It is very difficult to find an unprecedented circumstance when it comes to college football's most prestigious award, the Heisman Trophy. The trophy has been around since 1935 when Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger won the inaugural award and has seen everything from USC halfback O.J. Simpson winning the award by the largest margin of victory in the 1968 Heisman race to running back Reggie Bush's 2005 Heisman Trophy being vacated because of NCAA violations when he was at USC. The Heisman has also seen its fair share of close calls and narrow margin of victory. In 1985, Auburn running back Bo Jackson narrowly defeated Iowa quarterback Chuck Long by 45 points to win the Heisman. In 2009, running back Mark Ingram won the closest Heisman in history over Stanford running back Toby Gerhart by a slim 28 points. This year's Heisman is not only going to be tight at the top of the list, but it is going to be close all the way down to number 5 because of the fantastic seasons that Montee Ball and Tyrann Mathieu have both had.
It is incredible to look at the numbers that Wisconsin running back Montee Ball has put up, and think that he is probably going to finish in 4th in the Heisman trophy voting. By now, everybody has probably seen the stat that 45 teams in the FBS have scored less touchdowns than Montee Ball this season including high profile schools like Florida, Ohio St., Auburn, Tennessee, and Penn St. Ball has had one of the best statistical seasons for a running back in college football history. He leads the FBS with 1,759 rushing yards and an incredible 32 rushing touchdowns. Ball also has been effective out of the backfield as a reciever, as he has had 6 receiving touchdowns, which is 2nd in the FBS amongst running backs, who have had at least 14 carries this season. Montee has even thrown a touchdown pass against Inidana this season. Ball now holds the Big Ten Conference record for touchdowns in a single season and is just the 5th player in college football history to score 30 touchdowns in a season. His 38 total touchdowns are just one behind the FBS record for tochdowns in a season, which was set in 1988 when Oklahoma St. running back Barry Sanders scored 39 touchdowns. Obviously, Ball has been a scoring machine this season. Ball has reached the end zone at least 3 times in 8 of the Badgers' 13 games this season and he has had a multiple touchdown game in the other 5 as well.
If you look back at previous Heisman Trophy winners and runners-ups at the running back position, their numbers don't compare to the incredible stats of Montee Ball. In 2005, Reggie Bush won the Heisman trophy and received the 2nd most votes in Heisman history with 2,541. In 2006 and 2007 Darren McFadden finished as the runner-up in the Heisman trophy race to Troy Smith and then Tim Tebow the following year. In 2009 Alabama running back Mark Ingram won the Heisman Trophy becoming the first Alabama player to win the prestigious award. However, while it may seem surprising, Ball's stats are far more impressive than Bush's, McFadden's, and Ingram's. In 2005, when the Heisman was awarded to Reggie, he had rushed for 1,1658 yards and just 15 touchdowns. When McFadden lost the Heisman in 2006, he had rushed for 1,558 yards and 14 touchdowns and the next year when he lost the race, he had rushed for 1,725 and 15 touchdowns. When the Heisman was awarded to Ingram in 2009, he had just 1,542 rushing yards and only 15 touchdowns. Ball has rushed for more yards than Bush, McFadden, and Ingram, and while none of them had more than 15 touchdowns, Ball has more than doubled their rushing touchdowns with his 32. With this in mind, voters are going to look at Ball's incredible numbers and the Wisconsn back is going to get a lot of votes even if he does finish in 4th place.
There is no player in college football that makes more big plays than LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, or more commonly known to his teammates as Honey Badger. The Chuck Bednarik award winner, as the nation's best defensive player, has made play after play to keep the Tigers undefeated this season, especially against top ranked opponents.
In the Tiger's huge 40-27 victory over #3 Oregon in their opening game of the season, Mathieu was all over the field, as he made 11 tackles, 6 of them being solo. In the second quarter, with the LSU offense struggling and the Tigers punting the ball back to the Ducks already down by 3 points, Mathieu made a huge play for his team. After Kenjon Barner fielded the punt from LSU punter Brad Wing he tried to spin around Mathieu, but Tyrann wasn't fooled and striped the ball away from Barner and took the ball into the end zone. The play changed the course of the game, as the Tigers took a 9-6 lead and stopped the Duck's offense momentum.
The Tigers can thank the Honey Badger for their big 47-21 victory over #16 West Virginia as well. In the first quarter of that game, Mathieu stripped West Virginia wide receiver Brad Starks and then recovered the football to halt a West Virginia drive. Mathieu sealed the victory for the Tigers during the end of the second quarter. With LSU up 20-7 and the Mountaineers looking to make the game a one score contest, Mathieu intercepted Geno Smith's pass and returned it to the West Virginia 1 yard line, which set up the LSU touchdown and their 27-7 lead at halftime.
Mathieu is also a huge reason that the Tigers were able to beat #3 Arkansas 41-17 and secure a spot in the SEC Championship game. Not only did the Honey Badger have 8 solo tackles during the game, but his big plays helped the Tigers jump out of an early 14-0 hole and outscore the Razorbacks 41-3 for the rest of the game. With Arkansas up 14-7 and expecting to pin the Tigers back deep into their own territory, they punted the ball to Mathieu. What a mistake. The Honey Badger took the punt back 92 yards to the house for the longest punt return for a touchdown all season and tied the game up at 14. Mathieu said, "I could hear my teammates in my ear saying, 'Man, we need you to go make a play.' I was able to help the momentum really go in our favor. You have no idea how bad I just wanted to go out there and make a big play for our team. I was fortunate enough to be able to do that." The Honey Badger wasn't done just yet however. With Arkansas looking to go up before halftime, Mathieu stripped Arkansas running back Dennis Johnson, which set up a LSU touchdown. In the blink of an eye, Mathieu's punt return and forced fumble gave the Tigers a 7 point lead and totally changed the momentum of the game.
Mathieu had his Heisman moments against Georgia in the SEC Championship game. The Bulldogs came out firing against the Tigers and took a 10-0 lead, while the LSU offense remained non-existent. They had just 12 yards of total offense on 5 possessions and were struggling to move the ball on the Georgia defense. With Georgia punting the ball back to LSU, the Tigers needed a play and guess who made it for them? Yes, the Honey Badger. He took the punt from Drew Butler and returned it 62 yards for an LSU touchdown and cut the Bulldogs lead to 3 points. After halftime, Mathieu recovered a fumble at the Georgia 27 yard line, which set up a LSU touchdown and gave them a 14-10 lead. After a three and out on the Bulldogs next possession, Mathieu had his signature Heisman moment. He took a punt 47 yards back to the Georgia 17 yard line after faking out and alluding at least 9 Georgia tacklers. Mathieu's fantastic return set up another Tiger touchdown and gave LSU a 21-10 lead. The LSU offense had mustarded a total of just 51 yards and yet the Tigers were leading 21-10 because of the great punt returns and a fumble recovery by Mathieu.
If you look back at the previous Heisman Trophy winners, many of them have won the Heisman trophy because of the great plays that they have made to lead their team to the National Championship game. Since 2000, of the 10 Heisman trophy winners (not including Reggie Bush), 8 of them have played on teams who played in the BCS National Championship Game. With this in mind, voters are going to look at all of the plays that Mathieu has made and his importance to LSU's Championships run and the LSU cornerback is going to get a lot of votes even if he does finish in 5th place.
Great article CoryTellAllSports! I'll be watching.
ReplyDelete