Heisman Trophy Watch: Who Are the Front-Runners After Week 12?

Just a typical week of earth-shattering upsets and rank shifting in college football, as a flurry of Top 25 teams took tumbles in the past few days.

With only two weeks remaining in the 2011 college football regular season, there is even more pressure for the Heisman contenders to impress the greater public, and more importantly the voters.

A number of candidates were involved in losses this weekend, which rarely leads to positive movement in the Heisman standings. Others put in solid efforts in wins.

With the weekend's slate of college football games in the books, let's take an updated look at the Heisman rankings.

Trent Richardson

If there was at least one player who maintained some instance of glamour in the chase for the Heisman, Trent Richardson kept the status quo.

Although Alabama faced a little more adversity than expected from Georgia Southern, Richardson still recorded a Heisman-worthy performance. There is nothing pedestrian about 175 yards and two touchdowns on a load of 35 carries, not to mention adding another score in the passing game.

That puts Richarsdon's season stats at 236 carries, 1380 yards, 20 touchdowns, 26 receptions, 322 yards and two touchdowns.

The interesting thing about this year's Heisman race is that virtually every candidate has had some sort of spill over the course of the season. But who can finish the strongest?

Richardson definitely has a fighter's chance.

Case Keenum

If you want to talk about lackluster Heisman statistics, look no further than Case Keenum's numbers against SMU.

The Houston signal caller fell well below his 73.4 percent completion rate on the season, completing just 66.7 percent of his passes against the Mustangs. By the same token, his 318 passing yards was his third lowest total of the season, and for the first time he threw just one touchdown pass.

He did, however, record another score on the ground.

On the year, Keenum has amassed a quarterback rating of 186.9 with 4269 yards on 309-of-421 passing, 38 touchdowns, and three interceptions to go with another three rushing scores.

Playing in a much weaker Conference USA, this is not the kind of performance that Keenum needed to keep his Heisman stock at a high level. Though his team won rather convincingly, Keenum was quite the opposite.

Andrew Luck

Andrew Luck seems to be making Heisman statements in recent weeks, but in the opposite direction.

He has thrown at least one interception in six of his last seven games, but his production otherwise has done little to push him into the forefront of the Heisman race.

In a thrilling 31-28 Stanford win over Cal Saturday night, Luck threw for 257 yards, two touchdowns and an interception—completely pedestrian numbers.

For the season, Luck has put up a quarterback rating of 167.4 with 2937 yards—on a 70.3 percent completion rate—31 touchdowns and eight interceptions to go with two rushing touchdowns.

At the beginning of the year, Luck had been considered the definite front runner for the Heisman. He has slowly and surely let that title slip away.

Brandon Weeden

Brandon Weeden and the Oklahoma State Cowboys saw their national title hopes slip away with their 37-31 upset loss to Iowa State Saturday, and the Heisman hopeful did not exactly put in a convincing performance.

His 58 pass attempts, out of which he completed 42, were the second most of the season, as were his 476 passing yards. However, his three touchdown passes were equalized with his three interceptions. These mistakes have become a Weeden normality throughout the year.

On the season, Weeden has recorded a 162.2 quarterback rating with 4111 yards—completing 73 percent of his passes—34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Weeden's numbers are pretty gaudy, and although he may have taken a step back in the race for the Heisman, he can slide right back into the thick of things with a huge performance in the Pokes' final regular season game against Oklahoma.

Montee Ball

Montee Ball is getting little love from several media outlets, but there is no denying that his numbers are telling a story in his record-breaking campaign.

In a 28-17 win over Illinois Saturday, Ball rushed for a season-high 224 yards and two touchdowns, adding another score through the air.

In the last three games, Ball has rushed for 613 yards and seven touchdowns on 81 carries (7.5 ypc), while putting up two more scores in the passing game.

On the year, Ball has accumulated 1466 yards and 25 touchdowns on 233 carries, picking up another five receiving touchdowns.

Ball has scored at least two touchdowns in every game this season. Though his numbers to start the season were rather unconvincing, the junior tailback has really come on of late.