Juice shut out of O'Brien derby

The folks who run the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award just issued the list of 13 semifinalists for their award.

Illinois' Juice Williams, who ranked among the nation's top 10 players in total offense and passing efficiency prior to Saturday's 3-interception performance at Wisconsin, did not make the cut.

Penn State's Daryll Clark is the Big Ten's only representative on the list.

The Big 12 leads the way with six guys: Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, Mizzou's Chase Daniel, Texas Tech's Graham Harrell, Texas' Colt McCoy, Kansas' Todd Reesing and Oklahoma State's Zac Robinson.

The SEC put 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow, Georgia's Matt Stafford and Alabama's John Parker Wilson on the list. BYU's Max Hall, Tulsa's David Johnson and USC's Mark Sanchez round out the group.

Should Juice have made this list, despite his relatively poor showing at Wisconsin? Depends how much you believe in stats.

Nine of the 13 semifinalists rank ahead of Williams in pass efficiency. Juice is 16th with a 152.6 rating.

Five of the 13 semifinalists rank ahead of Williams in total offense. Juice is eighth with 331.0 yards per game.

The five who rank ahead of Juice in both categories? Bradford, Daniel, Harrell, Johnson and McCoy.

Sounds like Juice wouldn't have been out of place as a semifinalist. Guess that's what being the leader of a 4-4 team will do to your national reputation.

LW