Wahoo Wire

Who's going to strike the pose in New York this year?

It looks like it’s that time once again to grow out our pompadours, brush up on our Mel Kiper impressions, and start to look at this year’s Heisman field. Over the past few games, there have been several candidates that have stood out from the pack:

Andrew Luck- QB, Stanford

When you have NFL fans of last place teams rooting for their teams to keep losing for the sole purpose of drafting this kid, and when #SuckforLuck trends multiple times on Twitter, you know you have something special. Luck didn’t have a the best week, going 16-21 for 169 yards and “only” two touchdowns, but Stanford fans have certainly reaped the benefits of Luck’s decision to return for his Senior year. Luck has thrown at a 71.8% clip for 1888 yards and 20 touchdowns… in 7 GAMES! The #6 Cardinal haven’t won a game by fewer than 27 points and, if a few teams ahead of them falter, appear to  be a strong candidate for the National Championship Game.

Russell Wilson- QB, Wisconsin

Wilson’s candidacy took a major hit this past week in Wisconsin’s tough loss to Michigan State. In completing only 66.7% of his passes, he was responsible for two interceptions, after having only one all season coming into the game, and drew an intentional grounding penalty for a safety. But, through it all, he still managed to throw for two more touchdowns and run for another. Wilson’s had a breakout season after transferring from NC State this past year, throwing 16 touchdowns so far this season, while generating three more with his legs, in addition to 212 rushing yards. Wisconsin has certainly enjoyed the presence of a mobile quarterback, coming off three seasons with Scott Tolzien at the helm. In his seven games as the Badgers’ quarterback, Wilson has rushed for almost five times the yardage that Tolzien did in his three year career, and has scored the same number of rushing touchdowns. We have seen that the Heisman trust rewards mobile quarterbacks (Tim Tebow, Cam Newton), so it will be interesting to see how Wilson’s candidacy plays out.

Trent Richardson- RB, Alabama

Richardson didn’t have his greatest game of the season this weekend, rushing for only 77 yards in Alabama’s rout of Tennessee. But he did secure two more touchdowns to bring his season total to an impressive 17 for the season. This means that Richardson has been scoring an average of two touchdowns per game and clearly setting the tone for the Tide’s offense this season. Richardson has rushed for 6.6 YPC over the season and has nearly eclipsed the 1000-yard mark eight games into the season. And it’s not as if Alabama has faced only FCS teams. The Tide has already faced three ranked opponents in Penn State, Arkansas, and Florida and hasn’t had significant issues with any of them. They seem to have a tight grip on the #2 spot in the BCS rankings as they welcome #1 LSU into their stadium for what is advertised to be the best matchup of the season so far. Richardson will get to face a Tigers team that boasts the third fewest points against in the FBS, so we’ll get a chance to see what he is really made of this week.

My Pick

Earlier in the week, I would have told you that there was no way Wilson didn’t win this award. As mentioned above, the Heisman voters tend to be very kind to mobile quarterbacks and Wilson has given Wisconsin a dimension that they haven’t had in several years. But after faltering in what was only their second game against a ranked opponent this year, I’m inclined to believe that Luck has the upper hand now. He has been at the top of his game all year, and Stanford’s dominance clearly reflects that. He has run roughshod over the entire FBS, matching Wilson’s three interceptions but out throwing him by about 100 yards and 4 touchdowns, while adding one on the ground. The two seem VERY even, but that one loss now looms large on Wilson. The one caveat for Luck though is that Stanford only has two currently ranked opponents on its schedule, one of which it played just this week (Washington). Perhaps the lack of competition will hurt Luck’s prospects, but there’s no doubt that he’s making the most out of what he’s got. However, if Richardson can still perform at his current rate against LSU in week 10, then we might be looking at a new Heisman leader in two weeks.

Also in the race: Kellen Moore- QB, Boise State; Robert Griffin III- QB, Baylor

Weekly Hoos-man

I don’t think there was anyone of particular acclaim in this week’s game, so I’m going to go back to the Georgia Tech game and recognize RB Perry Jones. Jones led the Cavs with a season high 186 all-purpose yards against a normally staunch Georgia Tech team, including 149 on the ground, comprising over half of UVA’s total ground game on the day. Jones seems poised to shatter his career rushing yards record, needing only 70 more with four games remaining. So, for serving as the catalyst in the Hoos’ stunning victory over the formally #12 ranked team in the country, we award Perry Jones with this week’s Hoos-man trophy (one week in the waiting).