Heisman Road Map- Directions to the 74th member of the club

With the college football regular season coming to an end, the presentation of the 76^th Heisman Trophy has got college football fans sitting anxiously on the edge of their seats. I have a good memory of the past 15 Heisman races and I can’t remember a race that has brought about this many quality finalists. In past Heisman races there seemed to be a huge front runner or a mono y mono match-up between two top dogs. The Heisman race this year, to me, quite possibly has the most legitimate finalists in the history of the award. A great case can be made for every player and each has their own unique set of skills and statistics to bode- but obviously only one will get the stage to deliver a victory speech and then receive entry into the most sacred sports fraternity known to man-who will it be??? Here are the candidates and the case I present for each on why they should and should not win the coveted hardware.

Andrew Luck- The front runner from day one, Luck and the Stanford Cardinal cruised through the first 7 games of their season before a 3 overtime scare from USC. That game for Luck wasn’t simply a roller coaster in and of itself; it was also a turbulent ride in terms of his Heisman candidacy. He arguably went from the leader in the Heisman race at the first whistle- to 3^rd or 4^th after that pick 6 that almost cost them the game. After hovering at the 3.5 spot he then jolted back up to 1^st after leading his team in a game tying 2 minute drill and winning in triple overtime. No questions asked, Luck was a shoe-in to win the 25 pound chunk of cast bronze after that game, but a trip to Eugene, Oregon the following week turned out to be the biggest blow to his Heisman candidacy. Luck played his worst game of the season, recording his lowest QB rating of  the year at 132.7 and throwing 2 interceptions  in a 53-30 Cardinal loss that also ended their hopes at a National Title and Pac 12 championship berth. Luck doesn’t lead the country in any individual passing statistic and actually had a better year last season (only by a slight margin). Although I really admire the intangibles Luck holds and his high level of character, he frankly was not the best College Quarterback this season, let alone “Most Outstanding” player in College Football.

Robert Griffin III “RG3”- The journey of RG3 has been nothing less than amazing. A world class sprinter turned into a dual threat Quarterback, matures and grows into the odds on front runner for the Heisman Trophy? Yes, it is in fact the truth. Griffin has come a long way in his four years at Baylor, maturing from a one dimensional runner into a speedster, rocket armed Quarterback with great decision making ability. RG3 led the FBS in QB rating at 192.3 and yards per pass attempt at 10.8 yards, and ranked 2^nd in touchdown to interception ratio at 6 to 1 behind only Case Keenum who was 9 to 1. To me, Griffin III does standout as a great Quarterback accounting for 45 total touchdowns this season. However, two games highlight why RG3 shouldn’t and may not be the 74^th Heisman trophy winner. Game one was his worst “Non-Heisman” moment of the season, on the road against Kansas State. RG3 threw a costly interception on what would have been the game sealing drive, which allowed Kansas State to come down and kick a field goal to beat RG3 and Baylor 36-35. Game two was his worst performance of the season and it again came against a top notch opponent on the road in Oklahoma State. RG3 recorded his lowest QB rating of the season at 136.0 and threw 2 interceptions (the only time he did that this season), in a 59-24 loss. I truly believe that this Heisman race is so close- individual, highly competitive games and moments like these need to be broken down critically in order to determine who the most qualified candidate to win is. And those two performances don’t lead me to believe RG3 was the “Most Outstanding” player in College Football this season.

Montee Ball- I like to refer to Mr. Ball as the “Montee Plain and Tall” of this year’s Heisman race. He’s settled in as the background guy who had zero notoriety until about 2 weeks ago, when most of the sports world was stunned to hear: Wisconsin’s stud running back was on the verge of tying Barry Sander’s record. Despite that, Ball still had his back against the wall. Playing at Wisconsin-which rarely penetrates major market’s prime-time television slots, and the fact that a Heisman front runner (Russell Wilson) was his Quarterback and drew much of the attention from the beginning of season, are legitimate reasons as to why the public eye was never fully focused on Ball.  However, due diligence is a must when examining Montee Ball’s Heisman candidacy- when you start to dive into the numbers, there’s no denying this kid is having one fairy tale of a season.  Ball led the FBS in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns racking up 1,759 yards on the ground and steamrolling into the end zone 32 times. Despite the freakish statistical outpouring Ball has had, the reason he should win the Heisman is because he literally “Balled” in every game this season. He played from whistle to whistle in all 13 games for Wisconsin and scored 2 or more touchdowns in every game. Yes, multiple touchdowns in every game. Is that even possible?  Of course it is, and it doesn’t stop there. Ball actually did something more astonishing; he scored 4 touchdowns on 4 separate occasions this season. Three of his tetra-touchdown games were all against quality, conference opponents; Michigan State (5^th ranked “D” in the nation), Penn State (10^th ranked “D” in the nation), and Nebraska (36^th ranked “D” in the nation). Talk about a “Gamer”- Montee Ball personifies this term and literally didn’t disappoint in one single game this season. Frankly, that cannot be said for any of the other 4 Heisman finalists (as I point out throughout this piece). The cherry on top came last week in the inaugural Big Ten Championship game, where Wisconsin was looking for revenge against Michigan State after losing on a last second Hail Mary earlier in the season. Montee “I’m always gonna” Ball rushed for 137 yards with 3 touchdowns on the ground and one touchdown through the air, and Wisconsin pulled off an impressive 42-39 come from behind victory in the Big Ten Championship. I been looking long and far and still can’t find one legitimate reason as to why this kid is not the “Most Outstanding” Player in College Football.

Trent Richardson- One of the most exciting players I’ve seen play the game, Trent Richardson spent most of the season atop the Heisman race, as most people’s 1a or 1b to win the award- I admittedly was one of those people. That was, until an early November night when “TRich” had the Heisman spotlight exclusively on himself in a 1 vs. 2 SEC match-up against LSU. Although he accounted for 169 total yards (89 rushing, 80 receiving) Richardson failed to find the end zone, which was the only time that happened this season. Add to that, in the last 3 drives when the game was tied 6-6 and a trip to the SEC and National Championship was on the line, Richardson had 4 total yards with a crucial drop in overtime, and was non-existent in his “Heisman moment”. LSU would go on to win the game 9-6, the loss, coupled with Alabama’s weak and dull schedule from there on out really knocked Richardson off the top of the Heisman race. Richardson still does present a great case and had 11 outstanding games of the 12 he played in this season. He rushed for over 100 yards in 9 games tying former teammate and Heisman winner Mark Ingram’s school record. Also, Richardson scored multiple touchdowns in 7 of 12 games this season, and accounted for 23 total touchdowns on the year. Although many will argue he played the toughest schedule week in and week out against quality SEC defenses. That reasoning isn’t enough to justify Trent Richardson ranking 6^th in the FBS in rushing yards, 5^th in rushing touchdowns, and not leading the FBS in any individual rushing category. You can’t be the “Most Outstanding” player in College Football if you fail to accomplish this, and be the clear cut best player at your position, and not score in your team’s toughest game and seize your “Heisman Moment”. Richardson isn’t even the “Most Outstanding” at his position this season let alone in all of College Football. I firmly believe “TRich” will have a great career on Sunday’s and is one of the rarest combination’s of speed, agility, and strength in years. However, his inability to stay in the lead during his campaign and truly standout, combined with the x-factor of his team losing some attention after the LSU loss is what keeps him from giving a victory speech tonight.

Tyrann Mathieu- If you don’t know or haven’t caught on, the reason I’ve put Most Outstanding in quotations throughout this piece is because those words are the cornerstone of the Heisman Trophy Winner. Not only is the “Honey Badger” the best defensive player in the nation in many opinions, outstanding is the first word you think of when you watch him roam the football field. This kid has instincts that are just as rare as painite gem and a 1909 Honus Wagner card. You just don’t see any of them all that often. When you combine Mathieu’s instincts, non-stop motor, and play-making ability you get the synergistic result of multiple jaw dropping plays. The “Honey Badger” forced 6 fumbles (3^rd in the nation) recovered 5 fumbles (1^st in the nation) and scored 4 touchdowns (2 on fumble recoveries and 2 on punt returns). Mathieu just kept on producing outstanding results in the hardest parts of the game. He forced turnovers (arguably the hardest thing to do in the game), he created constant “sudden change” with his play-making ability (arguably the most important factor in college football for momentum and crowd energy), and he’s so dangerous he changed opponents game plans on both offense and special teams (extremely beneficial to the team as whole). The reasons why Mathieu won’t win the Heisman are; he plays defense, he’s a sophomore, and he was suspended for one game for failing a drug test. A brief explanation for each of these reasons ; Of the 73 winners only one, Charles Woodson was a primary defensive player and a kick returner, Of the 73 winners only three have been  sophomores and all three played offense, and obviously you can’t miss a game because of a failed drug test and win the Heisman-not happening. I want this kid to win the Heisman believe me, I think he's the best player to watch in all of College Football, he constantly makes people miss, and turns boring 3 yard dives into touchdowns going the other way- but this year it’s just not realistic. The good thing is he’ll be back next year and you can count on him being a front runner from start to finish and hopefully becoming the second defensive player to win the Heisman in 2012.

Voting Breakdown- Despite ESPN’s constant airing of their poll that shows RG3 as the runaway favorite, the voting system for the Heisman is much more complex. There are a total of 870 media voters, 56 past winners, and 1 vote for the fans based on an online poll. Needless to say, the ESPN poll doesn’t represent a significant percentage of the voters- so anything is still possible. Each voter ranks the top 3 candidates with a 1^st place vote equaling 3 points, a 2^nd place vote equaling 2 points, and a 3^rd place vote equaling 1 point. Without question it should be another close race and could top last years race as the closest margin of victory, only time will tell…  

My Ballot

1^st Montee Ball

2^nd Robert Griffin III

3^rd Tyrann Mathieu

 * This is the 76^th Heisman Trophy Presentation. There have been 74 individual winners with Archie Griffin being the lone two time recipient of the award and Reggie Bush being the only award winner to vacate his award, leaving 73 recipients of the Heisman Trophy.

*All statistics were derived from ESPN.COM

http://espn.go.com/college-football/statistics