Sunday, October 25, 2009

Touchdown, Tebow!



Countdown to Herschel:

1
0

10 comments:

Jams said...

Excellent that he'll get a chance to take the record all for himself against Georgia next week.

the tri guy said...

GA fan here. I know there's a certain irony in Tebow breaking the record against UGA, but most GA fans I know couldn't care less.

Different eras, different scheduling, Herschel only played 3 years, yada, yada, yada. Don't really care.

Hats off to Tebow when he breaks it, it will be a tremendous accomplishment. But don't think you'll be pissing in UGA's cornflakes just b/c it happens against us. We have enough issues to worry about.

Andrew said...

Did UGA fans miss the fact that Herschel was a... RUNNING BACK!!! QBs don't break rushing TD records. Yes, Tebow's will take an extra half season, but he was also the back up his freshmen year and will break it midway through the season.

Tommy said...

What are Tebow's rushing yards per touchdown compared to Herschel's?

Henry Louis Gomez said...

Tommy, don't know. Does it really matter? It seems everyone is looking for asterisks.

Tommy said...

I think it does. Tebow's a short yardage specialist. On the surface, it's kind of like pointing out that your fullback gets a lot of first downs.

Which isn't fair to Tebow, since he's more than that. He has a lot to do with what gets the Gators in goal-line situations, which is why I ask about yards/TD.

If you want an asterisk, the biggest one is that Tebow still trails Walker by five touchdowns, because bowl stats didnt' start counting until about 10 years ago. Walker scored 5 TDs in the '81-'83 Sugar Bowls. A lesser asterisk is that, due to today's longer seasons, Tebow has already played in 48 total games, compared to Walker's 36 (including bowls).

Tebow's achievement is outstanding. But it begs some context.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

Then that context should be added to every single record in college football moving forward, no?

Tommy said...

Well, it usually is, is it not? How many times have you heard a comparison made between current players and some legend, without the usual disclaimer that back then, the earlier guys played both ways, played shorter seasons, had fewer bowl options, yada yada?

There's a difference between equivocating and being intellectually honest. Equivocating is whining about injuries, schedule strength, etc. Being intellectually honest is saying that Herschel scored five more touchdowns in a dozen fewer games, while presumably having to rush more yards to get those TDs. Who knows -- in another generation, eligibility requirements may change or we'll go to a playoff and then some kid, armed with 60+ games, will challenge Tebow's rushing TD record. At that point, I bet context will matter a little more to you.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

One thing is having context in a discussion and another is trying to discredit and accomplishment. Sports evolve. In the NFL they play 16 games where they used to play 14. Soon it's going to be 18. All the record books will be re-written. That's just the way it is. If it wasn't that way then every single record would have an asterisk next to it. That idea was finally repudiated when Roger Maris' asterisk was removed. The rules (schedules, etc) are what they are. That's the current context. When Tebow's record falls, the same will be true.

Unknown said...

And HW had ~1000 carries to Tebow's ~600. Different times, different roles. I'm not sure his yardage he "had to" rush for is a positive or a negative in the debate. I guess I'd have to see how many short yardage TD's HW had and then see what TT could do out of the I with 400 more carries. I'd also have to account for all the passing TD's Tebow "had to" endure while getting those rushing touchdowns. The end of this debate probably won't leave anyone satisfied.