Dec. 05--The Connor Cook-C.J. Beathard debate might be settled Saturday night, when Michigan State and Iowa tangle in the Big Ten championship game.
Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott already proved he's the best running back in the conference.
The three are finalists for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, awarded annually since 1924 to the Big Ten's best player by a vote of the conference's head coaches. The winner will be revealed Dec. 11.
A Michigan State player has not won it since Lorenzo White in 1987. Iowa's last winner was Shonn Greene in 2008. Ohio State's Braxton Miller claimed the award in 2012 and 2013 but had a quiet 2015 season after switching from quarterback to receiver.
There was nothing quiet about the performances of Cook, Beathard and Elliott.
Elliott topped 100 rushing yards in every game -- with the notable exception of the Buckeyes' loss to Michigan State. After he carved up Michigan's defense Saturday for 214 yards on 30 carries, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer called him "as good a player as any I've been around" and said he deserves to be a Heisman Trophy finalist.
Elliott is averaging 6.4 yards per carry with 19 touchdowns. Heisman favorite Derrick Henry of Alabama has scored 22 touchdowns with a 6.1 average rush, albeit against a few tougher defenses.
Cook was the Big Ten's second-rated passer (behind Indiana's Nate Sudfeld) and became the first Michigan State quarterback to be named first-team All-Big Ten since Steve Juday in 1965.
Cook might have been a first-round pick had he entered the NFL draft rather than return for a fifth season.
"His exact words to me were: 'I want to win another championship,' " coach Mark Dantonio recalled, referring to the Spartans' Big Ten title in 2013. "He likes the college environment. He likes his teammates. He made the decision pretty quick."
Dantonio, speaking Friday from Lucas Oil Stadium on the eve of the Big Ten title game, added: "It was basically about (opportunities) like this."
Beathard will get the opportunity to stretch Iowa's perfect season.
His availability was in doubt in October because of hip and leg ailments. He frequently limped to the sideline during Iowa's 40-10 victory at Northwestern, with coach Kirk Ferentz calling the performance "pure guts."
Ferentz said Friday he feared he would have to keep Beathard in a shotgun formation for all of November. He mentioned former Marshall star Byron Leftwich staying in a 2002 game against Akron with a broken shin, requiring teammates to carry him down the field.
"C.J.'s degree of mental and physical toughness, I don't know if I've been around a player that could surpass it," Ferentz said. "He's an amazing young guy -- very soft-spoken, humble. Everything he does is motivated to help the team, which is what you would hope your quarterback would be all about."
tgreenstein@tribpub.com
