NCAA Heisman Watch: The Doctor’s Top 10 October 11, 2011 — Week 6

Six weeks and still counting into the 2011 college football season! The 2011 Heisman race should be a close one and may come down to the final weekend of football before voters really make up their minds.

QB Kellen Moore continues his pace for 40 plus TD passes this season and very possibly leading Boise State to another undefeated season.

Stanford’s QB Andrew Luck has solid passing numbers but not in the same neighborhood as Boise’s Kellen Moore, Baylor’s Robert Griffin III, or Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson.

Michigan’s QB Denard Robinson put up some more pretty good rushing stats last week (25 carries for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns) and for a change also actually looked like a Quarterback going 17 of 26 for 254 yards and 3 touchdown passes without an interception.

After the first three games of the season Baylor’s QB Robert Griffin III had more touchdown passes than incomplete passes but after five games that has changed and he now has just as many incomplete passes as Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson. While his passing numbers against Iowa State looked good, not great, he did manage to put up a 100 yard rushing game against the Cyclones (24 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown).

South Carolina’s RB Marcus Lattimore is 3rd in the nation in rushing but his per carry average is steadily dropping, down to 5.3 yards per carry from a season high of 6.1 just 2 weeks ago, and may hurt him when compared to other Heisman candidates such as Oregon’s LaMichael James or Alabama’s Trent Richardson.

Oregon’s RB LaMichael James just put up his third consecutive 200 yard rushing game of the season, 30 carries for 239 yards and one touchdown against California. Two of those 200 yard rushing games have come against Pac-12 opponents (California and Arizona). Makes you wonder how strong the Pac-12 really is when Nevada held James to 67 yards rushing in their game against Oregon.

University of Wisconsin Quarterback Russell Wilson had a bye week but continues to be my leader in the 2011 Heisman Watch.

Clemson Quarterback Tajh Boyd bounced back from a subpar performance against Virginia Tech to put up some decent numbers against Boston College, 16 of 26 passing for 283 yards and 1 touchdown pass with zero interceptions in a 36-14 victory.

Wisconsin Badger running back Montee Ball, even though on a bye, only slipped to second in the nation in scoring and is still considered a premier running back and college football player. This week’s game against Indiana could very well be a repeat of last year’s 83-20 blowout and Montee Ball could be in line for some huge numbers.

Alabama’s running back Trent Richardson had a solid game against Vanderbilt (19 carries 107 yards rushing 1 touchdown) but didn’t quite sparkle the way he did the previous week against Florida

This week’s Doctor’s 2 to watch are junior running backs Ray Graham of Pittsburgh and David Wilson from Virginia Tech. Mr. Graham leads the nation with 899 yards rushing in six games (149.8 yards per game) with 9 rushing touchdowns. Mr. Wilson is fourth in the nation in rushing with 767 yards (127.8 yards per game) but only 5 rushing touchdowns in six games. Pretty good numbers until you match them up against LaMichael James and his five game average of 170.4 rushing yards per game.

Top 10 Heisman List by the Doctor’s Gut Feeling

1Russell WilsonWisconsin

QB

2Robert Griffin IIIBaylor

QB

3LaMichael JamesOregon

RB

4Denard RobinsonMichigan

QB

5Tajh BoydClemson

QB

6Kellen MooreBoise State

QB

7Montee BallWisconsin

RB

8Andrew LuckStanford

QB

9Marcus LattimoreSouth Carolina

RB

10Trent RichardsonAlabama

RB

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