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Heisman Watch 2010 - Week 5, or Big Week Blinders
October 7, 2010 | By Benjamin Miraski
Note to ESPN: The Heisman Trophy is awarded to the best player in college football in a given year.
The last word is of particular importance in this case, because it seems the writers there choose to ignore it.
They may agree with me that Michigan’s Denard Robinson is by far the leader in what is turning out to be a one-horse race.
But like me they fill out a five name ballot, and they post their results from that five name ballot.
And at number three, they have a player who had a great game, but has not had a season that warrants a No. 3 spot when the votes are counted.
That person is Oregon’s LaMichael James.
It is hard not to notice James’ 257 yards rushing against Stanford. No one else has managed very much against them all season, so it stands out.
But that is one game. His performance against Stanford accounts for more than a third of his yardage for the year, which doesn’t show in my mind that he has been consistent this season.
Add in that he ran for just 94 yards against Arizona State on 28 carries — a very non-Heisman-like 3.4 yard average — and you can see why his 257 seems like an anomaly.
His other huge performance came against Portland State, not exactly the stiffest competition.
Yes, James deserves to be mentioned in the race for the Heisman. He can run and when the season is over, a 94-yard performance will not stand out as much as when you have only played four games.
But to place him at No. 3 right now doesn’t say much for the other athletes in the race, ones who have put up consistent numbers and have shown leadership all season long.
Call me in a few weeks and we can talk, although by then it is possible that Denard Robinson has made this whole conversation moot.
My ballot this week:
- Denard Robinson (QB, Michigan) - Could it be anyone else? Almost another 500 yards against Indiana and would probably still be putting up these numbers if his team’s defense wasn’t Swiss cheese and they needed to outscore everyone. Guess that knee isn’t hurting him. Everyone else is a long way behind.
- Kellen Moore (QB, Boise State) - A very pedestrian 200 yards and three touchdowns against one of the worst teams in the country. But it was one of the worst teams in the country and Boise State didn’t need him to do anything out of the ordinary to win that game. This will continue to be his issue until he has to light it up against Hawaii in a few weeks.
- Terrelle Pryor (QB, Ohio State) - Once again pulled the leadership vote from me this week. After he was knocked out against Illinois, the Buckeyes looked rattled. Pryor’s return sparked the team to another win and cemented his place in the top three for at least another week.
- Cameron Newton (QB, Auburn) - Welcome to the race Mr. Newton. Maybe I should remind everyone that Newton led the SEC in rushing until this past week. Louisiana-Monroe didn’t push him so he was content with throwing just the longest pass in Auburn’s history. The two pronged attack will return this week against Kentucky and could power Newton higher in this race quickly.
- Andrew Luck (QB, Stanford) - Luck battled Oregon hard and turned in some good numbers against the Ducks despite his two interceptions. Let’s see how he does against USC’s defense before we totally dismiss him for one loss.
Others: Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett (had a week off to regroup), Oregon’s LeMichael James (See, I can recognize the ability; just not ready to bet my soul on it yet), Alabama’s Trent Richardson (Everyone else is getting on the Mark Ingram bandwagon. I am sticking with the real workhorse on the team).
Small time performance: Bryant Moniz (QB, Hawaii) - I might need to consider Moniz for a little more than this spot if he keeps this up. We forget that if he hadn’t been knocked from the game against USC, “survived” would have turned into “shocked” for the Trojans. Moniz has been that good this season and continued to do it again this week against Louisiana Tech. He finished with 532 passing yards and four touchdowns while running for another 50. Alone he was 90 percent of the team’s offense. That is getting it done.
Posted October 7, 2010 5:00 PM