2011 Heisman Trophy: Coronation Day For Robert Griffin III

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Looks like they need another set of eyes on their headlines, though. That’s not how you spell Heisman!

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So of course plenty of televisions in Waco were tuned in to the Heisman Trophy Presentation. And of course, hearing Griffin III’s name announced as the Heisman winner triggered quite the celebration. Students and fans had gathered together at the Bill Daniel Student Center to watch the show, and cameras were rolling as RGIII had his Heisman moment.

Video of the screaming, yelling, chants of RGIII and pure joy is after the jump.

Gerhart shared his thoughts on the matter using the language of the day.

We’re checking on whether or not that is indeed a historical feat. Either way, #SMH indeed.

And the video. Give it a few seconds to dial up:

Robert Griffin III took home the 2011 Heisman Trophy, capping an impressive year at Baylor. Griffin came on strong to end the season, stringing together highlight reel plays and impressive stats throughout the year. He beat out Tyrann Mathieu, Trent Richardson, Andrew Luck and Montee Ball for the honor and was the first Baylor player to take home the Heisman.

Griffin III picked up 1,678 points to take college football’s top individual honor. Griffin carried five of the six regions, with Luck taking the Far West. Luck finished second in the voting with 1,407 points. Trent Richardson finished a distant third, and Montee Ball and Tyrann Mathieu finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Here, to help explain to the straggling non-believers why Griffin deserved the honor, is Mark C. Moore of the new (and great!) Baylor Bears blog Our Daily Bears:

And yes, that is indeed a cape you see on the back of them. Spare no expense...

via @cjzero

Bonus for whoever does win the Heisman. They’ll be able to see their own reflection in the suit while talking so they can make sure they look good. Just like Tyrann.

via Mocksession

* Which goes to show, as it does every year, how without meaning this entire thing is. That, and Mark Ingram winning it.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

Still, LSU Tigers blog And the Valley Shook points out Mathieu’s production is in line with those put up by Charles Woodson, the closest thing to a defensive Heisman winner there’s ever been:

Let’s also remember this: Mathieu’s only a sophomore. There’s always next year.

Our own C.J. Schexnayder of the essential Alabama Crimson Tide blog Roll Bama Roll outlines why Richardson should become the Tide’s second winner in three years:

The exquisite Stanford Cardinal blog Rule of Tree runs down the case for Luck, starting with his mind over his numbers:

Luck’s advancements throughout the season certainly helped solidify him as the No. 1 draft pick, but did they do enough to retain his Heisman spot?

Adam Hoge of the excellent Wisconsin Badgers blog Bucky’s 5th Quarter summarizes the case for Ball:

If not for two Hail Marys, the Badgers would be undefeated right now. They couldn’t put Ball on the field to defend against those plays, you see, because he would’ve just run them back for touchdowns somehow, and that’s simply running up the score.

The 2011 Heisman Trophy presentation will air on December 10th on ESPN at 8:00 pm ET, though the award won’t be given out for at least a half-hour after that or so. The list has been narrowed down to five deserving candidates.

Stay tuned here for more Heisman Trophy news

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This is a very, very good thing. The two things that have always driven so many mad about the Heisman is that it almost always only allowed to go to a quarterback or running back who plays for a national title contender. Granted, if you are a title contender, you likely have many excellent players on your team, but by limiting the pool of excellence to only these players, you are quite often doing a disservice to the players who are truly the best in the country. Sure, Griffin’s candidacy would have been mortally wounded had the Bears gone 7-5 instead of 9-3; and sure, Griffin is indeed a quarterback. But Baylor is still absolutely not a national title contender or a historical power, and a Griffin win would mean that the award might truly going to the best college football player in the country. And that is fantastic.

So here’s my guess for how the vote will shake down Saturday night:

That’s more names than were expected. That’s no consolation to some of the great college football players who won’t be going to New York for the opportunity to be recognized. Those who sit among the snubbed include:

Still, Keenum’s numbers are ridiculous. His 5,099 passing yards were nearly 800 more than the next guy and his 45 passing TDs were the best in the nation as well. Not to mention that his TD-to-INT ratio was 45-to-5. His 383 completions were third-best in the nation

While none of his statistics quite jump off the page like Houston’s Case Keenum, he is undeniably one of the top quarterbacks by almost any measurement. His 192.3 quarterback rating is the best in the nation, he ranks fourth with 36 passing touchdowns and his sixth with 3,998 passing yards. He also rushed for 644 yards and nine touchdowns, helping him shoot to the top of the “points responsible for” category, just edging out Keenum with 22.67 per game.

Just for good measure, he did all this while playing in Big 12, a considerably tougher conference than Houston’s Conference USA. The Bears finished 9-3 overall and were much better than pundits had predicted.

But Luck’s total numbers were somewhat diminished by the fact that he played on such a good team that was very well balanced. As a result, he didn’t really have one game that forced voters to take notice. Luck only threw for as many as 350 yards once and never even came all that close to eclipsing 400 yards. He threw four touchdowns in a game three times, but never more than that.

Luck’s 2011 was one of simple sustained excellence. Luck threw at least two touchdowns in every game he played and only threw two interceptions in a game once, during Stanford’s only loss of the season. His quarterback rating was never lower than 132.7 in any one game.

So why should Heisman voters seriously consider making Mathieu only the second defensive-first player ever to hoist the Heisman?

First of all, his nickname should warrant a few first-place votes all by itself. “The Honey Badger” has no equal.

In 13 games this season, Ball has carried the ball 275 times for 1,759 yards, which is the best in the Big Ten and the entire FBS. Not only that, but Ball’s 32 rushing touchdowns are the most by a skill player in major college football by six scores. His 6.4 yards per carry is second in the nation among RBs with 200+ carries.

Lest you think Ball is a one-trick pony, he also caught 20 passes for 255 yards and six touchdowns.

Even in the Tide’s one loss this season, he was one of the few offensive sparks. Richardson picked up 169 all-purpose yards in that 9-6 loss, which was also the only time all year he failed to get into the end zone at least once.

That’s not to say Richardson’s numbers are anything less than stellar. His 1,583 rushing yards were the sixth most in the country. He rushed for 20 touchdowns, which was the fifth best total. He was also the fourth highest scorer in the nation, finding the endzone a total of 23 times.