No Moore

The Heisman Trophy needs to be abolished.

I’m not generally one for such grandiose, incinerating comments. OK, I am. But I don’t make this type of statement without a litany of background knowledge and at least some research.

Consider these three quarterbacks:

#1 – 193.0 passing yards per game, 136.92 rushing yards per game, 329.92 total yards per game

#2 – 235.83 passing yards per game, 98.67 rushing yards per game, 334.5 total yards per game

#3 – 199.15 passing yards per game, 108.38 rushing yards per game, 307.53 total yards per game

Only one of these quarterbacks is even going to New York for the Heisman presentation. It has to be #1 or #2, right? No, it’s #3. Not only that, #3, Auburn’s Cam Newton is considered the overwhelming favorite.

The case against #2, Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick, is that he played against weak competition. No argument here. But then why is Boise State's Kellen Moore – who played basically the same schedule, averaged 44.1 yards per game LESS than Kaepernick, finished with the same record and lost to Kaepernick head to head – invited?

The argument against #1, Michigan’s Denard Robinson, is that his team’s record wasn’t that good. Like it’s somehow his fault that his team didn’t worry about trivial things like holding opponents under 40 points per game.

But – and realize that the (well-earned in previous years) stereotype that SEC defenses are the nation’s best is wildly inaccurate this season – Robinson faced much more difficult defenses on a week in, week out basis. Newton faced only two elite defenses all year, Mississippi State and LSU. He did next to nothing against the Bulldogs and had a great rushing but poor passing game against LSU.

The Heisman is supposed to go to the most outstanding player in college football, and there’s really no rational way to argue that Newton was more outstanding than Robinson (The fact that the media, namely Herbstreit, gushes over him more is not a rational argument).

Look, Newton’s a winner. I don’t begrudge him his success. But if you switch him and Robinson, their teams’ records are probably the same. Throw in that Newton plays for the premier offensive coordinator in the country, and I find it shameful that Robinson will be watching Newton accept the Heisman on television.

This brings me back to the original point. The Heisman Trophy needs to be abolished. It was not awarded accurately last year, when Mark Ingram won the award despite not even being the most outstanding player on his own team (that would be Rolando McClain, who nearly killed Darren Sproles Sunday).

I would like to see the NCAA create the same award handed out in virtually every other sport, a Most Valuable Player Trophy. If we’re going to preclude players from teams with mediocre records and players who don’t play in major conferences, this award would at least make sense. Semantically, if not romantically.

I’d still vote for Stanford’s Andrew Luck, who is both the most outstanding and most valuable player in the nation. But at least Newton winning wouldn’t be a sham if the award were for the MVP (You know, until you consider that the history books will ultimately show this year’s Auburn team going 0-12).

The Heisman Trophy, as it is currently constructed, lends itself to being a popularity contest. Would changing it to an MVP award change that? I don't know. But at least there would be ways to justify abject travesties like Denard Robinson and Colin Kaepernick finishing below the likes of Kellen Moore.