.

He not only has a higher completion percentage (74.4) on more attempts (244) than the aforementioned quarterbacks, but he's also doing it with his legs as much as with his arms—strapping the Wildcats on his back and nearly willing them to victory.


Perhaps his performance gets lost in the, somewhat, weaker schedule they've played this year, but, that's never hurt Boise's Kellen Moore now—has it?

2010 season stats: 174/234 for 2,062 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. 121 carries, 360 yards, and 6 touchdowns. 



What say you? Have a few nominees of your own to offer?

College Football Odds Week 2: 10 Picks To Click for Saturday

Week one is in the books and what an exciting week it was in college football. Florida looked pedestrian, Boise added another BCS feather to their collective hats, and Michigan gave the fans in Ann Arbor something to cheer about.

Now, as we move on to week 2, what teams should you be looking to place your bets for/against? The slate is heavy, as always, starting with the Thursday night match-up between Auburn and Mississippi State—what to do, what to do?

A running tally will be kept of the picks made by this site from week-to-week—just for credibility sake—so take the following for what its worth. As of week one, my record stands at 3-2 against the spread (ATS).

That's not bad, but here's to a better week than the last.

1. Auburn at Mississippi State: Auburn (-3)

The Bulldogs looked stout against Memphis last week, holding them to 41-yards on the ground. However, the Memphis Tigers lost their two leading rushers at the end of 2009 and didn't have the experience up front to fend off the Bulldogs defense—Auburn won't have that problem.

The Lady's Pick: Auburn

2.  Georgia Tech at Kansas: Georgia Tech (-14)

Kansas needs a quarterback and the Jayhawks defense is in transition after losing some of their best players on both sides of the ball. Expect Georgia Tech to take advantage of a suspect run defense and the total lack of playmakers in the secondary.

The Lady's Pick: Georgia Tech 

3. LSU at Vanderbilt: LSU (-11)


LSU wasn't impressive in their win against UNC last week and Vandy nearly eeked out a win over a vastly underrated Northwestern. Larry Smith looks like he might be motivated to keep his job this season and keeping it close with LSU would help him in that cause.

The Lady's Pick: Vanderbilt 

4. Colorado at California: California (-3)


Colorado looked great against Colorado State, but the Rams shouldn't be taken nearly as seriously in 2010 as they were in 2009—they have holes everywhere. Cal may have question marks as well, but it's a joke if anyone thinks Colorado is capable of keeping up with the Bears.

The Lady's Pick: California

5. Michigan at Notre Dame: Notre Dame (-3.5)

It's nice that the Notre Dame train of delusion just keeps chugging along. As much as Brian Kelly's offense should be respected and, as briliant as Dayne Crist may turn out to be, Michigan has the better athletes entering this game. They are quicker, faster, and more experienced—not to mention, the Irish players are banged up after their game last week.

The Lady's Pick: Michigan

6. Wyoming at Texas: Texas (-29.5)

The Cowboys don't look like a team that can keep up with the Longhorns, but even with all of the great players from last season on the field in 2009—the Cowboys managed to avoid being completely obliterated. They did lose by 31 points, but Texas was favored by -33.5.
I say they avoid annihilation.

The Lady's Pick: Wyoming

7. Syracuse at Washington: Washington (-13.5)

Jake Locker is "supposedly" a Heisman candidate—despite what his performance against BYU told us. That said, expect him to be much more comfortable playing at home, in front of the Seattle crowd, while Syracuse attempts to get over their jet lag.

The Lady's Pick: Washington


8. Penn State at Alabama: Alabama (-11.5)

This will be a huge game for  both teams, Penn State is looking for a little validation under the leadership of their new quarterback, and Alabama is trying to repeat as national champions. This game, obviously, should be all Bama, but Penn State might give them a bigger challenge than most are giving them credit for right now.

The Lady's Pick: Penn State

9. Troy at Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State (-13.5)

The Cowboys may have some issues in conference play, but Troy shouldn't pose much of a problem—especially now that Levi Brown has moved on.

The Lady's Pick: Oklahoma State

10. Georgia at South Carolina: South Carolina (-3.5)

Lost in all the hoopla surrounding the Carolina win over SMU was the fact that the Gamecocks' offensive line wasn't nearly as dominant as it should have been and the secondary gave up better than 300-yards passing. There are still questions on defense at South Carolina and that may leave the door slightly ajar for the Bulldogs.

The Lady's Pick: Georgia