Week 11: Andrew Luck stays on top; LaMichael James surges
Last weekend, the top two candidates in the Stiff Arm Trophy poll of Heisman voters both lost. The big question: would it affect the rankings?
The answer for Stanford QB Andrew Luck: No. Luck was on 97% of Heisman voters' watch lists (top seven) and kept his top spot in our poll. The answer for Boise State QB Kellen Moore: Yes. Moore dropped three spots from #2 to #5, and now only appears on 64% of top-seven watch lists.
The rest of the top four, each on 79-81% of top-seven lists, are Alabama RB Trent Richardson, Houston QB Case Keenum, and Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden. It's fair to call that a virtual dead heat for second place behind Luck.
Oregon RB LaMichael James is the second big mover this week, jumping up four spots from #10 to #6. James now appears on 59% of top-seven Heisman watch lists.
The rest of the top 12 is a bit scrambled, but with the same faces as last week: #7 Baylor QB Robert Griffin III, #8 Oklahoma QB Landry Jones, #9 Oklahoma St WR Justin Blackmon, #8 Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson, #11 USC QB Matt Barkley, and #12 LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu.
48 actual Heisman voters from 26 states participated in this week's StiffArmTrophy.com poll. The poll asked voters to share an unranked top-7 "watch list" for the Heisman Trophy.
| rank | player | weighted% | votes | prev | |
| 1 | Stanford QB Andrew Luck | 97% | 46 | 1 | |
| 2 |  | Alabama RB Trent Richardson | 80% | 39 | 3 |
| 3 | | Houston QB Case Keenum | 79% | 38 | 4 |
| 4 | | Oklahoma St QB Brandon Weeden | 78% | 39 | 5 |
| 5 |  | Boise St QB Kellen Moore | 64% | 28 | 2 |
| 6 | | Oregon RB LaMichael James | 59% | 30 | 10 |
| 7 | Baylor QB Robert Griffin III | 42% | 22 | 7 | |
| 8 | | Oklahoma QB Landry Jones | 38% | 19 | 6 |
| 9 | Oklahoma St WR Justin Blackmon | 37% | 19 | 9 | |
| 10 | | Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson | 23% | 11 | 8 |
| 11 | USC QB Matt Barkley | 16% | 7 | 11 | |
| 12 | LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu | 15% | 7 | 12 |
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% | 100% | 84% | 100% |
| 2 | Alabama RB Trent Richardson | 71% | 87% | 60% | 88% | 76% | 100% |
| 3 | Houston QB Case Keenum | 85% | 62% | 100% | 77% | 84% | 66% |
| 4 | Oklahoma St QB Brandon Weeden | 85% | 75% | 60% | 100% | 84% | 66% |
| 5 | Boise St QB Kellen Moore | 71% | 75% | 100% | 33% | 38% | 66% |
| 6 | Oregon RB LaMichael James | 71% | 62% | 20% | 88% | 61% | 50% |
| 7 | Baylor QB Robert Griffin III | 57% | 25% | 20% | 55% | 61% | 33% |
| 8 | Oklahoma QB Landry Jones | 28% | 37% | 40% | 22% | 53% | 50% |
| 9 | Oklahoma St WR Justin Blackmon | 71% | 25% | 20% | 11% | 61% | 33% |
| 10 | Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson | 14% | 50% | 20% | 22% | 15% | 16% |
| 11 | USC QB Matt Barkley | 14% | 0% | 20% | 22% | 7% | 33% |
| 12 | LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu | 14% | 12% | 20% | 0% | 15% | 33% |
Participating voters included:
Mid-Atlantic: Frank Bodani, Josh Kendall, Chuck Landon, Bob Molinaro, Keith Morehouse, Matthew Osborne, Doug Smock
Midwest: Andy Baggot, Randy Beard, Mike Carmin, Doug Clarke, Pete DiPrimio, Todd Hefferman, Jeff Rapp, Jon Spencer
Northeast: Cory McCartney, Rick McGowan, Chuck Pollock, Lenn Robbins, B.J. Schecter
South: Brady Ackerman, Rick Bozich, Olin Buchanan, John Crist, Joe Girvan, Cecil Hurt, Joey Johnston, Phillip Marshall, Billy Reed
Southwest: Kirk Bohls, Jimmy Burch, Sean Callahan, David Collier, Suzanne Halliburton, John Helsley, Gary Ivins, Josh Kinder, Harry King, Reid Laymance, Bob Lutz, Dave Matter, David McCollum
West: Mark Anderson, Steve Bisheff, Mike Lewis, Eric Schmoldt, Kevin Schnepf, Scott Wolf