The first thing I learned when I started to dive into my Heisman vote is that the true parameters are somewhat vague.  That by no means is meant to be a knock on the process or the system but it is simply a statement of fact.  The Heisman is to be awarded to the “Most Outstanding Player” in college football…. So what exactly does that mean?  Is it the Most Valuable Player?  Is it the most Athletic Player?  Is it the Biggest Game Changer?  Is it the leader of an undefeated team, does a teams record even matter when it comes to deciding who is the most outstanding player?  Essentially, I have overanalyzed this entire description in trying to come up with the best way to decide and vote on who I felt was the “Most Outstanding Player” in college football.  The beautiful part of this voting process is that the process itself is left to each individual voter’s decision as to what defines the Most Outstanding Player in college football. 

13 of the last 19 winners played on a team that was involved in the National Championship chase (either playing for or earning a National Championship).  Trying to determine who is worthy of this honor obviously then has a lot to do with the success of the team surrounding the Most Outstanding Player, but of course not completely.  Last years winner played in the Alamo Bowl and as amazing as 2011 was for the Baylor Bears, the Robert Griffin led Bears were never in the mix for the National Championship.  Tim Tebow won the award in 2007 after his Gator team lost 3 regular season games and eventually lost the Capital One Bowl to Michigan.

The one thing that did become glaringly obvious while deciding who would get my vote is that pre-season Heisman polls are about as relevant and fair as pre-season college football rankings.  If the pre-season college football polls were taken as gospel, Alabama would be in the National Title game against LSU with USC and OU knocking on the door.  Notre Dame was 24th in the pre-season polls, one spot ahead of Auburn and one spot behind Florida.  Auburn finished the year winless in the SEC and Florida is headed to the Sugar Bowl.  Kansas State was a handful of spots ahead of Notre Dame at 21 in the pre-season polls and they are Fiesta Bowl bound with a Big 12 Title.  As worthless as the pre-season rankings proved to be, the pre-season Heisman lists were equally useless.  The pre-season favorite was Matt Barkley who did not even play in his team’s finale. Injuries also set back the campaign of Denard Robinson.  Florida State Quarterback EJ Manuel and OU signal caller Landry Jones had solid seasons, but it was not enough for either to garner much momentum in the eyes of Heisman voters.

So let’s get to the nuts and bolts of my decision.  I put together a list of 13 guys that really stood out in my mind as worthy Heisman candidates.  Landry Jones, Tajh Boyd, Jonny Manziel, Manti Te’o, Jadeveon Clowney, Collin Klein, Braxton Miller, Marqise Lee, Geno Smith, Aaron Murray, Montee Ball, Jordan Lynch and Tavon Austin.

If the Heisman Trophy truly went to the most outstanding athlete in college football, the final three might be the South Carolina standout Clowney, West Virginias do-it-all from any position on the field Austin, and the winner would probably be USC wide receiver Marqise Lee.  The problem with all three was team success.  I witnessed a game that would probably be enough to clinch a Heisman for any other candidate in what Austin did to Oklahoma.  But team success played a huge factor in eliminating all three.  As it did for Montee Ball, Tajh Boyd, Geno Smith, and Landry Jones.  Believe it or not the hardest player to eliminate in this group was Clowney.  It goes un-noticed even in the SEC but Clowney is a true game plan changer.  If Spurrier can find a way to hand the ball off to the guy or something in 2013 he might win the award going away. 

That got me down to six:

Jonny Manziel, Manti Te’o, Collin Klein, Braxton Miller, Aaron Murray, and Jordan Lynch.

Enter the mind games…. Could I really have my first Heisman ballot include a guy that played in the MAC?  I mean his numbers are absolutely phenomenal. He led his team in rushing with almost 2,000 yards on the ground; he threw for nearly 3,000 yards and was responsible for 43 touchdowns.  43!!  But in the only loss of the season against the 1 of 2 AQ conference members that Lynch faced and he was just 6-16 passing and had a crucial 3rd quarter fumble.  He was #3 nationally in Total Offense and truly a guy I wanted to put on my ballot.  But I had to eliminate him.  Northern Illinois belongs in a BCS bowl based on the system and Lynch deserved consideration for the Heisman… just not a vote.  But if we eliminate Lynch don’t we also have to eliminate Braxton Miller???  Not necessarily…. More on that in a bit.

The Heisman ballot allows you to vote for 3 players.  I am down to five.  So I struggle as to what do I weigh more, undefeated regular season?  Individual stats?  Leadership?  NFL projection?  Despite leading his team to 6 straight wins to clinch a spot in the SEC Title Game I eliminated Aaron Murray.  Of all the quarterbacks I considered he might be one of the best NFL prospects.  But his performance against South Carolina haunted me a bit.  A 58.6 passer rating?  Plus he had his best games against non-contenders.  And yes I know that every player gets “stat fat” against the lesser foes, but it appeared to be a consistent theme for Murray.  Add in the 3 interception performance against Florida and I’m starting to wonder if I let his NFL projection skew the way I viewed his 2012 season.  Honestly as I sat and weighed Murray I realized that I let the Georgia run and the fact they rallied to clinch a spot in the title game absolutely overlook the many mistakes he made throughout the season.  Too many mistakes for a Heisman finalist.  In fact, after really digging into the numbers I realized that Landry and Geno were much more deserving than Aaron Murray ever was of receiving a vote for the Heisman Trophy.  In my mind it was my first success.  I truly let team success skew my perception and maybe even more so, the SEC.  I had made my first mistake.  This led to a total re-evaluation of every candidate.  I will spare you the details but let’s just say, THANKFULLY, I came back to the 4 that remained on my ballot.

The elimination of Murray and re-evaluation of my finalists gets me down to 4 candidates.  I realize that now I have the toughest choice to make in deciding who will be the 3rd person on my ballot.  Throughout the process I have realized that team success and who you have success against matters a lot to me in deciding who is most deserving of the Heisman Trophy.  So based on who they played and how they performed as a team I have determined that Te’o and Manziel are definitely among my final three.  So who gets the axe… the quarterback of an undefeated team or one of the most impressive individuals I have ever covered. 

I eliminated Colin Klein.  The performance against Baylor was too much for me to overlook.  I tried… I rationalized it… but you can not have a 3 interception performance in a crucial must win scenario.  I witnessed Colin Klein at his finest.  Against Oklahoma he was almost perfect throwing the football and ran for 79 yards.  But with the National Championship on the line, a Heisman winner has winner has to go out and make plays.  Unfortunately that did not happen for Klein.  Kansas State had an amazing season, but 3 interceptions against the worst defense in college football was too much for me to overlook.  I gave Miller the nod as my 3rd choice.  Braxton Miller just found ways to win all season long.  I truly believe if Ohio State was not weighed down with probation this season and allowed to be ranked in both the Coaches and BCS rankings that Millers candidacy would have been much more solid. 

So I am down to my final two and believe it or not I think this is an easy decision.  If Adrian Peterson did not win the Heisman as a freshman how can I possibly choose a guy who had lost two games already this season?  But the numbers… OH the numbers.  Johnny Manziel was responsible for 4, 600 yards of Total Offense.  All games considered he was the SEC leader in Rushing, Total Offense, and was the leading scorer in the league.  Plus he engineered the Texas A&M offense which was the leader in Total offense, passing, and rushing as a team in the SEC.  Not as easy as I first thought.  Hey his total yardage mark broke the record set by Cam Newton two years ago.  Plus he had his Heisman moment with the incredible performance against Alabama.  But Manziel also had a few black eyes on his resume.  Manziel struggled against Ole Miss turning the ball over 3 times.  He was basically non-existent against Florida and despite his defense playing well enough to win, he cost A&M the win against LSU with a four turnover game.

In the end, Manziel walked away with the hardware and he deserved the award.  But my vote was for Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o.  Sure a defensive player that was a pure defensive player had never won the award.  And yes Te’o is helped quite a bit by the defense that surrounds him… but what player is not made better by the cast that supports him?  And true this is an award that is historically awarded to offensive players, but Notre Dame is playing for the National Championship on the heels of its defense.  And the leader of that defense was and is Manti Te’o.  As a middle linebacker Te’o picked off 7 passes.  At key moments in the game he was the difference maker.  Some of the performances that stood out to me:

*  8 tackles and two interceptions in a victory over Michigan.

* He had 11 tackles in a victory over No. 8 Stanford.

* He had 11 tackles and an interception in a victory over No. 12 Oklahoma.  Pretty much dominated the game.

* He had five tackles and an interception against USC.

I tried my best to not allow the Te’o story to get in the way of evaluating his season.  The personal adversity is pretty incredible that Te’o has faced.  But when Notre Dame needed a play to stay perfect in 2012 it seemed as if Te’o was always in the middle of every big play.  Manti Te’o may not have won the Heisman Trophy… but he got my vote.

 

FINAL BALLOT        

1)      Manti Te’o

2)      Johnny Manziel

3)      Braxton Miller