Tag: Heisman tally

Caleb Williams Wins Heisman Trophy (and why I voted for him)

Caleb Williams won the 2022 Heisman Trophy. Here’s why Pete Fiutak voted for him in what turned out to be a strange season for the award.

Caleb Williams won the 2022 Heisman Trophy. Here’s why Pete Fiutak voted for him in a weird year for the award.

Why My Heisman Vote Went To Caleb Williams

– Contact/Follow @PeteFiutak

The 2022 Heisman Trophy run was weird.

Caleb Williams didn’t emerge until the very end – mostly because no one seemed to watch him until the Notre Dame game – and even with the performances over the final few games his USC team wasn’t able to win the Pac-12 Championship.

Max Duggan didn’t win the Big 12 Championship, CJ Stroud didn’t even get to his title game, and the guy who did get it done – Stetson Bennett – was roasted mercilessly on social media for being one of the four finalists.

And that’s what made this all a little bit off.

Are Williams, Duggan, Stroud, and Bennett the best players in college football? No, but that’s not really how the Heisman voting works.

Heisman Trophy Finish
1. Caleb Williams, USC 2,031 (544 1st)
2. Max Duggan, TCU 1,421 (188)
3. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State 539 (37)
4. Stetson Bennett, Georgia 349 (36)
5. Hendon Hooker, Tennessee 226 (81)
6. Bryce Young, Alabama 141 (34)
7. Blake Corum, Michigan 125 (8)
8. Michael Penix Jr., Washington 114 (9)
9. Bijan Robinson, Texas 75 (4)
10. Drake Maye, North Carolina 42 (3)

Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson and Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter are probably the two best players, and the 2023 NFL Draft might prove that.

Were the four finalists the best quarterbacks in college football? It’s debatable. I think Bryce Young is college football’s best quarterback, and you could name ten others and not necessarily be wrong, but that’s not really how the Heisman voting works.

Were any of the four finalists the nation’s leading passer? No. That was Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., and he put up the best numbers by a mile. But that’s not how the Heisman voting works.

– 2023 Early Heisman Watch List

I wish we could vote for this thing after the bowls and College Football Playoff are over – aka the games that matter most – but we can’t. So to me, the Heisman voting is always about who the signature player was in the regular season, making it a combination of the MVP and MOP.

Who is The Guy who was the regular season?

I’m not going to argue against Stetson Bennett – at least as a finalist.

Yeah, he had a ton of talent around him to work with, but he also became the glue for an unbeaten run for a team that had to do a near-total rebuild of top starters.

Everyone seems to forget just how amazing he was in the first quarter of the win over Oregon. No one remembers how he pulled the Missouri game out of the fire, outplayed – sort of – Hendon Hooker in the big win over Tennessee, and again, won his conference championship.

But no, Stetson Bennett didn’t make my list. You can only pick three players.

Hendon Hooker and Blake Corum didn’t make my list, either, but Hooker was 3B.

It’s brutally unfair – I despise dealing with negatives in a contest like this – but Hooker didn’t pull out the one game the team had to win. It wasn’t his fault Tennessee didn’t beat Georgia, and getting hurt late in the season was an awful break, but in this nitpicky beauty contest that matters.

The same goes for Corum. He was brilliant for the Michigan offense, and it’s not fair that he got hurt, but he wasn’t able to do much in the team’s biggest game of the year against Ohio State and wasn’t in the Big Ten Championship against Iowa.

Like Hooker, CJ Stroud didn’t win his biggest game, but he led the nation in passing efficiency, threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to Michigan – the defense wasn’t his fault – and again when we’re splitting hairs, he ended up doing a bit more than the guys who just missed the top three.

Yes, Hooker was amazing against Alabama. Stroud was amazing against Penn State. Ohio State is in the College Football Playoff. Tennessee isn’t. Someone had to be left out.

Stroud was my 3, Duggan was my 2.

Would I have voted for Duggan if he got into the end zone on 4th-and-1 and if TCU won the Big 12 Championship? No, but it might have made the final decision more difficult.

In an MVP way, Duggan’s team to the College Football Playoff and Williams’ isn’t. That might not be fair, but that’s the deal when having to decide between two players with comparable seasons. Even so …

There really wasn’t any choice other than Caleb Williams.

I’m not going to do the “USC might have beaten Utah if Caleb didn’t hurt his hamstring” thing – that’s not fair to the other candidates or the Utes. However, on one leg he threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns in the loss to Utah – his defense and lines did nothing to help him out. Gutting it out like he did sealed the Heisman deal.

The 470 yards and two touchdowns against UCLA were big, the 18-of-22 day with three rushing touchdowns against Notre Dame was the spotlight everyone was looking for, and there was the Oregon State game.

It was a subtle Heisman moment, nothing was working against the Beavers, but he was able to rise up on the road and lead the way on a game-winning drive to save the day.

All of that, and he was the one who put USC into hyperdrive after Lincoln Riley took over.

It was a weird Heisman year. Williams was able to outlast the field.

My all-time Heisman votes …
2021 QB Bryce Young, Alabama
2020 QB Kyle Trask, Florida (DeVonta Smith won)
2019 QB Joe Burrow, LSU
2018 QB Kyler Murray, Oklahoma
2017 QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
2016 QB Deshaun Watson, Clemson (Lamar Jackson won)
2015 RB Derrick Henry, Alabama
2014 QB Marcus Mariota, Oregon
2013 QB Jameis Winston, Florida State
2012 LB Manti Te’o, Notre Dame (Johnny Manziel won)
2011 QB Robert Griffin III, Baylor
2010 QB Cam Newton, Auburn
2009 DT Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska (Mark Ingram won)
2008 QB Tim Tebow, Florida (Sam Bradford won)
2007 QB Tim Tebow, Florida
2006 QB Troy Smith, Ohio State
2005 RB Reggie Bush, USC

[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]

Heisman Trophy: Why I Voted For Kyle Trask (And The Impossible Attempt To Justify It)

DeVonta Smith won the 2020 Heisman Trophy. Here’s why Pete Fiutak voted for Kyle Trask, along with explaining the rest of his ballot.

DeVonta Smith won the 2020 Heisman Trophy. Here’s why Pete Fiutak voted for Kyle Trask, along with explaining the rest of his ballot.

Why My Heisman Vote Went To Kyle Trask …

– Contact/Follow @PeteFiutak

Look, I’m the We Need To Vote AFTER The Bowls guy, so remember, we submitted our ballots before the bowl season happened.

All my Heisman votes since I’ve been doing this are at the bottom. This one was the hardest yet.

PLEASE, remember … the Heisman isn’t predictive. Again, it’s done BEFORE the bowls. BEFORE …

My ballot? 1) Kyle Trask, 2) Najee Harris, 3) Mac Jones.

Yeah, I voted for Kyle Trask. In 11 games – the time frame we had to go on to vote – he threw 43 touchdown passes and 4,125 yards with just five picks against all SEC teams. No, he wasn’t Joe Burrow, but Burrow after 11 games? 41 touchdown passes and 4,014 yards and six interceptions.

Yeah, I voted for the guy who was on a 2019 Joe Burrow pace, the best running back in college football who scored 27 touchdowns, and a guy who had the most efficient passing season in the history of college football. It wasn’t THAT wacky.

Trask was coming off the amazing performance against Alabama in the SEC Championship, and while he threw a bad pick against LSU, he more than made up for it with 474 yards – it wasn’t his fault the D was awful.

There’s no arguing against DeVonta Smith. He’s a wonderful player who had an all-timer of a year, stepping up his play as the season went on and especially after Jaylen Waddle went down. If we could vote after the bowls – you know, the biggest games of the season – I’d have changed my ballot. Seven catches for 130 yards and three touchdowns in one of the two most important games of the season … yeah, of course.

If we could vote right now before the national championship I would still be a bit torn with Smith, Harris or Mac Jones at 1/2/3 in some way, and because that one performance mattered SO much, Justin Fields would be on the radar depending on the national championship.

It’s my ongoing argument – bowl games matter here. Trask was great, but even though it wasn’t his fault with all the missing pieces, that Oklahoma game mattered.

Trevor Lawrence missed the first Notre Dame game. It’s totally not fair and totally not his fault, but we’re splitting hairs here with five guys – at least for me, it was Lawrence, Smith, Jones, Harris and Trask – for three spots and two guys had to be left off the list.

Trevor Lawrence is the most talented player in college football and an all-time NFL franchise quarterback prospect, but again two guys had to be left off. Missing the biggest pre-championship game of the regular season mattered here, and the numbers just weren’t as strong as the other quarterbacks.

Okay, Devonta … I wrote his name in, then out, then in, then out, then left him out. At the end of the day, yeah, quarterbacks are more important than wide receivers. Sorry, but they just are – you see Davante Adams getting MVP votes over Aaron Rodgers? Again, after the bowls he’d get the vote, but at the time ….

Okay … Kyle Trask. First, the guy was on a pace to beat Joe Burrow’s touchdown and yardage mark up until the bowl debacle. Considering Burrow came up with the be-all-end-all Heisman season, that never got as much respect as it deserved.

Remember how amazing he was in the SEC Championship. It got totally memory dumped by everyone, but this supposedly unbeatable Alabama team got pushed to the brink in that 52-46 game when Trask threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns with a rushing score.

And, again, we vote BEFORE the bowls, and for me, I always wait until right after the conference championship games are over.

Mac Jones was too good, too efficient, and too under-appreciated. No I don’t think he’s a better talent than Trevor Lawrence, but he had a better season. Again, to split hairs, I had to put in the guy who had the most efficient passing season in college football history in my top three.

Najee Harris was the best running back in football. There are plenty of amazing receivers. Not diminishing DeVonta in ANY way, but the massive receiving seasons are becoming a bit of the norm. Elijah Smith of Ole Miss actually averaged more yards and catches per game than DeVonta.

All year long I thought Harris was as much of the glue to what that the Bama offense did than anyone else. Obviously Smith-to-DeVonta was devastating, but Harris was massive game in and game out. The guy was the ultimate closer with 24 rushing scores, five touchdowns in the SEC Championship, and enough catches to matter.

Harris was my 1. I had even more of an argument to make for his cause, but after that SEC Championship, I thought that if I’m having a hard time deciding between three guys on one team, that probably means something. Not like Trask didn’t have a ton talent to work with, but again, he almost pulled out an SEC Championship with an amazing performance in a giant game. Add that to the raw numbers, and …

Rip on my vote all you want. Kyle Trask was pretty good. So were Najee Harris, Mac Jones, Trevor Lawrence and DeVonta Smith.

My all-time Heisman votes …

2020 QB Kyle Trask, Florida (DeVonta Smith won)
2019 QB Joe Burrow, LSU
2018 QB Kyler Murray, Oklahoma
2017 QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
2016 QB Deshaun Watson, Clemson (Lamar Jackson won)
2015 RB Derrick Henry, Alabama
2014 QB Marcus Mariota, Oregon
2013 QB Jameis Winston, Florida State
2012 LB Manti Te’o, Notre Dame (Johnny Manziel won)
2011 QB Robert Griffin III, Baylor
2010 QB Cam Newton, Auburn
2009 DT Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska (Mark Ingram won)
2008 QB Tim Tebow, Florida (Sam Bradford won)
2007 QB Tim Tebow, Florida
2006 QB Troy Smith, Ohio State
2005 RB Reggie Bush, USC

[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]

DeVonta Smith Wins 2020 Heisman Trophy: A Historic Winner In A Great Field

DeVonta Smith won the 2020 Heisman Trophy. In a crazy year, and with a great field of candidates, the Alabama WR had a historic season.

DeVonta Smith won the 2020 Heisman Trophy. In a crazy year, and with a great field of candidates, the Alabama wide receiver put together a historic year.

[jwplayer DtFrSPGS]

DeVonta Smith Won The Heisman Trophy …

– Contact/Follow @PeteFiutak

Leave it to the smoothest player in the game to take home the Heisman Trophy in the roughest college football season of all-time.

DeVonta Smith won the 2019 Heisman Trophy as the first wide receiver since Michigan’s Desmond Howard got it in 1991.

Mac Jones put together the most efficient season in the history of college football. He threw for close to 4,000 yards before the College Football Playoff bowl win over Notre Dame with 32 touchdowns and just four interceptions.

Florida’s Kyle Trask was on the same touchdown and yardage pace as 2019 winner Joe Burrow, and remember, the voting was done before the bowl game. He threw for 42 touchdowns and five picks before the bowl, and he pushed Alabama to the brink in a classic SEC Championship.

[lawrence-related id=526460]

Trevor Lawrence missed a few key games for Clemson, but he came back roaring as he led the Tigers to the ACC Championship and another appearance in the College Football Playoff. One of the best college quarterbacks of all-time, he’s a special talent closing out an amazing career.

And DeVonta Smith had to get past all of them.

When Howard won in 1991, he beat out Florida State QB Casey Weldon and BYU QB Ty Detmer. Both had great seasons, but neither one was going to make a big push. This year, Smith was able to beat three guys who could’ve taken home the Heisman without anyone blinking.

All Smith did was catch 98 passes before the bowl game for 1,511 yards and 17 touchdowns with a punt return for a score. He hit the 100-yard mark seven times, he was a dominant force in game after game, and when Jaylen Waddle went down for the year with an ankle injury, Smith stepped up.

He was the focus of every game plan by every secondary, and it didn’t matter as he scored multiple touchdowns in five of his last six regular season games – he wasn’t needed when he caught just three passes in the 52-3 win over Arkansas.

A quarterback won nine of the previous ten Heismans with Derrick Henry breaking it up in 2015, and now a wide receiver has broken through.

A national championship-winning touchdown catch over Georgia in overtime, a Heisman, and now another shot at a national championship.

Everything about DeVonta Smith’s college career has been historic.

[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]