Oregon vs. Stanford: LaMichael James Jumps Andrew Luck in Heisman Race

Oregon’s 53-30 victory over Stanford on Saturday night marked two important events in college football.

First of all, Oregon is going to jump Stanford in the BCS polls and leap back into the national championship discussion.

Stanford came into the game ranked No. 4 in the BCS poll, with Oregon at No. 7. I would be surprised to see them switch places in Sunday’s new rankings.

Secondly, Oregon running back LaMichael James’ performance in the victory will vault him ahead of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck in the Heisman Trophy race.

James finished the game with 146 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Luck finished the game with 271 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also lost a costly second half fumble after getting sacked.

While Luck doesn’t have a lot of NFL-level talent around him, he still failed to lead his team to a comeback victory against a tough opponent. That’s going to hurt him in the Heisman race.

Meanwhile, James atoned for a poor performance in Week 1 against LSU by carrying Oregon to victory against a BCS Top 5 team.

James now has 1,207 yards and 12 touchdowns on the season, despite missing two games with an elbow injury. He’s playing with a giant brace on the elbow now, but that didn’t slow him down at all last night.

Luck has thrown for 2,695 yards and 29 touchdowns, which is incredible considering the lack of talent around him. 

But, as mentioned before, to win the Heisman, you have to be able to overcome adversity and lift your teammates to your level in big games.

Luck failed to do that last night as his team’s national championship hopes ended at the hands of the Ducks.

Cam Newton didn’t have a ton of talent in his receiving corps last year, but he still led the Auburn Tigers to a national championship, against James’ Oregon team. 

Luck needed to have a big game Saturday night to cement himself at No. 1 in the Heisman race. Instead, he faltered down the stretch, losing a fumble in the second half and throwing an interception that killed Stanford’s hopes for a comeback.

He can still win the Heisman, but James has vaulted himself back into the conversation with Luck after a huge performance on Saturday night.