The time has finally come to award our mythical Heisman vote in the RSS Heisman Watch. If you've followed along all season, you know we hate going with the status quo, which is why we've tracked guys like Suh, Gerhart, and Ingram for weeks. But who deserves our final vote in the end? What does our unofficial official ballot look like? Find out at Randall Simon's Sausages!
1. Mark Ingram-RB-Alabama (last week 28 rushes, 113 yards, 3 TDs; 76 yards receiving)
Season Stats: 249 rushes, 1542 yards, 15 TDs; 30 catches, 322 yards, 3 TDs
-Last week we said it would take a big performance for Ingram to regain the top spot and take home our mythical Heisman vote. Well, 3 TDs and almost 200 total yards of offense in the biggest game of the year was definitely big. That combined with the week off for Toby Gerhart and the dismal outing of Colt McCoy lifted Ingram to first on our ballot. But clearly, it was more than just this past week that finds Ingram here. Since the first week of the season, we've tracked him as a Heisman candidate because of his fearless running style and his robust stats, which would be even better if 'Bama hadn't pulled away early from cupcake opponents. This isn't just giving the trophy to the best player on the best team, this is giving the award to the most deserving player throughout the season, which was Ingram.
2. Ndamukong Suh-DT-Nebraska (last week 12 tackles (7 for loss), 4.5 sacks)
Season: 82 tackles (23 for loss), 12 sacks, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble, 3 kicks blocked
-While Suh will undoubtedly make the best NFL prospect of these finalists, his efforts fall just short. But, it wasn't for a lack of effort as he turned in one of the most dominant defensive performances ever seen against Texas in the Big 12 title game. We doubted if Suh could garner an invite to NYC even with a Herculean performance, luckily for him he turned one of the all-time performances against fellow candidate Colt McCoy. Trust us, the margin between Suh and Ingram is razor-thin, we'd say it was the closest Heisman race we've ever seen...except this is the first RSS Heisman Watch. Still, it is encouraging to see so many pundits recognizing Suh on their ballots, maybe hope is still alive for the hulking DT. Colt McCoy is just happy he doesn't have to see Suh again on Saturdays, check out this great video from the Big 12 Title Game.
-Gerhart unfortunately is a victim of the moment as Suh and Ingram had that one extra week to impress the RSS Heisman Watch committee. That's not to say Gerhart wasn't a beast all season and would be deserving of the award if Suh and Ingram hadn't turned in amazing performances in their respective championship games. But, he comes up just short in the final tally. However, even the margin from Ingram back to 3rd place Gerhart is whisker thin. As for the official Heisman, we at RSS would be thrilled if one of these three candidates could win and end the QB dominance of this generation of Heisman voters.
Dropping Out of the Race: Colt McCoy was in 1st place going in to Championship Weekend, but his paltry performance brought back memories of his lackluster early season performances. That, and being tossed around by a fellow candidate and being one second away from the dumbest play in college football history doesn't do your chances much good. Despite being deified by the mass media and getting another invite to New York City, Tim Tebow deservedly drops from the final RSS ballot. While he may still be one of the greatest college football players ever, his play this season doesn't warrant the lofty reward of a second Heisman trophy. One final shoutout goes to Clemson RB C.J. Spiller, who would have leapfrogged Tebow on a Top 5 ballot after another all-world all-around performance in a losing effort versus Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship.
That's does it for this season's Heisman Watch. As always let us know how wrong we are by posting a comment below. We'll also continue our Decade Series this week with our Top 10 D'Oh Moments of the Decade, so start channeling Homer Simpson! Until then, it's bye for now!
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