Category: 
This Week’s Poll Results, 9/29
(first-place votes in parantheses)
1. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida–57 (8)
2. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas–55 (5)
3. Case Keenum, QB, Houston–37
4. Tony Pike, QB, Cincinnati–20
5. Jahvid Best, RB, California–11
6. Eric Berry, DB, Tennessee–4
7. Greg McElroy, QB, Alabama–2
Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State–2
Eric Decker, WR, Minnesota–2
Ryan Williams, RB, Va. Tech–2
11. Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame–1
Jacory Harris, QB, Miami–1
A.J. Green, WR, Georgia–1
About the Poll
The HeismanPundit.com Heisman Poll is made up of 13 Heisman voters from across the country. They vote for five players each week. Tabulations are made on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis, with five points awarded for a first-place vote, four points for a second-place vote and so on. Last year’s final Heismanpundit poll was the most accurate in the country, picking five of the top six finishers in the Heisman vote, including the winner.
Members of the panel include: Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, Teddy Greenstein and Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune, Olin Buchanan and Tom Dienhart of Rivals.com, Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman, Bruce Feldman of ESPN.com, J.B. Morris of ESPN the Magazine, Austin Murphy, B.J. Schecter and Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated, plus Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News.
Chris Huston, owner of Heismanpundit.com, coordinates and also votes in the weekly poll.
HP’s Thoughts
With Jahvid Best and Jacory Harris absorbing major hits to their candidacies and Tim Tebow suffering a concussion, the race looks quite different than it did a week ago. Though Tebow still leads, Colt McCoy has surged back into a virtual tie with the Gator quarterback, while Houston’s Case Keenum has, for the first time, placed himself within striking distance of the top spot. The long view of the race still favors McCoy, though Tebow is benefitting from a short-term rallying effect due to his injury. A possible dramatic return versus LSU on Oct. 10 might decide Tebow’s Heisman fate.
From a Voter
“This Heisman race is much more wide open than I thought it would be. There are a lot of interchangeable parts, but I still voted Tim Tebow No. 1 because he played hurt — with a respiratory illness– and contributed one touchdown pass and two rushing touchdowns in less than three quarters as Florida cruised to an SEC road victory over Kentucky. The next two spots on my ballot are Colt McCoy of Texas, then Case Keenum of Houston– who has led his unbeaten, non-BCS team to a pair of wins over Big 12 schools.”– Dick Weiss, New York Daily News.
Heisman Game of the Week
No. 7 USC at No. 24 California. Last week, Best was sitting pretty in the Heisman race after moving into second in the Heismanpundit.com poll for the first time. This week, he’s just trying to survive after being a non-factor in Cal’s 42-3 loss to Oregon. The calculus for Best against USC is simple: If he does well and the Bears beat the Trojans, he’ll jump back into contention. If not, he’s finished as a Heisman candidate and we’ll go another year without a running back winner.
Player to Watch
Tony Pike, QB, Cincinnati. Pike is starting to get some attention as he has led the Bearcats into the top 10 while completing 71 percent of his passes for 1,223 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first four games. He doesn’t have the kind of marquee schedule that lends itself to a serious Heisman run but, if Cincinnati remains unbeaten, he has a chance to get some solid backing as the main candidate from the Midwest region.
This Week in Heisman History
Michigan coach Bump Elliot called Navy quarterback Roger Staubach the “greatest quarterback I’ve ever seen” after watching him gain 307 yards running and passing (including two TDs in the air and one on the ground) in a 26-13 win over the Wolverines in 1963. The total broke “Roger the Dodger’s” own Midshipmen record set the week before against William & Mary. Staubach won the 1963 Heisman as a junior and was the last of five service academy athletes to take home the trophy.
Comments
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 11:12 am and is filed under Heismanpundit Heisman Poll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Greg McElroy has been the most impressive player so far this season. Tebow is a media darling, so we know he’ll hang around the top of any list. McCoy has thrown 5 INTs already against a bunch of nobody teams. Have they played a ranked team yet? McElroy and Bama have a legit win over #6 Va Tech, plus play a SEC slate of games. He’s got a high completion % and nice TD to INT ratio. Plus, he’s the leader of the #3 team in the country. He didn’t have the pre-season hype of the McCoys and Bradfords, but he deserves to be in the top 3-4 candidates right now…unless the award truly is just media hype and politics.
“The long view of the race still favors McCoy, though Tebow is benefitting from a short-term rallying effect due to his injury.”
I may agree that the long view favors McCoy, but I’m not sure that Tebow is where he is due to a short term rallying effect. Barring injury that keeps him out of games, Tebow will be in the top three all season. He’s not playing this week so we’ll see if his position at or near the top suffers next week.
We have a Case for the Heisman! Keenam has played the toughest schedule so far and has the highest rating and yards.
Through four weeks of the season I am perplexed as to how McCoy is even sitting in the #2 spot considering he’s thrown 8 touchdowns to 5 interceptions (one of which was returned for a TD)? Does that sound like a Heisman worthy ratio to you? It certainly doesn’t stack up with Keenum or Pike’s numbers, and Keenum has played in one less game so far. By the way, those teams that McCoy has been struggling against: LA-Monroe, Wyoming, Texas Tech and UTEP. Only one solid team in the bunch who should pose any kind of real defensive challenge to a true Heisman. Don’t vote based on hype or career achievement. Vote on the play happening on the field.
Ed Newman said: “I may agree that the long view favors McCoy, but I’m not sure that Tebow is where he is due to a short term rallying effect.”
I agree… what’s stunning is that Heisman Pundit now projects Jacory Harris to finish #2 and Jahvid Best #3 after their bad performances last week. Tebow has dropped to #4 based on his 3 TD, 0 INT performance against Kentucky with a decimated receiver corps. Tebow’s averaging more yards/quarter, more TDs/quarter and less turnovers/quarter than McCoy.
Keenum has played the toughest schedule of the bunch and is outperforming the others at the same time. I’m not sure what all factors go into your voting, since you guys are professionals(read: football politicians), but the fan polls have Keenum as the run-away favorite.
sandymex, you are still not listening to what I am writing. My Heisman Watch is NOT a predicted order of the final vote. It is a gauge of who, at the current time, has the best chance of actually WINNING the Heisman. I am NOT predicting that Harris will finish second when I currently have him second on my Heisman watch. What I am saying is that circumstances have made him the player with the 2nd best chance of winning at this time, based on how things project out. Got it?
Greg,voters know McCoy is a great player and a couple interceptions in the early season is not going to change that perception.
I understand exactly what you’re saying. You’re saying that before the Virginia Tech game Jacory Harris had the 5th best chance of winning and that after the game he had the 2nd best chance of winning. Meanwhile you think Tebow’s chances of winning dropped after he carried his team to victory while fighting illness and a decimated receiver corps. I guess the fact that he tallied 71 more yards on the ground than Best on the same number of carries helps explain why you think Best’s chances of winning are better than Tebow’s.
You’re a lobbyist disguised as a pundit.