Stiff Arm Trophy

Week 5: Andrew Luck & Russell Wilson atop the Heisman race

Posted on October 6, 2011 in News.

After several weeks where there were four or five candidates in the top tier of the Heisman race, there are now just two well above the field: Stanford QB Andrew Luck and Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson are receiving top-12 support from over 94% of Heisman voters surveyed. Wilson rocketed from #7 last week on the strength of his big game against Nebraska.

A clear second tier has also emerged: Michigan QB Denard Robinson, Alabama RB Trent Richardson, Boise St QB Kellen Moore, Baylor QB Robert Griffin III, and Oklahoma QB Landry Jones all have top-12 support from over 80% of Heisman voters surveyed.

South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore and Oregon RB LaMichael James represent a small third tier in the Heisman race, with top-12 support from 66% and 62% of Heisman voters, respectively.

New to the Heisman race are Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson (#16) and Wisconsin RB Montee Ball (#18). USC's QB Matt Barkley and WR Robert Woods are back after a one-week absence, at #17 and #20.

Dropping out of the Heisman rankings were Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez, Oklahoma WR Ryan Broyles, LSU QB Jarrett Lee, and Florida QB John Brantley.

46 actual Heisman voters from 29 states participated in this week's StiffArmTrophy.com poll. The poll asked voters to share an unranked top-12 "watch list" for the Heisman Trophy.

rankplayerweighted%votesprev
1Stanford QB Andrew Luck95%431
2Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson94%457
3Michigan QB Denard Robinson87%396
4Alabama RB Trent Richardson86%408
5Boise St QB Kellen Moore86%392
6Baylor QB Robert Griffin III85%403
7Oklahoma QB Landry Jones82%394
8South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore66%305
9Oregon RB LaMichael James61%309
10Oklahoma St WR Justin Blackmon45%2210
11Clemson QB Tajh Boyd45%1915
12Houston QB Case Keenum42%2011
13Oklahoma St QB Brandon Weeden40%2012
14LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu38%1914
15Notre Dame WR Michael Floyd20%1220
16Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson20%10--
17USC QB Matt Barkley17%9--
18Wisconsin RB Montee Ball16%8--
19Oregon QB Darron Thomas14%718
20USC WR Robert Woods14%7--

Regional breakdown and list of participating voters on the jump...

With votes coming from multiple states, players are ranked based on a weighted percentage that adjusts for the number of participating voters in each state.

Here's the regional breakdown:

rankplayerAtlanticMidwestNortheastSouthSouthwestWest
1Stanford QB Andrew Luck100%83%100%100%87%100%
2Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson100%100%66%100%100%100%
3Michigan QB Denard Robinson85%91%100%60%87%100%
4Alabama RB Trent Richardson100%66%66%100%87%100%
5Boise St QB Kellen Moore85%83%100%90%75%83%
6Baylor QB Robert Griffin III85%75%66%100%100%83%
7Oklahoma QB Landry Jones57%91%66%90%87%100%
8South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore85%58%66%50%87%50%
9Oregon RB LaMichael James57%75%33%60%62%83%
10Oklahoma St WR Justin Blackmon28%58%33%30%75%50%
11Clemson QB Tajh Boyd42%50%100%40%37%0%
12Houston QB Case Keenum42%66%66%40%37%0%
13Oklahoma St QB Brandon Weeden42%33%0%40%62%66%
14LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu14%41%33%60%50%33%
15Notre Dame WR Michael Floyd14%41%0%40%12%16%
16Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson57%8%0%30%12%16%
17USC QB Matt Barkley14%25%0%20%12%33%
18Wisconsin RB Montee Ball0%33%33%10%25%0%
19Oregon QB Darron Thomas42%8%0%20%0%16%
20USC WR Robert Woods14%16%0%10%12%33%

Participating voters included:

Mid-Atlantic: Frank Bodani, Doug Doughty, Phil Kornblut, Chuck Landon, Keith Morehouse, Matthew Osborne, Keith Sargeant

Midwest: Andy Baggot, Randy Beard, Mike Carmin, Doug Clarke, Pete DiPrimio, Dave Hackenberg, Pat Harty, Todd Hefferman, Jeff Rapp, Mark Rea, Drew Sharp, Jon Spencer,

Northeast: Cory McCartney, Rick McGowan, Chuck Pollock

South: Brady Ackerman, Sean Baligian, Rick Bozich, Olin Buchanan, Pat Dooley, Joe Girvan, Chuck Hathcock, Cecil Hurt, Joey Johnston, Bob Tompkins

Southwest: Jimmy Burch, Sean Callahan, David Collier, Gary Ivins, Harry King, Reid Laymance, Bob Lutz, Mike'l Severe

West: Mark Anderson, Roxy Bernstein, Steve Bisheff, Mike Lewis, Eric Schmoldt, Kevin Schnepf