Heisman Vote Goes to....

So who gets my Heisman vote this season, in one of the more close races, this years winner is quite hard to predict. The three front runners are Trent Richardson, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.  However, which player to pick is quite hard.  Lets break it down.

Trent Richardson - RB - Alabama Crimson Tide 

It's been a great year for the Tide's star running back totaling just over 1900 all purpose yards and 23 touchdowns this season.  Trent is a strong, fast downhill runner who has performed his best in big time games this season.  He was a powerful force in all of their victories this year and Nick Saban believes his running back is the best player in the country.   My analysis of Trent goes as such, the star running back did not have the best game in the world against the 2nd rated defense in LSU in the country during their early November show down.  His best games of the year came against, Arkansas, Florida, Penn State and Ole Miss and in the game vs the Rebels he rushed for 183 and four touchdowns.  You always try to figure out what this player means to their team and how they would fair without him. Trent is by far the catalyst for the Crimson Tide offense and they go as he goes.  Not taking any credit away from the rest of their offensive stars but Trent, who was plagued by injury last season surely showed why he is one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy.

Andrew Luck - QB - Stanford Cardinals

Over 3000 yards passing and 35 passing touchdowns with two rushing touchdowns seems like a hell of a season if you ask me.  Andrew has been receiving all the hype since he decided to stay and play at Stanford this season after the departure of his head coach.  He wanted to lead the Cardinals to a National Championship which he felt short of.  However, that does not take away from some of Luck's best performances of the year.  His best game in my eyes, came against USC were he led the Cards to a Triple OT win over the Trojans.  He threw for three touchdowns and 330 yards along with a rushing touchdown.  The next game that impressed me was his performance against a fast Oregon defense.  Although they lost the game by 23 points, he still played well, the defense played horrific.  It's clear that Stanford would not be in the position they are without their star QB at the helm and would not be playing in the BCS Tositos Fiesta Bowl against the Cowboys from Oklahoma State.  To me, this guy is the most valuable to his team and they could not do without him.  Great year for Luck.

Robert Griffin III - QB - Baylor Bears

RBIII has had an interesting year at Baylor with amazing wins over Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech.  He has thrown for 3,398 yards this season and 36 passing touchdowns.  He has 644 yards rushing and 9 rushing touchdowns on the season totally 45 touchdowns and over 4,300 total yards for the Baylor Bears.  The staple mark for me was his performance against Oklahoma on November 19th.  The QB threw for 479 yards and four touchdowns and had 72 yards on the ground. This team was previously ranked pre season #1 in the AP / Coaches poll and he put Baylor on his back and absolutely routed the Sooners.  HIs performance against Texas was quite impressive as well, racking up four total touchdowns and 353 all purpose yards on the day.  When you look at RBIII and the rest of Baylor its pretty clear that this team could not contend with some of the best in the Big 12 without him at the helm.  Griffin has had a monstrous season putting up amazing numbers and seemingly winning over voters left and right.


So who gets my vote?

Robert Griffin III - RBIII has better numbers than Stanford QB A. Luck for starters.  Number two, he has wins against better quality opponents and better performances in these games than his counterpart.  Baylor would not be the same team without RBIII and when it comes down to it, he really is the best player in college football this season.  The Big 12 is the second best conference in the NCAA only behind the SEC.  Some would even put the Big 12 ahead of the SEC depending on the year obviously. Throwing for almost 4000 yards and 45 touchdowns both on the ground and through the air, quite impressive.  Regardless, RBIII gets my vote.  It will be interesting to see how the next few months pan out for him and see how he can improve to become an NFL QB but that remains to be seen. Congrats to all of the candidates for a great season.  

PJG