Heisman Watch 2011: 5 Reasons Andrew Luck Should Win over Trent Richardson

The regular season has come to a conclusion for nearly every team, and the top two Heisman Trophy front-runners are actually off next weekend.

Trent Richardson and Andrew Luck are neck-and-neck for the Heisman, and the final votes could come down to the wire. Many are speculating this will be one of the closest finishes we have ever seen in the Heisman race.

I could give you five reasons as to why I believe Luck should not win the Heisman, but I am going to give you five reasons why the future top pick in the NFL draft should be your 77th Heisman winner.

History

Since 2000, nine of the last 11 Heisman Trophy winners have hoisted the stiff arm trophy as a quarterback. 

History is clearly on the side of Luck's, and it helps to be playing some of your best ball towards the end of the season. While Luck did struggle against Oregon, throwing four touchdowns against the Irish surely helped his case.

Team Around Him

This Stanford team would certainly be nowhere without Luck. They might be a six- or seven-win team, but I doubt they could win anything more.

Trent Richardson and Alabama could win seven games just based off the fact that the defense alone is better than most teams. 

Luck has a few NFL players, but also has a ton of mediocre to practice squad players at best. Having two of the best linemen in the country does help your running game, but when your most explosive players in your passing game are your three tight ends, that does not speak volumes usually.

Plus, the defense has had some issues staying healthy and has struggled the past few weeks. They were blown away by the Oregon Ducks in their own backyard which just goes to show you that when Stanford cannot score close to 30 points a game, they have no chance of beating the upper-echelon teams.

Regional Votes

It should be noted that there are hardly any candidates even challenging Luck for the Heisman. Robert Griffin III certainly is a legit front-runner who should get invited, but the only other player who could steal a handful of first- or second-place votes would be a player out of his own state.

Matt Barkley of Southern California deserves a ton of credit for what he has accomplished, but the elbow injury that forced LaMichael James to miss two full games certainly killed his Heisman chances.

Oregon's two losses is another obvious role, but Stanford and Andrew Luck continued to thrive in games down the stretch this season. Stanford played in a few nationally-televised games, and outside of a poor performance to Oregon, Luck came through in the clutch.

Notre Dame Factor

Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and Carson Palmer all went bonkers against the Irish in their games against Notre Dame.

The same can be said for Andrew Luck, who threw for 233 yards and four touchdowns. Stanford gave Notre Dame a few opportunities to get back in the game during the first quarter, but Luck turned it up a notch throwing for three touchdowns in the first to go up 21-0 at halftime.

Stanford dominated the line of scrimmage and was a bit opportunistic on defense, which is their calling card, but Andrew Luck bailed them out on several touch passes that continued drives in the second half.

Mr. Luck is very worthy of hoisting the 8.5-pound trophy, and the voters tend to pay attention when Notre Dame is on national television, which certainly gives him an excellent chance.

Legacy

It is one thing to play the most important position on the team, but Andrew Luck has been popular around the landscape of college football and many voters feel the burden of rewarding the All-American legend.

He's certainly deserving of such a prestigious award, and he did just break John Elway's record for most passing touchdowns by throwing his 77th, 78th, 79th and 80th career passing touchdowns (Elway, 77).

Andrew Luck has been compared to one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time in both the collegiate and professional level, Peyton Manning.

Not only is Luck expected to become the top pick in the NFL draft, but it will be interesting if voters reward Luck for what has been a legendary career.