NCAA Heisman Watch: The Doctor’s Top 10 December 5, 2011 — Week 14 – FINAL!

Fourteen weeks into the 2011 college football season and this is the final Doctor’s Top 10 Heisman Watch! The Heisman ballots are in the mail. Will it be hype and school reputation that wins the 2011 Heisman or will it be on the field performance? Let’s hope that the voters get it right and bestow the 2011 Heisman on the college football player that has earned it on the field and not in the media.

I listened to Craig James talk about not having made up his mind as to which player he was going to vote for but then he proceeded to say that Trent Richardson would have rushed for 2,500 yards if he played in any other conference. How stupid is that? Did James and the other Heisman voters actually look at the players on the field or did they only read each other’s stories? Obviously Craig James did nothing but read his own stories or watch recordings of himself talking on ESPN. He has no clue who the best college football player is this year. Do I know? Not really. I only know the offensive side of the ball because for the defensive side of the ball to stand out you need truly Barry Sanders type numbers on the defensive side of the line to get enough publicity for all the balloters to know who you are.

The comparison I am about to make can be made for all of the 2011 Heisman Candidates and the result that I come up with would still be the same. What that means is that, for the purposes of this brief article, one comparison should be enough to make my point. Let’s look at the entire season for University of Alabama running back Trent Richardson (12 games) and University of Wisconsin running back Montee Ball (13 games).

Trent Richardson rushed for 1,583 yards in 12 games.

Montee Ball rushed for 1,759 yards in 13 games.

— Advantage Ball!

Trent Richardson in 12 games averaged 131.9 yards per game.

Montee Ball in 13 games averaged 135.3 yards per game.

— Advantage Ball!

Trent Richardson in 12 games had 263 carries or 6.0 yards per carry.

Montee Ball in 13 games had 275 carries or 6.4 yards per carry.

— Advantage Ball.

Trent Richardson, over 12 games, averaged 21.9 carries per game.

Montee Ball, over 13 games, averaged 21.2 carries per game.

— Advantage Draw!

Trent Richardson 20 rushing touchdowns, 3 receiving touchdowns and 23 total touchdowns.

Montee Ball 32 rushing touchdowns, 6 receiving touchdowns and 38 total touchdowns.

— Advantage Ball! Advantage Ball! Advantage Ball!

Trent Richardson averaged a rushing/receiving touchdown once every 12.6 times he touched the football.

Montee Ball averaged a rushing/receiving touchdown every 7.8 times he touched the football.

— Advantage Ball!

Both players had four games against non-conference opponents (including one division two school):

Trent Richardson rushed for 490 yards, 122.5 yards per game, 5.98 yards per carry on 82 carries, 20.5 carries per game, 10 rushing touchdowns, 6 receptions for 40 yards and 1 touchdown.

Montee Ball rushed for 360 yards, 90 yards per game, 5.7 yards per carry on 63 carries, 15.75 carries per game, 9 rushing touchdowns, 6 receptions for 120 yards and 1 touchdown.

What the numbers show is that Richardson was allowed to play longer against non-conference opponents than was Ball. Had Ball had as many carries as Richardson the numbers would most likely have been in Ball’s favor because the odds are that he would have broken off at least one long run in each game and scored a few more TDs as well.

— Advantage Irrelevant!

Both Richardson and Ball played four games against Top 25 schools:

Trent Richardson had a 3 win and 1 loss record in 4 games against Top 25 opponents.

Montee Ball had a 3 win and 1 loss record in 4 games against Top 25 opponents.

— Advantage Draw!

Trent Richardson rushed for 529 yards on 93 carries (5.7 yards per carry) for 2 rushing touchdowns and had 13 receptions for 189 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns. Trent Richardson had 4 total touchdowns against Top 25 opponents.

Montee Ball rushed for 559 yards on 100 carries (5.6 yards per carry) for 12 rushing touchdowns and had 6 receptions for 46 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns. Montee Ball had 14 total touchdowns against Top 25 opponents.

— Advantage Ball!

And the winner is? University of Wisconsin (Badger) running back Montee Ball.

What the numbers tell us is that Craig James assertion is all wet. The numbers the players put together are the numbers and making these What If type comments are ludicrous because you can say the same for every player but the reality is that you have to go by the statistics you have in front of you in black and white.

These are the kind of maroons that are submitting Heisman ballots?

Well the Heisman ballots are in the mail and for my money the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner should be none other than University of Wisconsin running back (The Touchdown Machine), the Badgers one and only Montee Ball!

Top 10 Heisman Voting Should Go Like This but Will It?

1

Montee Ball

Wisconsin

RB

2Kellen MooreBoise State

QB

3Robert Griffin IIIBaylor

QB

4Case KeenumHouston

QB

5Russell WilsonWisconsin

QB

6Trent RichardsonAlabama

RB

7Brandon WeedenOklahoma State

QB

8LaMichael JamesOregon

RB

9Andrew LuckStanford

QB

10Landry JonesOklahoma

QB