LSU vs Alabama Rematch: Can Honey Badger Launch His 2012 Heisman Campaign Early?

The Heisman trophy goes to the most "outstanding" player, but it's a lot more trickier than that. Not only do you have to be great at your position and put up off-the-chart statistics, your team also has to win and you have to have the hype coming into the season.

Many believe that LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu has a chance to win the Heisman trophy this season, but the truth is he doesn't. Not that he isn't a great player or anything, but he didn't have the hype coming into the year like Andrew Luck and Trent Richardson did.

It's hard enough to win the award, but when you have to work just for people to get to know you, it becomes a little more difficult. He only started one game last season.

We know who Mathieu is now as he has made clutch play after clutch play this season for the Tigers. If it wasn't for him, LSU may have earned a couple of losses. His punt returns for touchdowns in the past two weeks have been the spark to wake up a sluggish Tigers team.

While he is a big part of this team's success, it's simply not good enough to win the award this season. Next year is a completely different story.

Mathieu plays fantastic defense and comes up with the big plays. He gets sacks, forced fumbles and his fare share of interceptions. He also makes big plays in the return game. There's only one thing that is missing that he needs to add to his resume to win the award.

And that's offense.

There's a reason only one defensive player has won the Heisman trophy, and that's because they have to do so much extra. Offensive players are the ones who get to put up all of the sexy stats. Rushing for 20 or so touchdowns is more impressive to the voters than five interceptions and three forced fumbles.

When Charles Woodson became the only defensive player to win the Heisman in 1997, he did it all for Michigan. He had eight interceptions and ran a punt back for a touchdown. But he also played offense and had 246 total yards and three touchdowns.

Mathieu has to get involved on offense if he wants to win the award next season. He now has the hype, he is great defensively and will continue to be a force in the return game. This team is also loaded and may even be better next season. The wins will continue to be there.

If he can get a few trick plays and score a couple times on offense, he'll become the second Tiger to win the Heisman trophy.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]