The 2008 Biletnikoff Award should be going to Austin Collie; but it won’t. BYU will once again be snubbed by the BCS conferences and the award will go, once again, to Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech.
This year, Austin has done everything possible to solidify himself as the nation’s top receiver, but who has been watching? Austin leads the nation in total receiving yards with 1,315 yds and in yds/game with an average of 119.55 yds/game.
In every statistical category for receivers Austin leads Crabtree.
Receptions: Austin by 7
Yds/Game: Austin by 18!
Yds/Catch: Austin by 1
Yards: Austin by 305* (Austin has played one more game, but still)
The only exception to the Rule of Austin Collie is that Crabtree has three more TDs than Collie. This is likely due to the amount of TDs Pitta and George have in the Blue Zone.
- B/R Ticket Guide
So why does Crabtree get the nod? He was the nation’s top receiver last year, hands down. The guy flat out dominates his opponents. The bad news for Collie is the media infatuation with Crabtree carried over into this year, AND he is from a BCS school. The latter supposedly means he is playing against better teams.
At least this year that is not the case. According to this year’s NCAA Pass Efficiency Defense Rankings, BYU has played against far tougher pass D than Texas Tech. The best pass D the Raiders have faced is No. 28 Oklahoma.
BYU’s was No. 8 TCU—which didn’t work out to well. The next best D Tech faced was No. 59 Texas, while BYU faced–will face—No. 36 Utah, No. 39 AFA, No. 45 UCLA, and No. 46 Wyoming.
The award should go to the nation’s top receiver THIS YEAR. That is why the award is handed out annually. No doubt about it, Collie is this years top receiver and should be awarded for his play on the field.
If they have a career receiving trophy then maybe they can give that to Crabtree, but this year's top dog is actually a Cougar!
By Markell Staffieri
Leave your vote and give us an explanation as to why Collie does or doesn’t win, make your case. But I don’t want to hear one person say Crabtree wins it because of the final play of the Texas game; that would be a captain obvious statement.
Keep the argument to the players importance to his team, stats, consistency and whatever you internet junkies come up with, like catch phrases. Collie has that one hands down, “Magic Happens."
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about 1 month ago
Good points. I did not realize his figures were better than crabtree's. Still, he will probably need a huge catch like Crabtree made against Texas to claim the trophy.
about 1 month ago
He'll probably need a few huge catches to steal it from Crabtree, but I have my fingers crossed for him. If there is one guy that has earned that sucker it would be Austin.
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