COMMENTARY: T.Y. Hilton deserves Heisman buzz

By Brandon Wise/ Staff Writer

The little receiver who once wasn’t good enough to play for the big schools just sent out a message to the rest of the nation: try to stop me.

Maybe the Heisman committee was asleep when FIU played last week. That might be why the mainstream media has yet to caught on.

After his second touchdown, Hilton struck the Heisman pose.

He threw his own little flare in just to let the fans know that he is for real. It was a well-deserved attitude after his first two weeks of play have accrued a total of 551 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns.

After all, he just wants to prove to the rest of the nation that despite playing for a once-small school, he is worthy of college football’s most prestigious award. There is no excuse for “Goodbye” not be in contention for the Heisman trophy right now.

Following one of the best games in his collegiate career, 283 all-purpose yards and a touchdown, the senior all-around threat upstaged that on the biggest stage of them all–ESPN.

With 157 yards and two touchdowns on his first two catches, it was evident that Hilton was on a mission to torch the Louisville secondary.

Earlier before the game, Louisville defensive back Andrew Johnson wanted everyone to know just what the Cardinals secondary thought of Hilton.

“Somebody might want to give T.Y. Hilton some handcuffs cause it’s lockdown time,” Johnson tweeted.

I think its safe to say that Hilton found the key to those handcuffs and destroyed the Louisville defense.

On the second of the two touchdown catches, it was apparent that the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week could easily be starting on most, if not all, Big East teams. He flew through the secondary with ease and walked toward the goal line. Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium has not been that quiet even when there isn’t a game going on.

For a night, the world got a taste of Hilton. At one point during the game, T.Y. Hilton was trending world wide on Twitter. He even brought in comments from some big names.

Scott Van Pelt said, “T.Y. Hilton… America – get familiar.” He later said, “I think I was the only human on earth watching FIU torch North Texas last week. It’s fun when the little guy (Hilton) shows out on a big stage.”

Van Pelt might want to get accustomed to watching the senior more often because Hilton is like fine wine, only getting better with age.

Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel, a college football analyst is jumping on the Hilton for Heisman bandwagon.

“Climb aboard the T.Y. Hilton Heisman bandwagon. Right now its just me and Holly Anderson (another Sports Illustrated analyst)  but room will fill up quickly,” Mandel tweeted during the game.

Kerry Rhodes, a former Louisville Cardinal and current NFL player mentioned on twitter, “Man who is T.Y. Hilton? He is dynamic. And killing Louisville right now.”

The Heisman hopeful has left his mark on the program already, rewriting the record books. Thanks to Hilton, Mario Cristobal and Pete Garcia have gotten a contract extension, the stadium is being expanded, and FIU is getting into the national eye for the first time ever.

Alfonso field at FIU Stadium should be renamed T.Y. field once he graduates. He has done just as much for this program as anyone else who has donated money towards it.

With the way the rest of schedule plays out, it is not an exaggeration to think that T.Y. will get over 1,500 yards receiving and 2,000 all purpose yards.

It is scary to think what this program will be next year after the legend moves on to the NFL.