LaMichael James One of the PreSeason Favorites to win Heisman.

Oregon Duck star tailback and Liberty Eylau's own LaMichael James, who helped lead the Leopards to the 2006 3A State Championship, is right behind Stanford's Andrew Luck in USA Today's Heisman watch and has been picked by several in the national media to win college football's most coveted trophy.

LaMichael was the top running back in the nation last year, running for over 1700 yards and scoring 21 touchdowns. The #4 Ducks begin their quest to return to the national championship game Saturday when they face #5 LSU in Dallas. No doubt, LaMichael is looking to have a better outing against an SEC opponent Saturday than he did against Auburn in the Championship game when he was held to under 50 yards. A great game Saturday and LaMichael should jump ahead of Luck on everybody's Heisman list.

LaMichael's 2010 Highlight's..

It's so exciting to see our local kids doing well. Ryan Mallet is now in the NFL, Bo Bigham is having a great college career at Arkansas playing baseball, Will Middlebrooks is still in the Red Sox farm system working his way up and LaMichael is right up there with best in college football. Not to mention all of the other great athletes that have come from our area and gone on to great things over the years. We should all be proud and support these kids as they work hard to fulfill their dreams and make us all proud in the process.

I know come Saturday night, I'll be wearing my Duck colors and rooting for LaMichael to roast those Tigers! I'm even going to root for the Patriots anytime Ryan is under center. Despite my love for one of their biggest rivals, the Miami Dolphins. Go Pa.. err, Pat.. err.. Go Ryan!!