The Doctor’s Top 10 Heisman or Bust Watch September 4, 2011 — Week 1

QB Kellen Moore did nothing to hurt his chances to win the 2011 Heisman. Kellen posted a stellar performance against the AP’s 19th rated SEC Georgia Bulldogs. He went 28/34, an 82.4 completion percentage, for 261 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT, leading the Broncos to an easy 35-21 victory.

QB Andrew Luck had a solid but unspectacular outing against a less than solid San Jose State. Luck went 17/26 with 171 yards 2 TDs 0 INTs with 2 rushes for 9 yards in route to leading the Cardinals to a 57-3 blowout of the Spartans.

QB Denard Robinson played a game similar to that of Andrew Luck. Robinson led Michigan to a 34-10 win over the Broncos of Western Michigan. Robinson managed 9/13 passing for 98 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs but did get a few yards rushing going for 46 yards on 8 carries. (Out of this week’s top 10)

QB Stephen Garcia had numbers akin to those of Denard Robinson (less than Heisman like) but they were on the winning side of the ledger. Garcia led the South Carolina Gamecocks to a come from behind 56-37 win over the Pirates of East Carolina. Garcia was only 7 of 15 passing for 1 TD and 0 INTs but rushed 5 times for 56 yards and 2 TDs.

South Carolina’s RB Marcus Lattimore had a good game against East Carolina. He rushed for 112 yards and 3 TDs while also catching 3 passes for 33 yards in the Gamecock’s 56-37 win over the Pirates.

But, Oregon’s RB LaMichael James all but eliminated himself from Heisman contention with a less than mediocre performance against LSU. James carried 18 times for only 54 yards and 1 TD. He also managed to make 6 catches for 61 yards but for 0 TDs. (Out of this week’s Top 10.)

The boys from Oklahoma (OU and State), QB Landry Jones (Sooners) and QB Brandon Weeden (Cowboys), both had some pretty good numbers Saturday against so-so competition. Jones and Oklahoma had their way with the Golden Hurricanes of Tulsa winning 47-14. Landry went 35 of 47 for 375 yards 1 TD and 0 INTs with 2 yards rushing on 1 carry. Mr. Weeden threw for 388 yards on 24 of 39 passing with 3 TDs but also with 3 INTs.

Two of the best performances put up by the Doctor’s initial Top 10 Gut Feeling Heisman hopefuls Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez and Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson had top notch performances. Taylor Martinez put up big rushing numbers to go with mediocre passing stats, while Russell Wilson had good rushing numbers for a QB with excellent passing statistics. Martinez led the Cornhuskers to a 40-7 win, over the Mocs of Chattanooga, passing for 116 yards on 11/22 passing with 0 TDs and 0 INTs but Martinez rushed for 135 yards on 19 carries and scored 3 TDs. On runs of 7, 43 and 47 yards. Probably the number 1 performance of the original Top 10 came from Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson in the Badgers 51-17 dismantling of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. Playing only 2 ½ quarters, Wilson went 10 of 13 for 255 yards and 2 TDs with 0 INTs and carried 2 times for 62 yards, that included a 46 yard touchdown run.

The Doctor’s 2 to watch are both from the Wisconsin Badgers., Sophomore RB James White and Junior RB Montee Ball.

Badgers running back James White averaged 5.8 yards per carry on 11 rushes for 64 yards and 1 TD, caught 1 pass for 40 yards and returned 2 kickoffs for 62 yards.

The other starting Wisconsin running back Montee Ball averaged 6.3 yards per carry and scored 3 touchdowns. He also caught 2 passes for 67 yards and 1 TD.

Not a bad days work for the three Wisconsin players considering none of them played more than 2 ½ quarters in their game against UNLV.

New to the Top 10 Heisman or Bust Watch are:

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Junior QB Tevin Washington who threw for 271 yards and 3 TDs on 8 of 13 passing and also rushed for 34 yards on 6 carries in Tech’s 63-21 win over the Western Carolina Catamounts.

And Baylor Bears QB Robert Griffin III who threw for 359 yards while completing 77.8% of his passes, going 21 of 27 with 5 touchdowns, Griffin also rushed 10 times for 38 yards, during the Bears 50-48 upset win over the TCU Horned Frogs.

Rankings in both lists will be updated on a weekly basis in order to correct my mistakes from the previous week.

Top 10 Heisman List by the Doctor’s Gut Feeling

Russell Wilson Wisconsin

QB

Kellen Moore Boise State

QB

Robert Griffin III Baylor

QB

Tevin Washington Georgia Tech

QB

Taylor Martinez Nebraska

QB

Stephen Garcia South Carolina

QB

Landry Jones Oklahoma

QB

Brandon Weeden Oklahoma State

QB

Andrew Luck Stanford

QB

Marcus Lattimore South Carolina

RB

Let’s see how the numbers stack up at the end of the year when the Heisman ballots are cast and counted.