Heisman: RGIII, No Luck, Montee and his TDs

By Dan Rodgers

Tonight, less than an hour ago, was the Heisman Trophy ceremony. QB Robert Griffin III won the prestigious award, the first Baylor player in history.

Below is the list of the first, second, and third place finishers for the award and their season statistics:

1. Robert Griffin III, QB 9-3 Baylor 3,998 p-yards 72.4% 36 TD 6 INT - 644 ru-yards 9 TD
2. Andrew Luck, QB 11-1 Stanford 3,170 p-yards, 70.0% 35 TD 9 INT - 153 ru-yards 2 TD
3. Trent Richardson, RB 11-1 Alabama 1,583 ru-yards 20 TD - 27 rec 327 rec-yards 3 TD

It appears that RGIII has the best statistical season of the three top vote-getters. However, for much of the season, Luck was playing with a few walk-on receivers and his tight end. Trent Richard "led" his team to a more-than-likely berth in the BCS National Championship game and had over 160 total yards in the team's only loss: 9-6 OT to LSU (the kicker missed multiple FGs). Take a look at two other players I feel were deserving of consideration:

Russell Wilson, QB 11-2 Wisconsin 2879 p-yards 72.5% 31 TD 3 INT - 320 ru-yards 5 TD
Montee Ball, RB 11-2 Wisconsin 1759 ru-yards 32 TD - 20 rec 255 rec-yards 6 TD

Wilson had a comparable season to RGIII, and the only reason his passing yards are so long is because Wisconsin often pulled him from the game when they were killing their opponent. They also would be playing for the National Championship had they not lost on a hail mary in back-to-back games. Even more impressive is the job Ball did carrying to load when Wilson need a pick-me-up. It is even scarier to think of what Ball's totals would be like if he did split some carries with James White, who stole over 600 yards and 6 TDs.

I am probably not as educated as I should be in Heisman voting, how they choose the top candidates, etc. I would like to think that each player is evaluated similarly. I would have expected the fact that RGIII didn't lead his team to a conference championship to hinder his chances. Baylor was blown out twice and RGIII was completely outplayed in one of the games. I guess the voters didn't feel as if the other players had a good enough season statistically speaking, for that to come in to play.

Look out tomorrow for NFL picks...

Rodgers That

A first for the Crimson Tide

By Dan Rodgers

Just a quickie here folks.

Not a surprise to many, but to some...Alabama Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram has won the 2009 Heisman Trophy. His performance in the SEC championship game against Florida certainly helped his cause, 113 yards and three touchdowns. He finished with over 1,500 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. He added 30 receptions for over 300 yards and three more touchdowns, including a 69-yard screen play in the game against Florida.

Ingram received 1,304 points, just above the 1,276 that Stanford running back Toby Gerhart. Gerhart had a phenomenal year for the Cardinals, over 1,700 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns.

Longhorns QB Colt McCoy came in third with 1,145 points, Nebraska DL Ndamukong Suh received 815 points and Florida QB Tim Tebow finished off the ballot in fifth with 390 points.

The biggest part of Ingram receiving the honor is that of Alabama's historic program, he is the first player to win the Heisman. The Crimson Tide's history includes players like Broadway Joe Namath, Ken Stabler, and Ozzie Newsome.

Congrats to the running back and good luck to Alabama in the BCS National Championship game against Texas.

Rodgers That