Heisman Candidates
Who ya got?
I think its going to be Luck all the way but the votes will be close with the recent buzz RGIII has gotten lately
WWL link
December 9th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
Lets go RG3. Kid tore it up.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:08 PM ^
Ashame Montae Ball has no chance though, as his stats were gaudy like RG3's.
December 9th, 2011 at 2:19 PM ^
It's really a shame that Tyrann isn't going to win this. He is the best overall player in all of football. I'm so tired of the stupid and overrated Heisman Trophy going to either the RB or QB with the best statistics. It's supposed to go the most outstanding football player in football, not the guy with the most passing yards, or most rushing yards, or most touchdowns. It's a joke that Mathieu isn't going to get it. He is the best defensive back since Charles Woodson and the kid is only a freaking sophomore.
December 9th, 2011 at 2:56 PM ^
but they dont give out the heisman to a DB who isnt even the best DB on his team. While Mathieu had a great season on special teams and had a knack for big plays on defense, I dont think youll see a defensive player win it unless he plays a little offense as well.
December 9th, 2011 at 3:40 PM ^
What about punt returns?
December 9th, 2011 at 2:56 PM ^
He is a Heisman talent, but he does too many stupid things (smoking synthetic marijuana and getting caught, throwing away a ball before he crossed the goal liine) to be the Heisman winner this year. He should at least be a frontrunner for next year, however.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:02 PM ^
It should be RGIII, but I think Luck will win it.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^
RG3. I wanted him to win so badly that I was rooting for him to have a big game and win even if it meant they passed Michigan and Michigan was not eligible for a BCS bowl. That's how much I think he deserves it.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^
Priorities = not in order
December 9th, 2011 at 2:49 PM ^
At the time, I thought we'd be playing Houston and I would rather play Arkansas in the Citrus bowl than Houston in the Sugar.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^
Montee Ball led the nation in rushing and could break Barry Sanders's NCAA record for most touchdowns in a season in the Rose Bowl. The guy has been particularly large when Wisconsin needed him the most, scoring 17 touchdowns in the last 5 games. It's not an easy pick, but I would give it to him RG3 by a very small margin.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^
ball is only close because the ncaa is retarded in regards to their records. they now count bowl games, but not retroactively.....Barry had 39 tds in his 11 game regular season, and then 5 in the bowl game, so a grand total of 44 in 12 games. Ball has 38 this year, in 13 games.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^
You won't hear an argument from me against the "NCAA is retarded."
December 10th, 2011 at 11:37 AM ^
Even with the extra games Ball stil had less carries than Sanders tho.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
Barry Sanders had 39 touchdowns in 11 regular season games in 1988. In the Holiday Bowl that year he scored five touchdowns in three quarters before he was taken out of the game. Prior to 2002 Bowl statistics didn't count and for some reason the NCAA hasn't made inclusion of Bowl stats retroactive.
Montee Ball would have to score six touchdowns in the Rose Bowl to equal what Barry Sanders did in two fewer games. He is undoubtedly having a great season but it doesn't compare to what Barry did in what was probably the finest season by a running back and maybe by any player in college football.
Edit: Damn you mgoColorado and your amazing brevity skills!
December 9th, 2011 at 12:53 PM ^
Montae will have 3 more games than Barry did though, as Bowl games didnt count toward your season stats in those days and they didn't have conf championships or 12 regular season games either.
Barry had:
1988 Regular-season stats (11 games not including bowl game)
Rushing: 344 rushes, 2,628 yards (7.6 ave), 37 TDs
Receiving: 19 receptions, 106 yards, 0 TDs
Returns: 21 Kick returns, 421 yards, 1TD; 10 punt returns, 94 yards, 1TD
Overall 1988 stats (includes bowl game)
as above, except:
Rushing: 373 rushes, 2,850 yards (7.6 ave), 42 TDs (44 Total)
Passing: 1 of 2 for 17 yards
http://sportsratings.typepad.com/college_football/2007/12/barry-sanders-1.html
December 9th, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^
how did he win over Tony Rice?
/s
December 9th, 2011 at 2:36 PM ^
Very poor passing stats there for Barry.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
If Mathieu and Richardson don't place in the last two spots, I will be very disappointed
December 9th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^
Sorry.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
His ability to make things happen on defense is Woodson-esque.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
December 9th, 2011 at 1:19 PM ^
to put the honer-badger into the offensive sets for the MNC game. The guy is unstoppable with the ball and he ONLY sees it for punt returns ... until January 9th. Just sayin ....
Go Blue!
December 9th, 2011 at 1:25 PM ^
However, the honey badger doesn't give a crap. The honey badger takes what it wants.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:25 PM ^
I think he will, but I don't think he'll win. That suspension is going to be huge for voters, especially the Bill Plaschke types (IDK if Plaschke has a vote). While he was huge in the SEC title game, he did not have a huge game against Bama, which I think many people would agree was their most important game. If you look at Woodson's Heisman year, his biggest games were against MSU and OSU, our two biggest rivalry games that year. Mathieu has been the best player on the best team in the country, like Woodson, so he has that going for him.
Numbers-wise, I believe they're pretty similar in terms of takeaways (Honey Badger forces fumbles instead of INTs) and TDs.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
Honey Badger. If he hadn't been a coaches decision for one game he'd have a better shot. He's like C. Woodson v.2.0
December 9th, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
He got suspended for failing a drug test.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:37 PM ^
But, the Heisman is for the best player, not the most law abiding.
December 9th, 2011 at 5:57 PM ^
right, but you said his canidacy was hurt by a coach's decision, when it was his own immaturity that is causing the problems.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
I really think RG3 is going to win it, based on what I've been hearing over the last week. I really want Montee Ball to win it, and think he is incredibly deserving of it. I mean...when you almost break BARRY SANDERS' touchdown record...you deserve something. I just want to know what the arguments against Montee Ball are?
December 9th, 2011 at 12:06 PM ^
He just fell vicitm to Wisconsin putting putting their resources towards Wilson's campaign early on. I think you can make a solid argument for all 5 (with Luck being the least deserving based on this year).
December 9th, 2011 at 1:28 PM ^
He was Wisconsin's best player, but only got 40 touches in the two losses. He had 35 rushes combined in those two losses. He averaged 6.4 YPC against MSU and 5.0 YPC against Ohio. If anything, you could say they didn't get him the ball enough.
Oh yeah, he still managed to score two touchdowns in those games.
I think Ball is getting highly unpublicized as a contender and when you couple that with the fact that he's a Big Ten candidate, I feel strongly to defend him.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^
I really like Montee Ball (more so because we didn't play against him this year).
I took my son to the Badgers' spring game two years ago. Before the game, they host a meet n' greet with the players. The star players get a table to sit at so people can wait forever in line to get autographs. John Clay was the RB at the table. We opted instead to grab a picture with Montee Ball where the other RB's were hanging out away from the shining lights. What a nice guy. He was buried at #3 on the depth chart, kept fighting, and finally got his chance. So even though my son is a die-hard UM fan, we still root for Ball to do well.
Clay ousted P.J. Hill (left early for the draft and flamed out). Ball ousted Clay (left early for the draft and flamed out...maybe). I don't see anyone ousting Ball - although will he leave early for the NFL draft (under better circumstances than Clay and Hill)?
December 9th, 2011 at 4:02 PM ^
Ball really didn't have to wait his turn much more than a typical back. He had 98 carries as a true freshman, which is more than any back on our roster (Denard included) had as a freshman. At Wisconsin, there generally are two or three backs that see playing time.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
Denard
December 9th, 2011 at 12:07 PM ^
Tough to call I would be ok with anyone in the top 5 winning besides Richardson.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^
stiffarmtrophy.com is the go-to place for Heisman predictions, and they say RG3 with 70% of the max points. Luck #2, Richardson #3.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
Stiffarmtrophy.com has accurately predicted the last 9 Heisman winners and they are hugely reliable. RG3 is going to win, and he will likely win by a margin that puts him in the top 15 of Heisman winners as far as max point percentage goes. #2 is Luck with about 50%. #3 is Richardson, #4 is Ball, #5 is Mathieu.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:12 PM ^
Vegas has RGIII paying something stupid like 1/5. If Vegas likes him this much, I don't see how he loses. FWIW, last I checked Luck was 9/2.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^
December 9th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^
If Richardson beat Ball, we know that something in wrong (SEC bias). Ball scored mroe touchdowns on his own than over a third of FBS teams scored all together. If Luck beats RG3, we know that something is wrong (Lifetime achievement).
Isn't this supposed to be for "the most outstanding player in college football?"
December 9th, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
yea if you put Richardson in Wisconsin offense he would have shattered every record.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:56 PM ^
Think how Luck would have done with SC's talent at WR and T?
December 9th, 2011 at 1:06 PM ^
either way doesn't matter I was sayin I don't fully believe in ball feel his stats are inflated due to his offense. Kinda how everybody felt about Texas Tech QB's.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:12 PM ^
HIghly doubtful. Alabama has a pretty darn good offensive line itself. Also remember in the first game against State when Ball was out and Wisconsin's offense bogged down? If it was that simple, that wouldn't have happened.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:25 PM ^
The two most deserving are clearly RGIII and Ball. The other 3 are there thanks to ESPN's hype machine, and if any of them (especially Richardson) win I will be disgusted. That being said, sanity seems to be prevailing and most seem to predict an RGIII win.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:32 PM ^
RG3 deserves it more than anyone else. Luck is the one that people who don't watch college football vote for, Richardson is for people who live in Alabama. Mathieu is impressive but the suspension really killed him. Ball's record is impressive but he's doing it with like 3 more games than Barry had.
There wasn't a game where Barry had less than 150 yards rushing and 2 TDs.
Think about that...those are Madden numbers.
Ball has had a great year, but its not the best this year and it doesn't touch what Barry did.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:47 PM ^
But even with extra games nobody else has broken the record either. Compared to Barry, not impressive, compared to everyone else who failed to break the record, very impressive.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:31 PM ^
Barry had one of the best seasons ever. If you compare everyone to the best RB year, they're likely to come short. It's not like RG3 had the best QB year. Both Ball and RG3 had the best years compared to their peers.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:56 PM ^
I saw an interesting stat earlier today on ESPN. There was talk about how Ball got taken out of significant chunks of games because Wisc was so dominant, so this is another way to compare him to Barry:
Ball scored a touchdown every 7.24 touches this year.
Barry scored a touchdown every 8.67 touches in his record breaking year
Just something else to think about