College Football Heisman Race: Week 13

Each week, I'll break down who I think are the top-10 contenders for the Heisman and let you know who may have fallen out of contention.

I base my rankings on what the Heisman Committee tends to value when honoring its winner, so I'll be ranking based on what I think the committee is considering (previous rankings are in parentheses).

1. (3) Colt McCoy- QB, Texas

McCoy has just been hanging around all season until this week against the Aggies. He and Tebow certainly have the political edge in the Heisman race and just needed their play to warrant getting the award. McCoy may have finally done that on Thursday.

He completed 24 of 40 passes for 304 yards and 4 TDs and added 175 yards rushing and a TD on the ground as well. For the season, he stands ninth in the country with 3,328 yards, while adding 27 TD passes as well.

Perhaps most importantly, he's the NCAA career leader in wins at QB, which is likely something the committee will want to recognize and reward him for.

2. (1) Mark Ingram- RB, Alabama

It was bound to happen one week. Ingram has had a great season, but was always fighting an uphill battle against Tebow and McCoy because of their career success and name recognition. He had earned the top spot by being far and away the better player this season, but his effort against Auburn on Friday really hurt his chances.

He finished the night with 30 yards on 16 carries, while also adding 21 yards receiving. Not eye-popping numbers for the nations 6th leading running back. He still has 1,429 yards to his name, but only 119.1 per game, which ranks considerably lower and is important considering the committee will certainly be looking for flaws in his resume.

A stellar game against Florida could vault him back to the top, but he's gotta prove himself all over again.

3. (2) Tim Tebow- QB, Florida

Only two more games before everybody has to stop hearing about how amazing Tebow is. The QB has had a solid, not spectacular, year by his own standards, but has started to turn it on of late. In the win over Florida State he completed 17 of 21 passes for 221 yards and 3 TDs and put on one of his best passing games in years.

He also added 90 yards on 15 carries for two TDs. He can't win the Heisman on a straight statistical comparison, but it's a good thing for him the trophy is so political in nature. His team still sits No. 1 in the nation and he is still the face of college football. When added to his increasingly solid play, he still remains a very serious threat.

4. (5) Toby Gerhart- RB, Stanford

It's a shame this kid is going to get lost in the shuffle with the aforementioned players, because Gerhart truly has been the most dominant of all players on this list. Every time I watch Stanford I'm surprised by how mediocre they look as a team and how clear it is that Gerhart has taken them on his back; a quality that should scream Heisman Trophy.

Against Notre Dame on Saturday Gerhart took 29 carries for 205 yards and three TDs. It made him the nations leading rusher (again) with 1,736 yards and 26 TDs, which is seven more than the next closest RB. Just to give another comparison, while Ingram averages 119 yards per game, Gerhart is cracking off 144.

But it likely won't matter.

5. (4) Kellen Moore- QB, Boise State

Another player that gets lost in the shuffle because of who he plays for. Boise State continues to be amongst the NCAAs strongest teams, but instead of getting media love, like Gonzaga did in basketball, they seem to continuously be treated as an outsider. It hurts the Heisman chances of any of their players.

Moore has had an incredible season in spite of that, and added to it last week with 262 yards and five touchdowns, which give him a ridiculous 38 on the season; good enough to tie him with Keenum for most in the nation. He's a sure-fire front runner for next year, but will likely have to have the same type of season to even earn an invite.

6. (7) Case Keenum- QB, Houston

If the award was simply statistical and nothing else, Keenum would have no competition. Week after week, the kid puts up numbers that seem impossible to duplicate. Which is ironic given the average (by his standards) stats he put up this week, even as Houston notched 73 points.

He completed 25 of 31 passes for 323 and two TDs, while also adding a rushing TD. It leaves him just short of 5,000 yards on the season at 4,922 and 38 TDs.

Houston is not a strong enough team and he doesn't have enough big game wins to earn him an invite to NYC, but its been a solid season for Case and I think he'll find more future success than the people he has so often been compared to—Kingsbury and Harrell etc.

7. (5) CJ Spiller- RB, Clemson

What a disappointing week for Spiller. With Ingram slipping, he really could have established himself as the RB most likely to grab the Heisman invite, but he too found tough sledding in the Tigers loss to South Carolina.

After taking the opening kick-off back for a TD, Spiller was only able to gain 18 yards on nine carries and 19 yards on three receptions. In fairness to Spiller, he was reportedly very ill and holding back vomiting on the sidelines all game long, but the statistical effort is what's going to hold weight when the committee makes its selection and this one will hurt him.

8. (NR) Andy Dalton- QB, TCU

Dalton dropped out of the rankings a few weeks ago due to the re-emergence of Jacquizz Rodgers, but after Pitt's loss, he finds his spot in replacing sensational freshman Dion Lewis. Dalton has been the catalyst for the Horned Frogs all season, causing damage with his arm and legs and leading TCU to an undefeated regular season.

He capped it off in style this week, completing 15 of 24 passes for 228 yards and four TDs, while also adding 48 yards rushing and another TD on the ground. He's another guy who will be hurt because of the lack of respect his team receives, but he's put together a tremendous season.

9. (9) Jacquizz Rodgers- RB, Oregon State

The Quizz Show was off this week, but the nation's 12th leading rusher has firmly positioned himself as a front runner for next years award.

He's been able to do serious damage both in the receiving game and in the running game, tacking together 1,313 yards rushing on 5.5 yards per carry (and more yards per game than Ingram) and 436 yards receiving to go along with 20 total TDs.

10. (10) Jimmy Clausen- QB, Notre Dame

Another good week for Clausen and another loss for the once Fightin' Irish. Clausen did all he could, but failed in another comeback attempt, a fact that might not be his fault, but will certainly be viewed as a flaw on his resume.

He's the nation's third leading passer with 3,722 yards to go along with 28 TDs and will very likely be the first quarterback off the board in the 2010 NFL Draft, but he won't have a Heisman Trophy to take with him to the NFL.

Dropped out: (7) Lewis

Darkhorses

Dezmon Briscoe and Danario Alexander- WR, Kansas & Missouri-

Watching these two go back and forth last night was a thing of beauty. Granted, they benefited from typically weak Big-12 secondaries, but these two can certainly make all kinds of plays. They finished the game with a combined total of almost 500 yards receiving.

Alexander had 15 grabs for 233 yards and a TD, making him the nations leading WR with 1,644 yards and 13 TDs. Briscoe was not to be outdone, hauling in 14 passes for 242 yards and a TD. He stands fifth in the nation with 1,337 yards and 9 TDs.