Another week of good performances for the Heisman candidates leaves the field looking complete after just four weeks. We had trouble adding another candidate because it seems our top eight encompasses everyone who is actually deserving at this time.
Kellen Moore takes over the top spot after a 4 touchdown performances against Tulsa, which makes his stats after three games superior to Andrew Luck's, and against better competition, too. Boise State has faced Georgia and upstart Toledo in addition to the Golden Hurricane, while Stanford has beaten Arizona, San Jose State, and Duke.
At #3 we again find Denard Robinson, who had another poor passing outing (8 of 17, 0 TD, 2 int), but rushed for 200 yards. Treating him as a running back who happens to throw the ball, he stays ahead of LaMichael James, a running back who doesn't throw the ball. James had an outrageous 288 yards against Arizona to keep him in the thick of things despite his early stumbles.
Pushing everyone is Baylor's Robert Griffin, who is on a tear with an 85% completion rate. As you may have heard mentioned in, well, everything written about him in the last week, he has more touchdown passes (13) than incompletions (12), which is pretty astounding. He would have moved up this week but how can you downgrade a guy who rushes for 288 yards, or a quarterback who rushes for 200? Oregon is idle this week and if Griffin has a good game against Kansas State he'll move up, but he has to keep the Bears winning.
2011 Heisman Race after week four
- ^ Kellen Moore, QB-Boise State (3-0)
83-105 79% 995yd 12TD 2int; 4rsh -4yd -1.0av 0TD 0fmb
Moore threw four touchdown passes last week in just 2 1/2 quarters. - v Andrew Luck, QB-Stanford (3-0)
57-85 67% 833yd 8TD 1int; 8rsh 52yd 6.5av 1TD 0fmb
Luck was idle last week and his stats are less gaudy than some of the other QBs in the race. - Denard Robinson, QB-Michigan (4-0)
35-72 49% 624yd 6TD 6int; 71rsh 552yd 7.8av 5TD 0fmb
Robinson had 200 rushing yards to offset his 2 interceptions. - LaMichael James, RB-Oregon (3-1)
65rsh 613yd 9.4ave 9TD 0fmb; 11rec 159yd 1TD; 135ret yds 1TD
James needed a whopping 288 yards to hold off Griffin's surge. - Robert Griffin III, QB-Baylor (3-0)
70-82 85% 962yd 13TD 0int;24rsh 167yd 7.0av 1TD 2fmb; 15 rec yds
Griffin went 29 of 33 with 5 TD passes, increasing his % from 84 to 85 this week. - ^ Russell Wilson, QB-Wisconsin (4-0)
69-91 76% 1136yd 11TD 1int; 16rsh 125yd 7.8av 1TD 0fmb
Wilson continues his efficient ways but for now is a shadow of Griffin. - v Justin Blackmon, WR-Oklahoma State (4-0)
38rec 450yd 5TD 1fmb; 2rsh 6yds 3.0 ave 0TD
Blackmon got back on track with 112 yards against A&M, but fumbled away a touchdown. - Marcus Lattimore, RB-South Carolina (4-0)
107rsh 611yd 5.7av 8TD 1fmb; 12rec 139yd 1TD
Lattimore cooled down with just 77 yards against Vandy, but added a TD reception. - Case Keenum, QB-Houston (4-0)
110-155 71% 12TD 2int; 21rsh 18yd 0.9av 0TD 1fmb
Good stats so far, but it's the Lousiana Tech comeback that's most impressive.
If it weren't for Griffin people would really be talking about Russell Wilson's stats. He's completing 76% of his passes and has an 11:1 TD/int ratio with 125 yards on the ground, all great numbers but all a few notches below Griffin's 3-game stats. He does push past Justin Blackmon as his team faces its first test of the year against Nebraska on Saturday. Blackmon got back into the triple-digit groove against Texas A&M and had a fantastic touchdown catch (1 of his 2) but he also carelessly fumbled away another certain touchdown that could have blown the game for the Cowboys, who ended up winning by a point. It's becoming increasingly clear that Blackmon isn't doing anything other than catching passes, and in that area he's not leading in receptions nor in the top 10 in yards per game. Incidentally he wasn't credited with the 39 yard loss at the end of the game where the Cowboys took a deliberate safety to run out the clock, so his rushing total remains at 6 yards.
Marcus Lattimore remains at #8 after a 77-yard performance against Vanderbilt. He also caught a 52-yard touchdown pass in addition to a 22-yard rushing TD. His rushing total after 4 games is very similar to James', and he's won a couple of games for the Gamecocks so in the long run he might come out on top, but he needs to get over 100 yards per game.
Now the hard part: Who else is worthy? Adding a player to the list was difficult this week. There were some good individual game performances but four games in we have to look at the season so far. For example, Hawaii's Brian Moniz had 7 touchdown passes in the first half, but that was against UC Davis and Hawaii is just 2-2.
Among running backs, Ronnie Hillman of San Diego State is the only other one averaging above 150 yards, and he's had 100+ each game. For quarterbacks, Seth Doege of Texas Tech has the most impressive stats: 77% completion rate and a 12:0 TD/int ratio. But Hillman hasn't faced much staunch opposition and Doege has played just three games; I'm inclined to make both prove themselves a bit further.
Among other popular candidates we don't list, Brandon Weeden of Oklahoma State and Taylor Martinez of Nebraska are mentioned a lot. Weeden has been productive but has 6 interceptions already, and Martinez has just 4 TD passes. Martinez faces Wisconsin this weekend and a win there could raise his stock, while Weeden just needs to keep the Cowboys winning and he might become to be seen as the force behind the offense (rather than Blackmon).
Two candidates come from the top-ranked teams in the polls, Oklahoma and Alabama. But Landry Jones hasn't put up Heisman-like numbers in guiding his team so far, with just 5 TDs and 4 interceptions. Trent Richardson is finding his groove lately but his first game for the Tide—37 yards against Kent State on 13 carries—was luckluster.
Houston's Case Keenum has proven in past years that he's a serious candidate, and so far this year he's guided his team to a 4-0 record. #2 in yards per game and completing 71%, he has 12 TDs against just 2 interceptions, and moreover he led the Cougars on one of the great comebacks in college football history against Louisiana Tech two weekends ago. Down 34-7 late in the third, Houston scored 28 points and won 35-34. Coming back after knee surgery last year, Keenum may be on his way to being the NCAA's all-time leading passer, so he deserves consideration.
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