Stanford Football: 3 Reasons Andrew Luck Could Miss out on the Heisman

If you ask any college football fan their opinion on the Heisman winner this season, the vast majority of those will return with the answer of the future No. 1 overall NFL draft pick: Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.

While Luck came up short last season in voting to the monster season of Cam Newton, the junior signal-caller has few rivals this season in the race for the most coveted individual award in college football.

The 2011 Heisman Trophy is definitely Luck’s to lose this season, but if he again comes up short, the following reasons will be mentioned around Palo Alto this December after the trophy presentation in New York City.

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Statistics

With the play-calling for Stanford not being very pass heavy like that of other teams, the lack of big numbers could hurt Luck this season. Other impact players like Boise State’s Kellen Moore and South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore could pad their stats against meager competition the rest of the season.

Big Game vs. Oregon and USC

The Cardinal have a path, while not easy, to the first Pac-12 championship game at the end of the schedule, but they will need to get past an improving USC program in Los Angeles and Oregon at home this season.

On the individual scale, Luck will need to show a lot in these two high-profile games if he wants to impress the voters during those specific weeks later this year. If Stanford loses either of these games, especially Oregon, the impact of losing either game will definitely hurt the quarterback’s chances in the Heisman race.

Injury

Even though Luck has proven to be a rugged quarterback for Stanford, the threat of injury will to be a very plausible reason that could help some other player this season to snatch the Heisman away from the Cardinal quarterback.