McCarron gets the invite to NYC for once. Photo Courtesy: USA Today Sports
Six finalists for the 2013 Heisman Trophy were announced Monday evening. Crystal Ball Run will be taking a look at each finalist.
| AJ McCarron | Jordan Lynch | Johnny Manziel | Tre Mason | Andre Williams | Jameis Winston |
A.J. McCarron, quarterback Alabama
67.6% completion rate, 2,676 yards passing, 26 TDs, 5 INTs
Heisman Moment: 334 yards and 4 touchdowns in 49-42 win over Texas A&M during Week 3 of the season.
McCarron has been one of the winningest quarterbacks in recent college football history (36-3) and its led some to believe McCarron got the invite and the votes more for the body of work during his career than anything he did in 2013. However, his 2013 season wasn't nearly as bad as some make it out and in reality was his second best season of his career.
In the Texas A&M game McCarron showed he was the equal of Johnny Football, putting up three straight passing touchdowns after the Tide went down 14-0. By the time his team was done, McCarron's three touchdowns combined with two other TD's had Bama up 35-14 and they never trailed again.
However, outside of that moment and that game, which came very early in the season, McCarron never put up crazy numbers again against worthy competition. Sure, he put up over 300 yards passing in the game against Kentucky, but folks it was KENTUCKY…need we say more?
Overall, his season was great, but most year's standards….The problem for McCarron is just where his numbers stack up in comparison to the other three quarterbacks also invited to New York City.
Jameis Winston, widely considered the frontrunner, has the same completion percentage for far more yards (3,820) and more touchdowns (38). Johnny Manziel also has thrown for far more yards (3,732) and touchdowns (33), while also having a better completion percentage (69.1%) and a better Yards Per Attempt (9.55 compared to McCarron's 8.75). Jordan Lynch has as many yards throwing as McCarron (both with 2,676), but he also added over 1,800 yards on the ground as well.
Should McCarron win this award on Saturday it will be because he is the ultimate winner at the position that can have the most affect on winning or losing a football game in college football today.
