NCAA Heisman Watch: The Doctor’s Top 10 November 21, 2011 — Week 12

Twelve weeks into the 2011 college football season and we are just a couple of weeks away from finding out who will be the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner.

Boise State’s Quarterback, Kellen Moore bounced back from his team’s loss completing 70% of his passes for 4 TDs and almost 400 yards against a decent San Diego State team. Still one of the Heisman favorites.

Stanford’s QB Andrew Luck beat a so so Cal team and put up so-so numbers against a team he should have dominated. Luck completed 66.7% of his passes (20 out of 30) for 2 TDs, 1 INT and only 257 yards. Not a Heisman caliber performance.

Robert Griffin III, Quarterback Baylor, put it to Oklahoma by shredding the Sooners (45-38) for 479 yards on 20 of 30 passing (61.7% completion percentage) for 4 TDs and added 18 rushes for 72 yards. Griffin is holding his own.

Case Keenum, Quarterback Houston, has awesome numbers but it is against less than stellar opposition. If these numbers were against a little higher level of competition Case would be a top 3 candidate right now but as it is he is still top 5. Keenum had an off day completing 66.7% of his passes (30 out of 45) for 318 yards and only 1 TD in a 37-7 win over SMU.

Oregon’s LaMichael James seemed to be a second choice to rush against USC and finished Oregon’s loss to USC with just 78 rushing yards on 20 carries but did have 1 TD. James is fading.

University of Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson only attempted 13 passes, completing 10 of them, for 90 yards and one passing touchdown but he also had a rushing touchdown. Not a lot of flash but a win. Wilson has the Badgers one win away from playing in the very first ever Big Ten Championship playoff game. Just consistent, consistent, consistent and still a Heisman candidate.

Wisconsin Badger running back Montee Ball had his second 200 yard rushing game of the year, running for 224 yards against Illinois. Ball added another 3 TDs to his nation leading TD total and now has 30 total touchdowns. Ball is only the fifth player in NCAA history to score 30 or more touchdowns in a season and with 2 games left, and possibly 3 if the Badgers play for the Big Ten Championship, Montee has an outside chance to catch Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders and his all time total of 44 TDs in a season (1988). (5 of Sanders TDs came in a bowl game and were not added to his season total but Montee Ball’s stats from this season’s bowl game will be added to his season total. It is only fitting to recognize Sander’s complete season.) The three other players to score 30 TDs or more in a season are Brock Forsey 32 TDs (Fresno State 2002), Troy Edwards 31 TDs (Louisiana Tech 1998), and Kevin Smith 30 TDs (University of Central Florida 2007). Heisman star is rising high!

Alabama’s running back Trent Richardson is finally back to putting up some Heisman type numbers, although it was against Division II Georgia Southern. Richardson gained 175 yards rushing on 30 carries and scored 3 total TDs in Alabama’s 45-21 win over Georgia Southern. Heisman hopes are holding but not a top 3 candidate.

Landry Jones, Quarterback Oklahoma, completed 36 out of 51 pass attempts for 447 yards but ZERO touchdowns and as a result you can lay the blame for the Sooner’s loss to Baylor squarely on the shoulders of Landry Jones. Heisman star is falling.

Oklahoma State’s Quarterback, Brandon Weeden, completed 42 of 58 pass attempts (72.4% completion percentage) for 476 yars with 3 touchdown passes and 3 INTs in a 37-31 double overtime loss to a mediocre Iowa State team. This game knocks Weeden down a peg or two on the Heisman Watch list. Heisman hopes are not very bright right now.

This week’s Doctor’s 2 to watch are USC Quarterback Matt Barkley and it’s a toss-up between Michigan’s Denard Robinson and Kansas State’s Quarterback Collin Klein. Matt Barkley is on the 2 to watch list only because he is at USC. His passing numbers, except in one category, are not in the top 10 in any passing statistic. Barkley is 15th in Quarterback rating. He is 16th in pass attempts, 11th in pass completions, 16th in pass completion percentage, 15th in passing yards, tied for 40th in passing yards per attempt, and tied for 4th in passing TDs, Barkley’s only top 10 passing stat. Both Robinson and Klein are mediocre passers but pretty good runners. The edge here goes to Klein because of his 25 rushing touchdowns. Passing is pretty much even, as an example, Robinson has more TD passes but Klein has fewer INTs.

Top 10 Heisman List by the Doctor’s Gut Feeling

1Montee BallWisconsin

RB

2Kellen MooreBoise State

QB

3Russell WilsonWisconsin

QB

4Case KeenumHouston

QB

5Robert Griffin IIIBaylor

QB

6Trent RichardsonAlabama

RB

7Brandon WeedenOklahoma State

QB

8Andrew LuckStanford

QB

9Landry JonesOklahomaQB10LaMichael JamesOregon

RB

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