Preseason Andrew Luck Hype Costs OSU's Brandon Weeden Heisman Trip to NY

On Monday night ESPN announced Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Montee Ball, Trent Richardson and Tyrann Mathieu as the five finalists for the 2011 Heisman Trophy Award.

Missing from the Heisman invitee list is not only Case Keenum—the NCAA career leader in career passing yards (18,685) and total career touchdowns thrown (152)—but more importantly the best quarterback in college football—Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden.

A credible argument can be made for four of the five Heisman finalists but not having Brandon Weeden on the list in favor of Stanford’s Andrew Luck is unforgivable. Luck’s invitation is an obvious byproduct of preseason media hype and a lack of objectivity by Heisman voters.

Here are the Heisman finalists: 

Robert Griffin III

9-3 University of Baylor’s quarterback, Robert Griffin III, leads the nation in quarterback rating (192.3) while posting the second most total yards per game (386.83) to Keenum (394.15).

Griffin is No. 6 in the nation in total passing yards (3,998) and No. 4 in passing touchdowns (36). Griffin has added 644 rushing yards to his offensive output with nine rushing touchdowns.

Baylor finished the season with a 2-2 record against ranked opponents, losing 59-24 to Oklahoma State and Brandon Weeden October 29.

Montee Ball

Wisconsin’s Montee Ball leads the nation in total rushing yards (1,759) and rushing touchdowns (32). Ball has 38 total touchdowns on the season, placing him one touchdown shy of tying Barry Sanders' single-season record for total touchdowns set in 1988.

The 11-2 Badgers won the Big Ten championship besting Michigan State 42-39.

Trent Richardson

Alabama’s running back Trent Richardson is No. 6 in the nation in total rushing yards (1,583) and No. 5 in total rushing touchdowns (20). The Tide finished the season 11-1 and No. 2 in the nation with a scheduled BCS National Championship Game against No. 1 LSU.

Comparing the two running back finalists, Ball averages 135.31 rushing yards per game to Richardson’s 131.92 ranking No. 4 and No. 5 respectively in college football.

Tyrann Mathieu

LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu’s selection as a Heisman finalist is not without some controversy. Mathieu was suspended for the Auburn game during the season after testing positive for synthetic marijuana, leading to the question, “Is that how you want the Heisman Trophy represented?”

Mathieu is an emotional leader for the top-ranked Tigers. He has 70 total tackles, forced five fumbles, intercepted two passes and scored four touchdowns on the season. Two of his touchdowns have come in LSU’s last two games on punt returns against then-No. 3 Arkansas and No. 12 Georgia.

Mathieu’s selection may not be wildly popular as his selection may be more of a team nomination than an individual achievement. University of Michigan’s Charles Woodson won the Heisman in 1997 as a cornerback/punt returner, much like Mathieu.

Andrew Luck

Stanford’s Andrew Luck has been invited to his second-straight Heisman Trophy presentation by the Downtown Athletic Club. Luck finished second in the 2010 Heisman Trophy voting to Auburn’s Cam Newton.

Luck finished the 2011 season No. 24 in total passing yards (3,170), No. 5 in passing touchdowns (35) and No. 25 in passing yards per game (264.17).

Statistically speaking, Luck is the fifth best quarterback in the Pac-12 let alone college football. Arizona’s Nick Foles, Arizona State’s Brock Osweiler, USC’s Matt Barkley and Oregon State’s Brock Mannion all passed for more yards within the Pac-12 than Luck.

The only major passing statistics that Luck led the Pac-12 in was completion percentage (70) and quarterback rating (167.5).

Matt Barkley led the conference in touchdown passes (39), had fewer interceptions thrown than Luck (seven-to-nine) and was sacked fewer times (eight-to-nine). Barkley threw for 3,528 total yards to Luck’s 3,170.

Luck will have the benefit of playing in one more game this season than Barkley—the Rose Bowl. Unless Luck throws for over 358 yards against Oklahoma State in their bowl game, he will not surpass Barkley in total passing yards for the season—even with one more game played than Barkley.

Stanford did not win the Pac-12 North Division or the Pac-12 Conference title. The Cardinal also did not beat a team ranked better than No. 20 at the time of their game during the season.

Case for Brandon Weeden

The biggest snub of the 2011 season has to be Oklahoma State’s quarterback Brandon Weeden. Weeden finished the regular season No. 3 in passing yards per game (360.67), No. 3 in completions per game (31.58), No. 6 in passing touchdowns (34) and No. 3 in total passing yards on the season (4,328).

Even with all of the gaudy numbers, Weeden had a 72.6 completion percentage—second best in college football among quarterbacks with 270 or more passing attempts.

Weeden led the No. 3 Cowboys to an 11-1 record and their first Big 12 Conference Title. OSU beat all four Top 25 teams they faced.

The 2011 Heisman Trophy will be announced December 10, on ESPN. Unfortunately, the Fiesta Bowl featuring No. 3 Oklahoma State versus No. 4 Stanford, does not happen until January 2.

Weeden will get his chance to embarrass the Heisman “Trust” for his snub. He will also get a chance to show the nation that not only is he a better quarterback statistically but also a better quarterback than Luck in head-to-head competition.

After the game maybe the Downtown Athletic Club will change the date of their Heisman Award presentation from during the season to after the final game has been played.