Heisman Trophy 2011 — Robert Griffin III your winner

Re: Heisman Trophy finalists announced: Who ya got?

Nearly a third of the ballots have Griffin with a huge first-place vote lead on Luck. He better make a hell of a charge then.

 

Re: Heisman Trophy finalists announced: Who ya got?

Where is that "nearly a third of the ballots" coming from? Is someone releasing early totals?

 

Re: Heisman Trophy finalists announced: Who ya got?

He read it on Bleached Report /cross thread /burned myself #badass

 

Re: Heisman Trophy finalists announced: Who ya got?

I humbly, and heartily, disagree.

I don't think Mathieu should, or will, win the Heisman. Yes, he was suspended for a game as you note, though so was LaMichael James when he was a finalist last year. And that came in the middle of a three-game midseason funk, in which he played poorly against Tennessee, was suspended against Auburn and only played so-so against Alabama. (Though I'm hard-pressed to remember how he "almost blew" the Bama game.) Also he often talks way, way too much on the field.

But I was pleasantly surprised that Mathieu was named a finalist. For one thing, it at least throws a bone to the notion that the Heisman is what it pretends to be, i.e. the award for the top college football player in the nation, rather than what it actually is, which is an award for the top QB/RB.

More than that, though, Mathieu has made an incredible number of high-impact plays this season, especially for a 5-9, 175-pound player who, as you note, isn't even the best pure cover cornerback on his team. (That's Mo Claiborne. But what does that matter?)

In arguably four of LSU's five toughest games this year (Oregon, West Virginia, Arkansas and Georgia, but not Alabama) he turned in at least one huge momentum-shifting play. Vs Oregon, he stripped-and-scored while covering a punt when LSU trailed 6-3. At West Virginia, he blitzed, batted a ball in the air, picked it and ran it back to the 1 right before the half to set up a TD that broke the game open. That was after stripping the ball and recovering it earlier.

Vs. Arkansas, he moved to free safety for the first time in his career, a position he had never even practiced until that week, to replace the injured Eric Reid, then led the team with 10 tackles, ran back a punt 92 yards for the tying score, and forced two fumbles, the first of which he recovered to set up the go-ahead score.

Against Georgia, with the offense struggling to an historically poor start, he scored the first TD on a punt return, set up the second with a fumble recovery at the Georgia 31, and set up the third with a 40-something yard return through the entire Bulldog team to the 17-yard line. Ballgame.

He also made some crazy highlight-reel plays against Kentucky (linked earlier this thread, I believe, a sick sack-strip-scoop-score) and an impressive INT in the EZ vs. Florida. In fact he's been making big plays since his very first game last year as a true freshman, when he had his first sack-strip-recovery late in the fourth quarter against North Carolina.

The guy just has a knack for making huge plays. Especially for a player his size, it's just incredible. He broke the LSU career record for forced fumbles 4-5 games into this season, his second, and has added at least three since then.

I find it hard to believe that any objective observer could have watched both the LSU-Arkansas and LSU-Georgia games, say, and not come away thinking Mathieu was one of the five most valuable/dynamic players in college football this season. I think he's absolutely deserving of the trip to New York as the most influential player on the No. 1 team.

Of course, if one's primary exposure to Mathieu was the LSU-Alabama game, then it's understandable one would think he's all hype.

 

Re: Heisman Trophy finalists announced: Who ya got?

I don't have a problem with Mathieu being in New York, just with the idea that several people think he deserves to actually win above at least two highly qualified candidates. He can try not to be such a jackass next year.

As far as the Alabama game, I went back to the play-by-play and realize I may actually be recalling Tharold Simon's face mask penalty. I've watched LSU enough (at least five games) to know that Mathieu is the best player on the best team. I've watched LSU enough to know that it doesn't have any single player valuable enough to deserve the Heisman Trophy.

He's fantastic. He's good enough that I actually think he might be able to pull it off in the NFL in a very non-traditional role. That three-game stretch, though, probably kills his Heisman Trophy candidacy for me. Da'Rick Rogers put in work against him for Tennessee.

Side note: I am stunned that someone had the balls to ask who "Honey Badger" was and still claim he had the expertise to say Robert Griffin III deserves the Heisman.

 

Re: Heisman Trophy finalists announced: Who ya got?

Stiffarmtrophy.com tracks voter's ballots.

On Tuesday morning they had 141 ballots and Griffin had 86 firsts to 24 for Luck and 16 for Richardson.

 

Re: Heisman Trophy finalists announced: Who ya got?

Kinda what I was getting at. Struck me as disingenuous, much in the way a football coach will insist "I don't read the papers," and then open his press conference by ripping a columnist for what he wrote.

 

Re: Heisman Trophy finalists announced: Who ya got?

Kuechly made a shit load of tackles. Mathieu, in my opinion, had more of an impact on the team. His punt returns sparked comebacks in the team's final two wins. But shit, honestly, that's all I really know about him. I keep hearing he's the second-best defensive back on his team, so who knows. Maybe Kuechly deserved more hype.

Apparently, Stiff Arm Trophy has picked the winner every year since like 2002 based on its projections from actual voters. I know it's still early, but damn, RG3 has one gigantic lead thus far. I like your Wilson love, too, Headbutt. I think a couple Hail Mary's while he was on the sideline made people forget about him. For some dumb reason.

 

Re: Heisman Trophy finalists announced: Who ya got?

If Russell Wilson was at NC State this year, it wouldn't have mattered, though, since Maryland never would have been able to score enough points to take a 24-point lead.

 

Re: Heisman Trophy finalists announced: Who ya got?

Stiff Arm Trophy update....189 ballots received. RG3 still has a big lead, 81 percent to 45 percent over Luck.

Interesting to look at the chart and see who voted for who.