Each week, ESPN conducts a straw poll of Heisman Trophy voters to see who leads the race after each weekend of football. After week 13, Trent Richardson sits at the top, with Andrew Luck close behind. Robert Griffin III's (RG3) movement up the rankings has settled following a major surge after his week 12 performance versus the Oklahoma Sooners. RG3 finds himself currently in third place.RG3 has a major advantage over Richardson and Luck heading into week 14. Luck and Richardson's seasons are over, but Griffin still has one more game to showcase his skills against the Texas Longhorns. Last impressions are very important in the Heisman Race. If RG3 has an amazing game against the Longhorns, can he catch Richardson and Luck since they aren't playing this week?
After an amazing four touchdown and 479 yards passing game versus the Oklahoma Sooners, Robert Griffin III (RG3) launched himself back into the Heisman Trophy Race. Though he is currently ranked third in ESPN's straw poll of Heisman voters, he still has a great chance of jumping to the top of the list. Heisman voters and the media aren't dead set on any particular candidate so far, thus making it a fluid Heisman Race going into the last weekend of the regular season.Griffin has an advantage over the current top two in the straw poll because he plays against the Texas Longhorns next weekend, while Trent Richardson and Andrew Luck are sitting at home because their season's are over. If Griffin were to win the Heisman Trophy Award, would this play against Oklahoma be his Heisman Moment? It led to the Baylor Bears first win against the Oklahoma Sooners ever in history.
Robert Griffin III (RG3) is hands down the best college football player in the nation. The fact the Baylor Bears are not a good football team should not keep him from winning the award. Its not the Bears offense that is terrible, it is the Bears defense. The offense led by Griffin has played good enough in every game this year.Even though his defense is terrible, Griffin has been able to lead the Bears to a 7-3 record with two more games left to play. Their three losses came against #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys, #14 Kansas State Wildcats, and #21 Texas A&M. His big wins of the season came against #14 TCU Horned Frogs and #5 Oklahoma Sooners.The following are RG3's statisticsRobert Griffin III Total Season StatisticsPassing Statistics: 224 pass completions; 302 passing attempts; 3093 yards; 74.2 completion percentage; 10.24 yards per attempt, 77 yard long; 29 touchdowns; 5 interceptionsRushing Statistics: 117 rushing attempts; 478 yards; 4.1 yard average per carry; 49 yard long; 5 touchdownsFor More Heisman Polls, visit:Heisman Trophy ProfileHeisman Trophy Page
Through the first eleven weeks of the 2011 college football season, the Stanford Cardinal's quarterback, Andrew Luck, dominated the Heisman Trophy race and discussion. However, following a close win to the USC Trojans and then losing the next week to the Oregon Ducks, Luck no longer leads in the race for the Heisman Trophy Award. Instead, the quarterback of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Brandon Weeden, is now considered the front-runner.Weeden has led the Cowboys to an undefeated season thus far and has them currently ranked #2 in the BCS standings. Though he is currently the leader, he has not separated himself from the rest of the hopefuls. He does, however, still have to play the #5 Oklahoma Sooners. If the Cowboys beat the Sooners, then they are going to the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans, LA. One of the major, if not most important qualifications needed by a quarterback to win the award is to have his team in contention for the National Championship. The only thing that can stop the Cowboys from going to the BCS Title Game is if the Sooners beat them.If Weeden is able to beat the Sooners and has a descent to good game will he win the Heisman Trophy Award?
Trent Richardson has had two plays that fans and the media have pointed to as potential highlights where Richardson had his "Heisman Moment." One of them was a 76 yard run versus the Ole Miss Rebels, and the other was a 57 yard run versus the Auburn Tigers. If Richardson is able to win the Heisman Trophy, which one of these two plays should be considered his Heisman Moment?
The Official Heisman Trophy website says each year the Heisman Trust "will award the annual Heisman Memorial Trophy to an individual who deserves designation as the most outstanding college football player in the United States." However, the Heisman Trust does not give any more details on how Heisman voters are supposed to evaluate candidates. They are left on their own to decide.There are two main ways a voter can approach their Heisman Vote. They can vote for the best overall college football player or for the player that has had the best season. The former rewards prior performance, while the latter judges the candidates based on what they did that season. Personally, I don't believe it is an award that is earned over a player's career, but rather it is an award designed to acknowledge the player that had the most outstanding season. What a player did last year should not matter. This of course, is just my opinion. What do you think?How should people vote on the Heisman Trophy Award Best Player or Best Season?
In 1988, Barry Sanders had the single greatest season in the history of all running backs in college football. He easily became the 54th Heisman Trophy Award winner and led his #12 Oklahoma State Cowboys to the Holiday Bowl versus #15 Wyoming. Sanders lit up every team and field they faced that season, and quickly became the most popular and beloved college football player of that season. Though he lived his life wowing crowds in the limelight while on the football field, he was actually shy and very quiet away from it. He never once celebrated after scoring a touchdown. Instead, he would simply walk over to the closest referee, hand him the football, and then jog over to the bench.Below are his total statistics from his 1988 Heisman Trophy season and a game by game breakdown:1988 Regular-season statsRushing: 344 rushes, 2,628 yards (7.6 ave), 37 TDsReceiving: 19 receptions, 106 yards, 0 TDsReturns: 21 Kick returns, 421 yards, 1TD; 10 punt returns, 94 yards, 1TDOverall 1988 statsas above, except:Rushing: 373 rushes, 2,850 yards (7.6 ave), 42 TDsPassing: 1 of 2 for 17 yardsIn addition to setting the record for total rushing yards, Sanders set 33 other NCAA records in 1988, including:Most TDs (39) and most rushing TDs (37)Most points scored (234)Most 300+ yard games in a season/career (4)Most all-purpose yards in a season (3,249) and per-game (295.5; this record was 50 years old, held by Byron "Whizzer" White) There is no doubt Sanders had the best single season for a running back in college football history, however, the question is whether Sanders had the single best Heisman Trophy Campaign in history. What do you think? If you think somebody had a better single season than Sanders, please leave a comment stating your case and who you think had a better Heisman Trophy Campaign.
Montee Ball from the Wisconsin Badgers has been a stud all season. He leads the nation in rushing with 1759 yards, and is one touchdown away from breaking Barry Sanders record of 39. Let me restate that...Ball has 38 touchdowns and is one away from breaking Barry Sanders record. That is amazing. Sanders' record is one that many thought would never be touched, and he is one away with 70 less carries than Sanders. In the beginning of the season, Wisconsin quarterback, Russell Wilson, received a lot of hype for the Heisman Trophy. However, after losing to Michigan State and Ohio State on last second Hail Mary passes, Wilson was declared no longer a Heisman Hopeful by the media. Wilson's Heisman campaign and hopes overshadowed Ball's accomplishments. For the majority of the year, Ball was kicking ass on the field but never being mentioned in the media for the Heisman Trophy. It was only in the last two weeks or so that his name has popped up. However, another running back, Trent Richardson from Bama, has been at the center of the Heisman race all season even though he has 200 less yards rushing and 15 less touchdowns. Seems slightly biased and unfair, don't you think?Only in the last two weeks has Ball received any media attention for the Heisman, but it still has been less than other hopefuls. In my opinion, Ball deserved more attention all season long for what he was doing at Wisconsin. He was unfairly ignored and in part due to media bias. If the media declares x and y are preseason Heisman hopefuls, they pretty much never waiver from their preseason beliefs. Andrew Luck from Stanford has not had a great season by any means, but he was THE preseason Heisman favorite. Therefore, all season long we have been overwhelmed with talk about him deserving the Heisman. He played horrible in his two big games of the season throwing terrible pick 6's against both Oregon and USC. Montee Ball Season Statistics by Game:UNLV: 10 rushing attempts; 63 yards rushing; 3 rushing touchdowns; 2 receptions; 67 yards receiving; 1 receiving touchdownOregon State: 18 rushing attempts; 118 yards rushing; 2 rushing touchdownsNorthern Illinois: 20 rushing attempts; 91 yards rushing; 2 rushing touchdowns; 2 receptions; 32 yards receiving; 0 receiving touchdownsSouth Dakota: 15 rushing attempts; 88 yards rushing; 2 rushing touchdowns; 2 receptions; 21 yards receiving; 0 receiving touchdownsNebraska: 30 rushing attempts; 151 yards rushing; 4 rushing touchdownsIndiana: 14 rushing attempts; 142 yards rushing; 3 rushing touchdowns; 1 reception; 46 yards receiving; 0 receiving touchdownsMichigan State:18 rushing attempts; 115 yards rushing;1 rushing touchdown; 2 receptions; 24 yards receiving; 1 receiving touchdownOhio State: 17 rushing attempts; 85 yards rushing; 1 rushing touchdown; 3 receptions; 30 yards receiving; 1 receiving touchdownPurdue: 20 rushing attempts; 233 yards rushing; 3 rushing touchdowns; 1 reception; 9yards receiving; 0 receiving touchdownsMinnesota: 23 rushing attempts; 166 yards rushing; 2 rushing touchdowns; 1 receptions; 5 yards receiving; 1 receiving touchdownsIllinois: 38 rushing attempts; 224 yards rushing; 2 rushing touchdowns; 2 receptions; -1 yards receiving; 1 receiving touchdownPenn State: 25 rushing attempts; 156 yards rushing; 4 rushing touchdowns; 1 reception; 15 yards receiving; 0 receiving touchdownsMichigan State: 27 rushing attempts; 137 yards rushing; 3 rushing touchdowns; 3 receptions; 7 yards receiving; 1 receiving touchdownsAs can be seen, Ball didn't have a single bad game this season, and had over 100 yards of total offense and multiple scores in each. It just doesn't make sense that he didn't receive more attention. I'm not saying he should definitely win the Heisman Trophy, but it should be between him and Robert Griffin III from Baylor.
The USC Trojans quarterback, Matt Barkley, recently led his team over the Oregon Ducks in Eugene, OR. The win knocked the Ducks out of the BCS National Championship hunt. It also eliminated LaMichael James' chances of winning the Heisman Trophy Award. Barkley, however, has not regularly been in the Heisman Trophy discussion. The following are his season statistics:Matt Barkley Season StatisticsPassing Statistics: 273 pass completions; 404 passing attempts; 3105 yards; 67.6 completion percentage; 7.69 yards per attempt, 82 yard long; 33 touchdowns; 7 interceptions Barkley has his Trojans 9-2 with only one game left in the season. I think he should be a candidate. In my opinion, he is the best pocket-passer in the nation...yes, I believe he is better than Andrew Luck. However, what do you think?Is Matt Barkley a Heisman Trophy Candidate?
In the 2011 Iron Bowl, the Alabama Crimson Tide's star running back, Trent Richardson, broke a 57 yard run versus their rival the Auburn Tigers. The Heisman Award Hopeful rushed for 203 yards and scored a touchdown on a five yard touchdown pass. Did Richardson have his Heisman Moment in the Iron Bowl?
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