Bloguin Heisman Poll: Final 2011 Edition

Our season long journey of the Bloguin Heisman Poll has come down to one last vote. For 13 weeks we have debated and voted on who will win the prestigious trophy. Andrew Luck has been #1 on the overall ballot for 8 of the 13 weeks, RG3 has been #1 for 3 of the 13 weeks and Trent Richardson and Marcus Lattimore sat at the top of the mountain for one week each. The last three weeks has seen three different front-runners with Alabama’s Trent Richardson finally taking the crown in Week 13. Last week Trent Richardson and Andrew Luck sat the sidelines while RG3, Montee Ball and Case Keenum all had one last chance to make their impression on the voters. Yesterday, Robert Griffin III was named “Offensive Player of the Year” in the Bloguin College Football Awards. Can he take home the Bloguin Heisman as well?

Here is what you’ll see each week in the Bloguin Heisman Poll:

-The Top total vote getters and quotes from bloggers in support of their candidates.
-A list of all players that receive votes in the Bloguin Heisman Poll
-Poll Notes that look at some of the interesting facts, figures, and trends of the poll.
-The BHP Roll Call of voters, the links to their respective blogs and their twitter accounts.

Without any further adieu, the Bloguin Heisman Poll…

1) Robert Griffin III (QB-Baylor)- 41 Points, 45.56%, 12 1st Place Votes

Last Week BHP Ranking: #2

Last Week: 15/22 for 320 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT, 32 yards rushing, 2 rush TD

Season: 267/369 for 3998 yds (72.4%), 36 TD, 6 INT, 644 yds rushing, 9 rushing TD, 1 rec

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hMm2qGMGV8Q

* What it comes back to me, is what it’s come back to all season: Robert Griffin is the most “valuable” player in college football this season. Not only is Baylor not a nine-win team without him, I’m certain they wouldn’t be bowl eligible.

– Aaron Torres, Aaron Torres Sports

* RG3 won the Heisman with that final performance against Texas this weekend. He has led the Bears to back-to-back wins over Texas, and he is the most physically gifted player in the college game right now. I love the idea of a guy from a smaller program winning the Heisman, and let’s be honest … he has earned it.

– Tom Perry, Eye and Eer

* RGIII impressed again leading Baylor to a dismantling of a solid Texas team. In the absence of a dominant offensive player on LSU, there is no “best player on the undefeated team” to give the award to this year. Personally, I think that’s a good thing. Hopefully the award can return to the days where the most outstanding player in college football was rightly rewarded with the Heisman trophy. And this year, that player was RGIII.

– Ryan Yoder, Awful Announcing

* I know, I know, I left RG3 off all my other ballots, but in a college landscape that favors the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately candidate, he is the most impressive at this moment. If Baylor could play better
defense, they might be in the BCS.

– Hamilton Riley, Lambeth Field

* I penalized RGIII last week by knocking him out of my top 3 when he got hurt but I’m rewarding him in the final poll. RGIII shredded the Texas defense for 320 yards passing and two touchdowns while running for two touchdowns on the ground as well. He put a solid season of numbers with 3,998 yards passing, 36 touchdown passes, nine rushing touchdowns. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t win on Saturday night.

– Ian Bethune, Sox and Dawgs

– So apparently the sentiment in SEC country is that RG3 ain’t shit because he didn’t face the meat-grinding defenses of, say, Alabama. Did I hear that correctly? People who actually watched Baylor this year saw a quarterback who week in and week out led his team to wins over more talented teams. If you object to the quality of the defenses RG3 faced this season, consider that he enabled the Bears to “out-offense” a slate of outstanding offensive opponents to the tune of nine wins. At Baylor! RG3 is No. 1.

– Allen Kenney, Blatant Homerism

* With another outstanding performance, this time against in-state power Texas, Griffin only added to the many reasons that he’s the most outstanding football player in the nation in my eyes. His passing numbers rival those of other candidates such as Luck and Barkley, but he also adds 644 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. He means everything to his Baylor team, which has enjoyed their best season in at least 25 years.

– Kris Brauner, Saturday Night Slant

2) Montee Ball (RB-Wisconsin) – 17 Points, 18.89%, 2 1st Place Votes

Last Week BHP Ranking: #4

Last Week: 27 carries for 137 yards, 3 TD, 3 reception, 1 rec TD

Season: 275 carries for 1759 yds, 6.40 ypc, 32 TD, 20 receptions, 6 rec TD

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MxyL9alOono

* Ball has 38 (32 rushing) TDs this season, the most by any single player since Barry Sanders in 1988. He has also put up over 2,000 total yards of offense. His knack finding the end zone has propelled Wisconsin to the inaugural Big 10 championship and a repeat visit to the Rose Bowl. His stats are incomparable to any other player. If statistics are the measure of the Heisman winner, Ball should hoist the trophy.

– Pete Sonski, College Football Zealots

* When was the last time a running back rushed for nearly 1,800 yards and 32 touchdowns and he’s barely in the Heisman conversation. Montee Ball had four touchdowns in the Big Ten Championship, which was his Heisman statement. He probably won’t win it, but he deserves to be in the top three.

– Tom Perry, Eye and Eer

* I went back and forth between Ball and Trent Richardson in this spot (#2), but Ball ultimately won out. He has more yards (2,015 combined rushing and receiving) and more touchdowns (38) than Richardson. His Wisconsin team won the Big-10, and Ball epitomized the identity of Wisconsin’s tough running game. He gave that team their identity and was the key to everything that Russell Wilson and the offense wanted to accomplish. I’d probably rather have Richardson on my team but at the end of the day, Ball had a better season and deserves this spot more than Trent.

– Kris Brauner, Saturday Night Slant

3) Tyrann Mathieu (CB-LSU)- 12 Points, 13.33%, 1 1st Place Vote

Last Week BHP Ranking: #8

Last Week: 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 punt return for TD

Season: 53 tackles, 2 INT, 6.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 7 passes broken up, 6 forced fumbled, 4 fumble recoveries, 2 punt returns for TD, 2 fumble returns for TD

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SG8-mf_mOIk

* He’s the best. Period. Saturday he proved that on the biggest stage to date. Recover fumbles? He does that. Help an anemic offense by getting into the endzone on a punt return? He does that. Make tackles for loss? He does that. Give his team the ball inside the redzone to keep the feeding frenzy going? He does that. He’s the best football player in the country.

– Michael Felder, In The Bleachers

* I don’t know if LSU would be undefeated without him or not, but other than RGIII I can’t think of one person who’s made more game-changing plays. The forced fumble against Oregon. The touchdown return against West Virginia. Game-changing punt returns against Arkansas and Georgia. I know there’s a lot of negative sentiment because of the suspension, but he was one of the four or five best players in college football this year, and deserves to be in New York.

– Aaron Torres, Aaron Torres Sports

4) Trent Richardson (RB-Alabama) – 11 Points, 12.22%, 0 1st Place Votes

Last Week BHP Ranking: #1

Final Game: 27 carries for 203 yards, 1 reception, 1 rec TD

Season: 263 carries for 1583 yds, 6.02 ypc, 20 TD, 27 receptions, 3 rec TD

* Beast. Monster. Freak. That’s Richardson and it is sad that folks attempt to rip this dude down as he just does his job. He shows up every game, totes the rock and punishes defenses. Come middle third and start of fourth no one wants to tackle him and that’s because of his aggressive running style. No he doesn’t have the stats that LaMichael James or David Wilson have but what he does have is an impressive ability to show up when his team needs it most

– Michael Felder, In The Bleachers

5) Andrew Luck (QB-Stanford) – 7 Points, 7.78%, 0 1st Place Votes

Last Week BHP Ranking: #3

Final Game: 20/30, 233 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT, 20 yds rushing

Season: 261/373 (70.0%), 3170 yards, 35 TDs, 9 INT, 2 rush TD, 1 reception

* Andrew Luck’s statistics have been very good all season. Not the best, admittedly, but very good – especially considering Chris Owusu and other receivers missed much of the season. Luck is a leader, and he has incredible game presence and field awareness. If not for Luck, Stanford would have fallen into obscurity this season. If ability and talent are the measure of a Heisman winner, Luck should earn the award.

– Pete Sonski, College Football Zealots

Also Receiving Votes: Colin Klein (QB- Kansas State) 1 pt, Case Keenum (QB- Houston) 1 pt

Dropped Out: Matt Barkley (QB- USC)

Poll Notes

– In the final vote of the season, RG3 had the highest point total (41 points) and the highest percentage of points (41 points) out of any ballots this season.

– The final poll also gave us the biggest discrepancy between #1 and #2 as Robert Griffin III ran away from his competition in the final poll of the season.

– It’s been a wild ride during this season as we’ve discussed and debated the best player in college football for the past 14 weeks. I wanted to send out a personal thanks to all of the bloggers that contributed and gave their time to help make this poll happen every week.

Bloguin Heisman Poll Roll Call

Aaron Torres Sports– Aaron Torres (@aaron_torres)

Awful Announcing– Matt Yoder (@myoder84)

Awful Announcing– Ryan Yoder (@RYbbc34)

Bearcats Blog– Scott (@bearcatsblog)

Blatant Homerism– Allen Kenney (@blatanthomerism)

College Football Zealots– Kevin (@CFBZ)

College Football Zealots– Pete Sonski (@29Sonski)

Eye and Eer– Tom Perry (@eyeandeer)

In The Bleachers– Michael Felder (@InTheBleachers)

Lambeth Field– Hamilton Riley (@lambethfield)

Leftover Hot Dog– Ritch (@LOHDgamecocks)