Even though Denis Pitta was the nation's leader in all but two major statistically categories -receptions and touchdowns. However, the winner of the Mackey Award went to Aaron Hernandez out of Florida who was behind Pitta in all numbers except for catches which was only a difference of two.
| 2009 | Receptions | Yards | Average | LNG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Pitta | 57 | 784 | 13.8 | 35 | 7 |
| Aaron Hernandez | 59 | 739 | 12.5 | 64 | 4 |
| Dorin Dickerson | 45 | 508 | 11.3 | 53 | 10 |
To me it is obvious that the reason Florida's Aaron Hernandez won is because well first off he plays for a marquee name in Florida and is on either CBS or ESPN every week. While Dennis Pitta plays for a known name in BYU, but nowhere near the caliber of Florida. Then his games are on the albatross television deal known as Versus which is not on DirecTv at the moment, CBS College is on an upper tier package, and The Mtn. which unless you live in the foot print or have the sports pack on DirecTv good luck getting that game.
The advantages again go to the BCS schools and the SEC, because they are most visible then the lowly Mountain West Conference who have a bad television deal. At least Pitta came away with being the tight end selection on the Walter Camp All American first team.