Week twelve has thrown another wrench into the Heisman race. For the last four weeks, Kansas State's Collin Klein had been running away from the pack. Then came Baylor and the ghost of Robert Griffin III as the Bears took the boots to the Wildcats. The Oregon Ducks also fell from the ranks of the undefeated and the campaign of Kenjon Barner took a huge hit as well. Who would benefit the most? Would it be Manti Te'o, Jonny Manziel or another worthy candidate?
What you'll see each week in the Bloguin Heisman Poll:
*The top four total vote getters and quotes from bloggers in support of their candidates.
*A list of all players who 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) Manti Te'o (LB-Notre Dame) – 19 Points, 35.19%, 4 1st Place Votes
Last Week BHP Ranking = 2
Last Week: 6 tackles, the Irish pitched a shutout against Wake Forest
Season: 98 total tackles, 6 INT, 1 fumble recovery, 1.5 sacks, 5.5 TFL, 4 PBU, 4 QB Hurries, 10.1 points allowed per game by Irish defense
This Week: @ USC (7-4)
*As the best player on the last "eligible" undefeated team, Te'o leaps to the top spot following Kansas State's loss last week. He has the chance to have a signature game against USC this weekend.
– Tom Perry, Eye and Eer
*The Fighting Irish defense is tied for No. 1 in the country in scoring at 10.1 points per game. ND is only giving up 4.48 yards per play, tied for 7th nationally. The Irish are undefeated to this point on the strength of their D, and Te'o is leading the charge. To me, he is the most valuable player in the country and absolutely deserving of the Heisman.
– Allen Kenney, Blatant Homerism
2) Collin Klein (QB-Kansas State) – 13 Points, 24.07%, 3 1st Place Votes
Last Week BHP Ranking = 1
Last Week: 27/50 for 286 yds passing, 2 TD, 3 INT, 39 yds rushing, 1 rushing TD
Season: 172/258 for 2311 yds passing, 14 passing TD, 6 INT, 66.7% completions, 792 yds rushing, 20 rushing TD
This Week: IDLE
*Clearly, he didn't have his best game in the Wildcats' first loss of the season. Still, you can't ignore what Klein has done all season and – let's face it – nobody else stepped up and grabbed this award away from him.
– Marty Valania, Nittany Lions Den
3) Johnny Manziel (QB-Texas A&M) – 11 Points, 20.37%, 1 1st Place Vote
Last Week BHP Ranking = 3
Last Week: 14/20 for 267 yds passing, 3 TD, 1 INT, 100 yards rushing, 2 rushing TD
Season: 241 of 356 for 3047 yds passing, 21 TD, 7 INT, 67.7% completions, 1114 yards rushing, 17 rushing TD
This Week: vs Missouri (5-6)
*Manziel's team doesn't have an unblemished record and neither does he, but in a lukewarm race, he's provided the wow factor and excitement that's missing in the other candidates.
– Dale Newton, The Duck Stops Here
4) Braxton Miller (QB-Ohio State) – 7 Points, 12.96%, 1 1st Place Vote
Last Week BHP Ranking = 5
Last Week: 10/18 for 97 yds, 48 yds rushing
Season: 134 of 236 for 1850 yds, 56.8% completions, 14 TD, 6 INT, 1214 yds rushing, 13 rushing TD
This Week: vs Michigan (8-3)
Also Receiving Votes: Jordan Lynch (QB- NIU) 3 pts, AJ McCarron (QB-Alabama) 1 pt
Dropped Out: Kenjon Barner (RB-Oregon), Marquise Lee (WR-USC), Marcus Mariota (QB-Oregon)
Poll Notes
– With one loss, Collin Klein dropped half of his votes from the previous week as he fell from 48% to 24%.
– Who benefited the most from Klein's fall? The answer to that question is Notre Dame's Manti Te'o. Te'o saw a huge shift in votes his way as he increased 18.52% over the previous week. He more than doubled his votes from last week.
– This is a huge week for the Heisman race with some high profile games for some of the top candidates….
– Manti Te'o and his Fighting Irish take to the road to face a struggling USC Trojans squad. Even though the Trojans have been struggling, they do own this rivalry. USC has won 9 out of the last 10 games and a loss to the Trojans would mean death for the candidacy of Te'o. A win and an impressive showing against USC and their back-up QB on a major stage might be just what he needs to help rally more support.
– Braxton Miller and Urban's Buckeyes face off against rival Michigan. Miller's campaign has been relatively quiet but a huge game in the biggest B1G rivalry game might be just what he needs to get his name back in serious contention.
– It's unfortunate for Johnny Manziel that the Missouri Tigers haven't been as successful in their inaugural SEC season as the Aggies have. Ultimately, this may hurt Manziel a bit this week but if he can pull out a Youtube moment or two he might just win over a few more hearts.
Bloguin Heisman Poll Roll Call
Aaron Torres Sports– Aaron Torres (@aaron_torres)
Bearcats Blog– Scott (@Bearcats Blog)
Blatant Homerism– Allen Kenney (@blatanthomerism)
College Football Zealots– Kevin Causey (@CFBZ)
College Football Zealots– Pete Sonski (@29Sonski)
Eye and Eer– Tom Perry (@eyeandeer)
Lambeth Field– Hamilton Riley (@lambethfield)
Leftover Hot Dog– Ritch (@LOHDgamecocks)
Madtown Badgers– Andrew Coppens (@andycoppens)
Nittany Lions Den– Marty Valania (@TheNLD)
Saturday Night Slant– Kris Brauner (@snslant)
The Duck Stops Here– Dale Newton (@Dale_Newton)
The Little Brother Blog– Mike Wilson (@spartansordie)
