15 touchdowns. 2018 yards. 6.98 yards per carry. Over 100 yards in twelve out of twelve games played. It was the 10th best season in NCAA history.
He was only the 2nd tailback in Pac-10 history to break the 2000 yard mark. (The other was Marcus Allen.) He was 1st-team Pac-10, and a consensus All-American.
And yet, Johnathan Jerone Arrington wasn't even invited to the Heisman ceremony in New York. Adrian Peterson (1925 yards, 5.68 ypc) was runner-up to the overrated winner, Matt Leinart.
After transferring to Cal from College of the Canyons, he spent 2003 backing up Adimchinobe Echemandu. Although he showed glimpses, I don't think anyone could have predicted his explosion of productivity in 2004. What's perhaps most impressive about his 2018 yards is that he lacked true game-breaking speed. He was a slasher bar none and got the bulk of his yardage in big chunks rather than home-runs.
If Marshawn had power, Forsett had vision, Best had ludricrous speed, and Vereen had balance, JJ had the best burst through the hole of any Cal back that I've seen in 30 years of fandom. He didn't dance. He didn't hesitate. He picked his lane and then destroyed it.
Call me a sunshine-pumping homer, but I think his year at least deserved an invite to NYC.
Agree or disagree? What other players, Cal or otherwise, do you feel were robbed from Heisman consideration?
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