May has become the top of the mountain for list season. It’s list season for upcoming college football seasons. It’s list season for past seasons too.
The Athletic just ranked its top 25 college football players of the last 25 years since the turn of the century.
Former Husker Ndamukong Suh is on there. How high? No. 3.
Writes The Athletic: Suh destroyed offenses like no player we’ve seen over the past quarter-century. He led Nebraska in tackles for the second consecutive season with 85, the most by a Huskers D-lineman in 35 years. His performance in the Big 12 title game against a Texas team that came in averaging 43 points per game was jaw-dropping.
“You saw on film him get off of blocks, destroy double-teams and saw how disruptive he was,” said then-Texas running backs coach Major Applewhite, now the head coach at South Alabama. “You could slide your line to him, it didn’t matter. At the end of the day, it got back to one-on-ones, and he was gonna whip people’s asses.”
With Suh disrupting everything the Longhorns tried, Texas managed just 13 points, eking out a 13-12 win. Suh’s stats — 12 tackles, seven for loss and 4.5 sacks — don’t even tell half the story of the problems he caused UT that day.
“Your double teams don’t move him,” Applewhite said. “What he did that day was exactly the definition of ruining a game.”
Suh finished fourth in the Heisman voting. He won the Lombardi Award, Nagurski Award, Outland Trophy and the Bednarik Award. He became the first defensive player to win the Associated Press College Player of the Year Award since it was created 11 years earlier.
As for The Athletic’s rankings, Suh finished third behind Reggie Bush and Cam Newton.
A few things:
– It’s still incredible Suh had 215 tackles as a defensive tackle at Nebraska. It’s not a position where stats always hold hands with a player’s dominance, but Suh actually made it so. And in 2009, the numbers are just mind-boggling.
He had 85 tackles, 21 TFLs, 12 sacks, one interception, one forced fumble. One Colt McCoy ragdoll toss.
– His performance against Texas in the Big 12 Championship was the most incredible individual display of dominance I’ve seen in a college football game. It can be forgotten but Suh wasn’t as high on Heisman lists going into that as he should have been. It was known he was good but that game alone made some people realize how great he truly was. Honestly, the fact it happened the last week when some might have already turned in votes or been committed to a certain line of thinking is perhaps why he was fourth.
It still makes no sense that he was fourth. And anyone who didn’t have him on their ballot shouldn’t have been voting. But obviously there were too many like that.
– Cam Newtown was incredible that year. That said, Suh and Reggie Bush are the most captivating players I’ve seen in the last 25 years and I’d always have them 1-2 while not getting mad at anyone for their preferred order.
– I will always appreciate the fact Husker fans are ready even if it’s a random Tuesday to bring the fight to a Suh rankings debate if required.
