Week 8: Boyd and Richardson surge
Another week, another scramble at the top of the Heisman leaderboard. That is, for everyone except Stanford QB Andrew Luck - who remains at #1.
Alabama RB Trent Richardson jumped four spots to #2, joining Luck as the only player appearing on more than 90% of Heisman voters' top-ten watch lists. Baylor QB Robert Griffin III moved up two spots to #3 into an effective tie with Boise State QB Kellen Moore - each appearing on 46 of 51 top-ten lists.
Also making a big move this week - for the second week in a row - was Clemson QB Tajh Boyd, jumping up from #12 to #7 in the rankings. Boyd now appears on 76% of Heisman watch lists (up from 37%).
Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins is ranked (at #13) for the first time since week 2. And USC QB Matt Barkley is ranked (#14) for the first time since week 5.
Despite his one-week suspension, LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu hung on at #15, dropping five spots. Dropping out entirely were Oklahoma WR Ryan Broyles and Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill.
51 actual Heisman voters from 27 states participated in this week's StiffArmTrophy.com poll. The poll asked voters to share an unranked top-10 "watch list" for the Heisman Trophy.
| rank | player | weighted% | votes | prev | |
| 1 | Stanford QB Andrew Luck | 98% | 50 | 1 | |
| 2 |  | Alabama RB Trent Richardson | 91% | 47 | 6 |
| 3 | | Baylor QB Robert Griffin III | 88% | 46 | 5 |
| 4 |  | Boise St QB Kellen Moore | 88% | 46 | 2 |
| 5 | | Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson | 81% | 42 | 4 |
| 6 | | Oklahoma QB Landry Jones | 77% | 39 | 3 |
| 7 | | Clemson QB Tajh Boyd | 75% | 37 | 12 |
| 8 | | Houston QB Case Keenum | 75% | 38 | 7 |
| 9 | Oklahoma St QB Brandon Weeden | 65% | 33 | 9 | |
| 10 | | Oklahoma St WR Justin Blackmon | 42% | 22 | 8 |
| 11 | Michigan QB Denard Robinson | 25% | 12 | 11 | |
| 12 | | Oregon RB LaMichael James | 23% | 12 | 13 |
| 13 | | Michigan St QB Kirk Cousins | 21% | 12 | -- |
| 14 | | USC QB Matt Barkley | 17% | 8 | -- |
| 15 | | LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu | 13% | 7 | 10 |
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:
| rank | player | Atlantic | Midwest | Northeast | South | Southwest | West |
| 1 | Stanford QB Andrew Luck | 100% | 100% | 100% | 90% | 100% | 100% |
| 2 | Alabama RB Trent Richardson | 100% | 87% | 80% | 100% | 81% | 100% |
| 3 | Baylor QB Robert Griffin III | 88% | 75% | 80% | 100% | 100% | 85% |
| 4 | Boise St QB Kellen Moore | 100% | 87% | 60% | 90% | 90% | 100% |
| 5 | Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson | 100% | 87% | 60% | 63% | 90% | 85% |
| 6 | Oklahoma QB Landry Jones | 100% | 62% | 80% | 81% | 54% | 85% |
| 7 | Clemson QB Tajh Boyd | 77% | 62% | 100% | 54% | 72% | 85% |
| 8 | Houston QB Case Keenum | 77% | 75% | 100% | 72% | 81% | 42% |
| 9 | Oklahoma St QB Brandon Weeden | 66% | 50% | 80% | 45% | 81% | 71% |
| 10 | Oklahoma St WR Justin Blackmon | 44% | 37% | 40% | 27% | 63% | 42% |
| 11 | Michigan QB Denard Robinson | 22% | 12% | 60% | 18% | 27% | 14% |
| 12 | Oregon RB LaMichael James | 11% | 37% | 20% | 27% | 18% | 28% |
| 13 | Michigan St QB Kirk Cousins | 22% | 25% | 20% | 36% | 27% | 0% |
| 14 | USC QB Matt Barkley | 22% | 25% | 20% | 9% | 0% | 28% |
| 15 | LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu | 0% | 25% | 0% | 9% | 18% | 28% |
Participating voters included:
Mid-Atlantic: Frank Bodani, Richard Cirminiello, Doug Doughty, Phil Kornblut, Chuck Landon, Bob Molinaro, Matthew Osborne, Keith Sargeant, Dave Weekley
Midwest: Andy Baggot, Randy Beard, Mike Carmin, Doug Clarke, Jeff Rapp, Mark Rea, Drew Sharp, Jon Spencer
Northeast: C.J. McCarthy, Cory McCartney, Rick McGowan, Chuck Pollock, B.J. Schecter
South: Brady Ackerman, Sean Baligian, Rick Bozich, Olin Buchanan, John Crist, Pat Dooley, Joe Girvan, Joey Johnston, Joshua Parrott, Billy Reed, Bob Tompkins
Southwest: Jimmy Burch, Sean Callahan, David Collier, Cedric Golden, Gary Ivins, Harry King, Reid Laymance, Bob Lutz, Dave Matter, David McCollum, Mike'l Severe
West: Mark Anderson, Roxy Bernstein, Steve Bisheff, Bob Condotta, Mike Lewis, Eric Schmoldt, Kevin Schnepf