Our season long journey of the Bloguin Heisman Poll has come down to one last vote. For 13 weeks we have debated and voted on who will win the prestigious trophy. Andrew Luck has been #1 on the overall ballot for 8 of the 13 weeks, RG3 has been #1 for 3 of the 13 weeks and Trent Richardson and Marcus Lattimore sat at the top of the mountain for one week each. The last three weeks has seen three different front-runners with Alabama’s Trent Richardson finally taking the crown in Week 13. Last week Trent Richardson and Andrew Luck sat the sidelines while RG3, Montee Ball and Case Keenum all had one last chance to make their impression on the voters. Yesterday, Robert Griffin III was named “Offensive Player of the Year” in the Bloguin College Football Awards. Did he take home the Bloguin Heisman as well? Head on over to Crystal Ball Run to find out, in the meantime here are the ballots that Pete and I turned in:
#1 Montee Ball, Wisconsin Ball has 38 (32 rushing) TDs this season, the most by any single player since Barry Sanders in 1988. He has also put up over 2,000 total yards of offense. His knack finding the end zone has propelled Wisconsin to the inaugural Big 10 championship and a repeat visit to the Rose Bowl. His stats are incomparable to any other player. If statistics are the measure of the Heisman winner, Ball should hoist the trophy.
#2 Andrew Luck, Stanford: Luck’s statistics have been very good all season. Not the best, admittedly, but very good – especially considering Chris Owusu and other receivers missed much of the season. Luck is a leader, and he has incredible game presence and field awareness. If not for Luck, Stanford would have fallen into obscurity this season. If ability and talent are the measure of a Heisman winner, Luck should earn the award.
#3 Robert Griffin III, Baylor: RG3 has an outstanding statistical season and led Baylor to unprecedented success in the Big 12, including a thrilling win over Oklahoma. Even in his team’s three losses, Griffin performed well. Griffin’s final regular season game against Texas will no doubt help his cause as well.
Kevin:
#1 Robert Griffin III, Baylor: Seasons are defined by players. In the recent past we’ve had players like Reggie Bush, Tim Tebow and Cam Newton that defined seasons. This year the season was most closely defined by RG3. On a Friday night in early September we watched as RG3 and TCU shocked and amazed us with their offense. Toward the end of the year Griffin gave us a “Heisman Moment” when he stuck a dagger in the Oklahoma Sooners with a 40 yard dart to shock the world. Robert Griffin III is the Offensive Player of the Year and is the most deserving player for the Heisman Trophy.
#2 Trent Richardson, Alabama: If the definition of the Heisman Trophy is the best player on a Top 5 team, as it’s kind of turned into in the last several years, then Richardson gets this award. Richardson was clearly the best player on his team and without him it’s questionable how good Bama would have been due to their RB depth. Richardson had a great season but it came up just short of being Heisman worthy in this writers opinion. That being said, you give me the option of taking any RB in the country for my team and I’m taking Richardson.
#3 Tyrann Mathieu, LSU: I’ve waffled back and forth on Mathieu and how deserving he is to be in the Heisman race this year. He was hurt when he got suspended for one game and yes integrity is factored into the Heisman vote. After watching my Georgia Bulldogs lose to the LSU Tigers I just couldn’t leave the Honey Badger off of my ballot. Without his tide-turning game-changing punt return for a TD LSU would have gone into half-time with zero points in the SEC Championship Game and who knows if they would have been able to put together their avalanche of points they did on Georgia in the Georgia Dome. Mathieu is the definition of a play-maker and a game-changer and deserves to be in this discussion.
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