Heisman Watch Week 11: Could Luck’s Loss Be Richardson, Moore or the Field’s Gain?

in Heisman Watch by Asher Feldman — November 12, 2011 at 8:36 pm | 2 comments

Trent Richardson

Proving once again that there are no easy weekend in the SEC, Richardson and Alabama had a difficult time getting in a groove against Mississippi State.

Richardson did, however, record 127 yards and a touchdown on the ground combined with 26 more yards through the air. It was Richardson’s score in the fourth quarter that all but sealed the tough victory for the Crimson Tide.

The junior’s Saturday night performance gives Richardson more than 1,000 yards on the season for the first time in his career to go with his 17 touchdowns.

Case Keenum

When 325 passing yards and three touchdown passes is an off day, you know you’ve put together a statistical season for the ages.

Houston quarterback Case Keenum has posted some of the best stat lines in the entire country this season, but Thursday’s performance from Keenum was uncharacteristically slow. Still, the all-time leader in touchdowns in FBS history had a strong night, and has solidified his name as one to watch as we reach the final portion of the college football season.

Two more games remain for Keenum and the Cougars — SMU and Tulsa — and with two more strong Keenum-esque performances, the Cougar signal-caller might just be able to throw a wrench into the Heisman race.

Russell Wilson

Teetering on the edge of the Heisman race, Russell Wilson had an inspired day against Minnesota, finishing 16-of-17 and passing for a season-high four touchdowns.

Wilson’s day could have been perfect, but receiver Nick Toon dropped Wilson’s final attempt mid-way through the third quarter, even though the pass was on the money. The performance likely keeps Wilson in the conversation at least for another week, but what is truly helping Wilson’s candidacy is the resiliency of Wisconsin after losing two straight. The senior’s performance will likely be weighed against the Badgers’ overall performance in the weeks to come.

Andrew Luck

Seemingly the leader in this race for weeks and weeks, Andrew Luck once again had a strong night against a tough Pac-12 foe. This time, however, Stanford was not able to pull of victory. And Luck’s stat line somewhat belied the actual performance he left on the field. Luck finished the night with 227 yards and three touchdowns.

Uncharacteristically, he also threw two interceptions, although the blame for one did not fall squarely on Luck’s throw. So now the question becomes, is the race open once again?

Luck still seems to be the prohibitive favorite here, and by a large margin. With a loss and a less-than-stellar performance, however, the question remains. Who, if anyone, will challenge Luck for this trophy?

Kellen Moore

Year in and year out, Boise State looks to break into the BCS conversation as a school with an outsider’s shot and an outsider’s mentality. Kellen Moore also has spent the past few seasons trying to break into the Heisman conversation and win the trophy from a non-AQ conference, something that is becoming more and more difficult to do. Moore, however, did make his way to New York City as a Heisman finalist last year, and Boise State seems just on the edge of breaking into the title game every season.

Unfortunately for both hopes, losses do no favors in terms of making the rest of the country believe you’re on the same level as the more well-exposed teams and quarterbacks. And when TCU beat Moore and the Broncos Saturday, both hopes were seemingly dashed.

Of course, Moore had another strong statistical performance, passing for more than 320 yards and two touchdowns, but the loss will certainly hurt his chances at the trophy itself.

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Tags: andrew luck case keenum featured Heisman Watch kellen moore push russell wilson trent richardson week 11