by Todd Helmick
Site Owner Todd Helmick maintains an Official Heisman Vote.

2009 Heisman Trophy Candidates
BIG GAME COMPARISON
--- Comparing statistics versus their toughest opponents ---

NationalChamps.net will create and utilize another approach to selecting our Heisman winner, which no other publication attempts. Each candidate will have his statistics from the three toughest opponents played in 2009 added and totaled. We'll put them side-by-side.

December 7, 2009 - What a difference the last week (Championship Week) will have on this voting. The week prior (Thanksgiving Weekend), Texas QB Colt McCoy almost won the award based on his huge performance in a win over archrival Texas A&M. At the same time, longtime front-runner Mark Ingram seemingly lost the award based on his horrible performance against archrival Auburn. Again...what a difference a week makes. McCoy had a horrible performance in the Big 12 Championship Game against a stingy Nebraska defense. Three interceptions, zero touchdowns, negative yards rushing…all which almost culminated in a shocking loss that would have sent the BCS system into total chaos. On the other side, Ingram looked like a man delivering blow after blow against the nation's top ranked Gator defense in the SEC Championship Game. Down the stretch, the Heisman has primarily been a race between Ingram and McCoy with Stanford's Toby Gerhart surging fast with big rushing numbers in his last four outings. Tim Tebow was always on the outside looking in with very average statistics. His continued “ho-hum” performance against Alabama sealed his fate as an outsider looking in.

In the 75th season of the Heisman Presentation, do not be surprised if Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh makes a serious push at winning the Heisman Trophy outright and becomes the first interior down lineman to ever win the prestigious award. His dominating efforts on the line of scrimmage for the Cornhuskers almost single-handed won a Big 12 Championship. Linemen never win this lofty award unless they are doing something special like playing multiple positions or racking up obscene statistics. Despite his huge presence in the middle, Suh has done neither. So he won't make this list.

If special teams counted the most, Clemson's C.J. Spiller would take this race. And if our Big Game Comparison had anything to do with the race, Spiller would likely come close here too. No better all-purpose player exists at any collegiate level than Spiller. If the usual case holds true where four or five loss teams don't send their best player to New York City for this honor, then both Spiller and Gerhart will have a difficult time walking away with this hardware.

The call between McCoy and Ingram was not that far off. The bottom line, Ingram played the toughest schedule out of anyone on this list and his high performance consistency against that grindstone with the exception of the game with Auburn, earns him this vote. Toby Gerhart got more carries and thus had more yards in comparison, but Ingram had a better average per carry and also had a much more solid presence in the passing game as a receiver. Colt McCoy struggled early and then again in his last performance, threw too many interceptions on the season and wound up with a sub par efficiency rating. If the award was based on a career, McCoy wins this easy. But under the microscope of 2009, Ingram gets my vote.

 

THE FINAL BALLOT - December 7, 2009

RB Mark Ingram - Alabama
Class: Sophomore
Height: 5-10 Weight: 215
Hometown: Flint, MI
Team Record: 13-0
Rushing Receiving
ATT YDS AVG TD REC YDS AVG TD
249 1542 6.2 15 30 322 10.7 3
Big Game Comparison ..
76 407 5.4 4 10 141 14.1 1
Game Log .. Rushing Receiving
DATE & OPP
RESULT
ATT
YDS
AVG
TD
REC
YDS
TD
9/5 vs. Virginia Tech Won 34-24 26 150 5.8 1 3 35 1
9/12 Florida International Won 40-14 10 56 5.6 1 4 47 0
9/19 North Texas Won 53-7 8 91 11.4 1 3 38 1
9/26 Arkansas Won 35-7 17 50 2.9 1 3 21 1
10/3 at Kentucky Won 38-20 22 140 6.4 2 1 6 0
10/10 at Mississippi Won 22-3 28 172 6.1 1 3 16 0
10/17 South Carolina Won 20-6 24 246 10.3 1 2 23 0
10/24 Tennessee Won 12-10 18 99 5.5 0 0 0 0
11/7 Louisiana State Won 24-15 22 144 6.5 0 5 30 0
11/14 at Mississippi State Won 31-3
19
149
7.8
2
1
9
0
11/21 Chattanooga Won 45-0
11
102
9.3
2
0
0
0
11/27 at Auburn Won 26-21
16
30
1.9
0
3
21
0
12/5 vs. Florida Won 32-13
28
113
4.0
3
2
76
0
 
QB Colt McCoy - Texas
Class: Senior
Height: 6-2 Weight: 210
Hometown: Tuscola, TX
Team Record: 13-0
Passing
Rushing
CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA TD INT EFFICIENCY ATT YDS AVG TD
330 468 3512 70.5 7.5 27 12 147.5 36 348 2.7 3
Big Game Comparison ..
60 91 560 65.9 6.2 2 2 .. 37 19 0.5 1
Game Log .. Passing Rushing
DATE & OPP
RESULT
CMP
ATT
YDS
TD
INT
ATT
YDS
TD
9/5 Louisiana-Monroe
Won 59-20
21
29
317
2
1
7
-3
0
9/12 at Wyoming
Won 41-10
30
47
337
3
1
9
44
1
9/19 Texas Tech
Won 34-24
24
34
205
1
2
8
5
0
9/26 UTEP
Won 64-7
28
35
286
3
1
4
15
0
10/10 Colorado
Won 38-14
32
39
265
1
1
6
-3
0
10/17 vs. Oklahoma
Won 16-13
21
39
127
1
1
14
33
0
10/24 at Missouri
Won 41-7
26
31
269
3
1
11
13
0
10/31 at Oklahoma State
Won 41-14
16
21
171
1
0
11
34
0
11/7 UCF
Won 35-3
33
42
470
2
1
8
13
0
11/14 at Baylor
Won 47-14
23
34
181
2
0
3
13
0
11/21 Kansas
Won 51-20
32
41
396
4
0
12
29
0
11/26 at Texas A&M
Won 49-39
24
40
304
4
0
18
175
1
12/5 vs. Nebraska
Won 13-12
20
36
184
0
3
17
-20
1
                   
 
RB Toby Gerhart - Stanford
Class: Senior
Height: 6-1 Weight: 235
Hometown: Norco, CA
Team Record: 8-4
Rushing Receiving
ATT YDS AVG TD REC YDS AVG TD
311 1736 5.6 26 10 149 14.9 0
Big Game Comparison ..
86 442 5.1 7 2 29 14.5 0
Game Log .. Rushing Receiving
DATE & OPP
RESULT
ATT
YDS
AVG
TD
REC
YDS
TD
9/5 at Washington State Won 39-13 23 121 5.3 2 0 0 0
9/12 at Wake Forest Lost 17-24 17 82 4.8 0 1 12 0
9/19 San Jose State Won 42-17 24 113 4.7 2 1 8 0
9/26 Washington Won 34-14 27 200 7.4 1 0 0 0
10/3 UCLA Won 24-16 29 134 4.6 3 2 24 0
10/10 at Oregon State Lost 28-38 20 96 4.8 2 1 11 0
10/17 at Arizona Lost 38-43 28 123 4.4 2 1 18 0
10/24 Arizona State Won 33-14 27 125 4.6 1 1 5 0
11/7 Oregon Lost 42-51 38 223 5.9 3 0 0 0
11/14 at Southern California Won 55-21
29
178
6.1
3
1
9
0
11/21 California Lost 28-34
20
136
6.8
4
1
29
0
11/28 Notre Dame Won 45-38
29
205
7.1
3
1
33
0
 
QB Tim Tebow - Florida
Class: Senior
Height: 6-3 Weight: 245
Hometown: Jacksonville, FL
Team Record: 12-1
Passing
Rushing
CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA TD INT EFFICIENCY ATT YDS AVG TD
182 279 2413 65.2 8.6 18 5 155.6 203 859 4.2 13
Big Game Comparison ..
45 70 496 64.3 7.1 2 3 .. 51 177 3.5 1
Game Log .. Passing Rushing
DATE & OPP
RESULT
CMP
ATT
YDS
TD
INT
ATT
YDS
TD
9/5 Charleston Southern
Won 62-3
10
15
188
1
0
2
1
1
9/12 Troy
Won 56-6
15
24
237
4
0
13
71
1
9/19 Tennessee
Won 23-13
14
19
115
0
1
24
76
1
9/26 at Kentucky
Won 41-7
5
10
103
1
0
16
123
2
10/10 at Louisiana State
Won 13-3
11
16
134
1
1
17
38
0
10/17 Arkansas
Won 23-20
17
26
255
1
0
27
69
0
10/24 at Mississippi State
Won 29-19
12
22
127
0
2
22
88
1
10/31 vs. Georgia
Won 41-17
15
21
164
2
0
18
85
2
11/7 Vanderbilt
Won 27-3
15
20
208
1
0
16
27
1
11/14 at South Carolina
Won 24-14
14
25
199
1
0
16
26
1
11/21 Florida International
Won 62-3
17
25
215
2
0
7
102
1
11/28 Florida State
Won 37-10
17
21
221
3
0
15
90
2
12/5 vs. Alabama
Lost 13-32
20
35
247
1
1
10
63
0
                   
 
RB/KR/PR C.J. Spiller - Clemson
Class: Senior
Height: 5-11 Weight: 195
Hometown: Lake Butler, FL
Team Record: 8-5
Rushing Receiving
ATT YDS AVG TD REC YDS AVG TD
201 1145 5.7 11 33 445 13.5 4
Special Teams
RETURNS
ATTEMPTS YARDS AVG TD
PUNT RETURNS
8 210 26.3 1
KICK RETURNS
21 708 33.7 4
Big Game Comparison ..
66 432 6.5 5 8 153 19.1 1
Game Log .. Rushing Receiving
DATE & OPP
RESULT
ATT
YDS
AVG
TD
REC
YDS
TD
9/5 Middle Tennessee Won 37-14 4 12 3.0 0 0 0 0
9/10 at Georgia Tech Lost 27-30 20 87 4.4 0 4 69 1
9/19 Boston College Won 25-7 17 77 4.5 0 1 2 0
9/26 TCU Lost 10-14 26 112 4.3 1 3 79 0
10/3 at Maryland Lost 21-24 18 72 4.0 0 2 7 0
10/17 Wake Forest Won 38-3 9 106 11.8 2 2 6 0
10/24 at Miami FL Won 40-37 14 81 5.8 0 6 104 1
10/31 Coastal Carolina Won 49-3 5 27 5.4 1 0 0 0
11/7 Florida State Won 40-24 22 165 7.5 1 3 67 1
11/14 at North Carolina State Won 43-23
18
97
5.4
1
3
48
1
11/21 Virginia Won 34-21
19
58
3.1
1
5
39
0
11/28 at South Carolina Lost 17-34
9
18
2.0
0
3
19
0
12/5 vs. Georgia Tech Lost 34-39
20
233
11.7
4
1
5
0