The Heisman trophy is easily the most coveted individual award in college athletics. In order to win this elite trophy, you must be the most dynamic football player in all of college football. The winner of the Heisman must play flawlessly.
Recent years have included tight races, ending in victory for Auburn hero Cam Newton, Alabama superstar Mark Ingram, injury-plagued Oklahoma conqueror Sam Bradford, and faithful, unstoppable Floridian star Tim Tebow.
These recent winners, as a result of their effort, are all now young talents in the National Football League, starting at their respective positions for the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams, and most notably, the Denver Broncos.
These players did not just have this coveted trophy handed to them. The race was tough, and this year was no exception.
The race for the 2011 Heisman trophy boiled down to five finalists, in a turbulent season where every week brought about a different front runner. No single player was guaranteed a spot at the award ceremony at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City until final pre-bowl games were played just a few weeks ago.
After one of the most exhilarating college football seasons in the history of college football, the five well deserving finalists were Baylor quarterback, Robert Griffin III, Alabama running back, Trent Richardson, LSU cornerback and playmaker, Tyrann Mathieu, Stanford quarterback, Andrew Luck, and Wisconsin running back, Montee Ball. All five candidates held ridiculous statistics for the season.
The trophy ended up in the hands of young gun quarterback RG3 from the almost-unknown Baylor University. But let us backtrack a little.
Going into the ceremony, the prominent Heisman polling website, Heismanpundit.com, projected that Griffin would win, followed by Luck, Richardson, Ball, and then Mathieu. Andrew Luck was favored at the start of the season, already slated to go number one in this year’s NFL draft, but Robert Griffin gave him a run for his money, and eventually pulled out ahead on both the stat sheet and in Heisman voting.
As far as individual statistics go, Griffin put up 3998 passing yards and 36 touchdowns to Luck’s 3170 yards and 35 touchdowns. Griffin also threw three fewer interceptions, and finished with a QB rating of 192.3 to Luck’s 167.5. Griffin also ran for nine touchdowns’ to Luck’s two. Clearly, Griffin had a huge edge on Luck.
What kept Luck so close in the running was his second place finish last year, as well as his ability to lead Stanford to a better season with fewer losses than Griffin’s aspiring Baylor team. Nonetheless, Griffin put up incredible statistics.
As far as the other candidates and their impressive credentials go, Wisconsin's Montee Ball rushed for 1759 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry, while scoring 32 rushing touchdowns. He is just one touchdown away from matching Barry Sanders’ longstanding single season rushing touchdown record of 33. Sanders happened to win the Heisman in 1988 and is also a member of the NFL Hall of Fame.
Trent Richardson spearheaded the Alabama Offense and led the team to victory in the BCS National Championship Game against LSU. Richardson shredded every tough South Eastern Conference team that went up against him, piling up 1583 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Richardson led the ESPN Heisman poll most of the season but slipped to third place in the official vote. He would have been the second Alabama running back to win the award in two years.
The final candidate, Tyrann Mathieu was easily the most talented of the bunch and by far the most electrifying game game changer in the country—but he was at a huge disadvantage due to his one-game suspension and role as a defensive specialist.
Since 1935, only one defensive player has won the primarily offensive driven Heisman trophy, that being Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997. The difference between Mathieu and Woodson, however, is that Woodson lined up at wide receiver every now and then for the Wolverines of Michigan.