My 2011 Heisman Trophy ballot
Published: 12/10/2011 8:00 PM
Last Modified: 12/10/2011 7:33 PM
Robert Griffin, Baylor
Montee Ball, Wisconsin
Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State
He’s college football’s most outstanding player.
Best stats? Arguably. Most valuable? Possibly.
It’s refreshing to see a player from a 9-3 team accorded the Heisman. The award has become a “best player on the best team” honor in recent years. I think that’s OK, but I certainly don’t believe it’s necessary.
I voted for Tim Tebow in 2007 when Tebow had 23 rushing touchdowns and 32 passing touchdowns, and the Gators were 9-3. Sometimes, regardless of how a player’s team did, he’s just too outstanding to not vote for.
That’s why I voted for Griffin.
Electric runs, dynamic throws, on-the-money bombs, short blitz-beaters, dramatic pocket escapes, late-game heroics — RG3 had it all. He even set an NCAA record for passer efficiency, with an astronomical rating of 192.31. How good is that? Colt Brennan’s old single-season record was 186.0. Sam Bradford’s NCAA career record is 175.6. Griffin threw 36 touchdowns and six interceptions, completed 72 percent of his passes and also ran for nine TDs.
I also like the fact that he’s an honors student, graduated early, and represents himself, his family, his school and his community with class and dignity in every possible situation. It’s not in the voting guidelines, but that’s part of what the Heisman represents to me. He’s the best quote in the Big 12 not because he shoots off his mouth and struts around bragging and thumping his chest (then skips interviews when things get rough), but because he’s smart and thoughtful and offers insight into aspects of himself and his game and his team that you never knew existed. Thanks for that, Robert.
My second-place vote was nearly as easy. Lots of great candidates this year. I mean, lots. I could have included any one of nine guys on my ballot, and I’d feel good about any of them. But I chose Wisconsin running back Montee Ball for one simple reason: all those touchdowns.
Barry Sanders’ record of 39 TDs will never be touched, we’ve said since 1988. Well, Ball has touched it. He has 38 this season, and that’s more than I ever thought we’d see again. He still has a bowl game coming up and surely will score at least once, though, truth be told, if OSU and the NCAA would simply count Sanders’ five TDs in the Holiday Bowl, he’d have 44 and we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
Anyway, Ball isn’t just some big, fat goal-line plug. The guy is fourth in the nation in rushing, 135.3 yards per game. He averaged 6.4 yards per carry. How good is that? Alabama’s Trent Richardson averaged 6.0. Adrian Peterson, for crying out loud, only averaged 5.7 in his best year at OU. Ball rushed for 1,759 yards but also caught 20 passes for 255 yards and six TDs. He even threw a TD pass. Folks, that’s productivity, and if not for Keith Nichol’s Hail Mary catch and another the next week by Ohio State, Ball might be your winner and likely would be playing in the national championship game.
The third spot on my ballot was the hardest. I wanted to say Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck but, statistically, he hit a rough patch toward the back half of the season. I wanted to say LSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu but, statistically, he disappeared (literally, thanks to a one-game suspension) for nearly a month. I wanted to say Alabama running back Trent Richardson, but in my mind, I plugged in a handful of other running backs into Alabama’s offense and I saw them doing much the same thing. (Don’t get me wrong, Richardson is a unique beast-type runner on the field, but 1,583 yards and 20 TDs aren’t eye-popping Heisman numbers).
I wanted to say Houston quarterback Case Keenum or Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore, both statistical marvels and leaders and winners. But Keenum collapsed in Houston’s championship game defeat, and Moore didn’t seize his chance to win in Boise State’s loss. Moreover, given the strength of their schedule this season, they have little room for error.
I also considered Oregon running back LaMichael James and Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson.
But, with a little over an hour to the voting deadline, I felt best about Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden.
Weeden has all the stats (a .726 completion percentage, 34 touchdowns, 4,328 yards passing; though his 12 interceptions — six at the beginning of the season, five toward the end — were troubling). Statistically speaking, Weeden was a week-in, week-out tour de force, with a shaky game against Texas and a three-touchdown, 476-yard, three-interception “flop” against Iowa State.
Going into that Friday night loss to the Cyclones, I had decided Weeden was my front-runner. Afterward, everyone said he was finished. I wavered back and forth.
I ultimately included Weeden on my ballot because it’s unfair to penalize Weeden for his field goal kicker missing a game-winning field goal. And although the loss dropped him off my No. 1 spot, I kept him on the ballot largely because of his weekly consistency and the fact that he coolly bounced back with a solid passing game (in a wind tunnel) that helped demolished and demoralized Bedlam rival Oklahoma. He quarterbacked OSU’s first outright conference champion in 63 years, won 22 games in two record-setting seasons and exorcised a legion of demons along the way.
— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
