Te'o had 7 INTs this year. Impressive, but he had ZERO his previous three seasons. Why the huge leap in stats? Did he become infinitely better this year?
Edited to add - just because I do not like Notre Dame does not mean that I do not like the ND fans posting on this site. You all seem to be very level-headed (maybe more so than me), and I appreciate the perspective that you have brought to the discussion this past month or so.
He became much better. He lost weight in the off-season which improved his quickness and he worked on his coverage skills. Pass coverage was a weakness for him and he was smart to stay another year because it paid off. Seven interceptions is a lot for a MLB and a lot of the interceptions were lucky but he put himself in the right positions. Denard Robinson made him look good.
A MLB that can play three downs is pretty valuable. When Manti lost his loved ones, it became a story and he also played two pretty good games. That started the talk and the hype and that's when his name started popping up on ESPN's Heisman watch, like #5. From there the leaders kind of fell off after losses and Manti and Johnny started moving on up. To be honest I got a little uncomfortable with some of the coverage, especially with the repeated story about his lost loved ones. It was kind of an off year for real superstars and no one else ever stepped into the picture so it held up through the Heisman ceremony.
Manti is a very humble kid, very spiritual. While I'm sure he appreciated the coverage I would bet it meant a lot less than the success of the team. The coverage was out there but that was the media's doing, not his. I do understand the weariness of the hype. Manti is a good kid like many on Alabama's team
Thanks for the edit. I've enjoyed the board a lot.