2011 Heisman Trophy: Coronation Day For Robert Griffin III

Safe to say 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III's acceptance speech won't be parsed quite like Cam Newton's was. Below, the video, and here's a quick transcript of an impressive bit of public speaking.

Now that my socks are out there, I got nothing to lose, right? This moment right here, it's unbelievably believable. It's unbelievable because in the moment, we're all amazed when great things happen. It's believable because great things only happen with hard work. The great coach Art Briles always says great things only come with great effort, and we've certainly worked for this.

That's right, everybody associated with Baylor University has reason to celebrate tonight. To my teammates, I'd like to say thank you. As we say, the hotter the heat, the harder the steel. No pressure, no diamonds. We compete, we win. We are Baylor. Baylor we are, Baylor we'll always be, but it's up to us to define what that means, and this Heisman Trophy is only the beginning of that process.

To Baylor nation, I say this is a forever kind of moment, and may we be blessed to have many more like it in the future. God has a plan, and it's our job to fulfill it, and in this moment we have.

To my dad and my mom, my fiancee, my sisters, my beautiful niece, to my family, to my friends, to my teammates, to coach Briles and the coaching staff, to the Baylor administration and Ken Starr, the city of Copperas Cove and the city of Waco, and all of Baylor nation I say thank you for all your loving support, through the tough times like knee surgeries and glorious moments like this one.

Thank you to the Heisman Trophy Trust and all the Heisman Trophy winners who've given me a chance to be a part of this family.

Last but not least, I want to thank God for giving me all these great people to be in my life. Thank you.

And the video. Give it a few seconds to dial up:

For more on Baylor's first-ever Heisman Trophy, visit Baylor Bears blog Our Daily Bears. For more college football, stick with SB Nation's college football news hub. For more, stay tuned to our 2011 Heisman Trophy stream, and here are the year's other college football awards winners.

Robert Griffin III took home the 2011 Heisman Trophy, capping an impressive year at Baylor. Griffin came on strong to end the season, stringing together highlight reel plays and impressive stats throughout the year. He beat out Tyrann Mathieu, Trent Richardson, Andrew Luck and Montee Ball for the honor and was the first Baylor player to take home the Heisman.

Griffin III picked up 1,678 points to take college football's top individual honor. Griffin carried five of the six regions, with Luck taking the Far West. Luck finished second in the voting with 1,407 points. Trent Richardson finished a distant third, and Montee Ball and Tyrann Mathieu finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

The voting breakdown is as follows.

Robert Griffin III 1,678 points, 405 first-place votes
Andrew Luck 1,407 points, 247 first-place votes
Trent Richardson 978 points, 138 first-place votes
Montee Ball 348 points, 22 first-place votes
Tyrann Mathieu 327 points, 34 first-place votes

Matt Barkley finished sixth, Case Keenum was seventh, Kellen Moore was eighth, Russell Wilson was ninth and Lamichael James was 10th.

For more, stay tuned to our 2011 Heisman Trophy stream, and here are the year's other college football awards winners. For more on Baylor's first-ever Heisman Trophy, visit Baylor Bears blog Our Daily Bears.

If you only know three things Robert Griffin III did this year (since he has a three in his name, maybe?), make them the following three. The 2011 Heisman Trophy winner has always been a special talent, but from Week 1 through the Baylor Bears final game of the season, he found ways to steal our attention seemingly every week.

The season's first instant classic, a Friday nighter against the TCU Horned Frogs, made national stars of both Griffin and announcing team Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmore, who finished the year having called about a half-dozen upsets or otherwise nail biters. Griffin finished with 397 yards and five touchdowns as Baylor hung 50 on a defense that ended up in the top 10.

If you just want one play, here it is: the game-winning hurl that knocked the Oklahoma Sooners out of national title contention (though RG3 finished this one with 551 total yards and four scores):

And after this 354-yard, four-touchdown performance against the Texas Longhorns to close the season, Griffin himself said after the game that the Heisman should belong to Baylor. Nobody argued.

For more on Baylor's first-ever Heisman Trophy, visit Baylor Bears blog Our Daily Bears. For more college football, stick with SB Nation's college football news hub. For more, stay tuned to our 2011 Heisman Trophy stream, and here are the year's other college football awards winners.

As expected, junior quarterback Robert Griffin III of the Baylor Bears is your 2011 Heisman Trophy winner. The 77th winner of college football's most famous award and the first in Baylor's history, he beat Andrew Luck, Trent Richardson, Montee Ball and Tyrann Mathieu.

Here, to help explain to the straggling non-believers why Griffin deserved the honor, is Mark C. Moore of the new (and great!) Baylor Bears blog Our Daily Bears:

Robert Griffin III deserves the Heisman Trophy because he was, by any measure, the most outstanding player in college football this year.

In leading Baylor to a 9-3 record and No. 12 ranking in the BCS, Griffin amassed over 4,500 total yards and 45 touchdowns, broke the NCAA single-season record for passing efficiency (192.3 for Griffin this year), and led the country in yards per pass attempt. Baylor's offense ranked No. 1 in the country according to Football Outsider's FEI, while most rankings had our defense in the 100s.

No player means more to his team or to his community than Robert Griffin, who played his best in Baylor's biggest games (particularly against OU and UT late in the season). He delivered constant excitement and led his team to heights we've never seen before. He deserves the Heisman.

Griffin's season concludes in the Alamo Bowl against the Washington Huskies.

For more on Baylor's first-ever Heisman Trophy, visit Baylor Bears blog Our Daily Bears. For more college football, stick with SB Nation's college football news hub. For more, stay tuned to our 2011 Heisman Trophy stream, and here are the year's other college football awards winners.

Saturday night, either Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck or Trent Richardson will add his name to the list of Heisman Trophy winners. Tyrann Mathieu and Montee Ball are also nominated, but Mathieu plays defense and Ball has a famous quarterback.

The forecasted Griffin victory would be the first in Baylor Bears history and the first for a player from a Texas school since Ricky Williams in 1998. Richardson would be the second Alabama Crimson Tide player ever to win, but he'd also be the second in three years, after Mark Ingram in 2009. One Stanford Cardinal player has won the trophy: Jim Plunkett in 1970.

Mathieu could be the first LSU Tigers Heisman-winner since the great Billy Cannon in 1959, not to mention only the second primarily non-offensive winner ever*, after Charles Woodson in 1997. The Wisconsin Badgers boast two previous winners: Alan Ameche in 1954 and Ron Dayne in 1999.

* Which goes to show, as it does every year, how without meaning this entire thing is. That, and Mark Ingram winning it.

Here's the complete list of winners:

For more, stay tuned to our 2011 Heisman Trophy stream, and here are the year's other college football awards winners.

LSU Tigers cornerback Tyrann Mathieu isn't going to win the 2011 Heisman Trophy. Just being nominated, in this instance, really is a breakthrough honor. If Ndamukong Suh can't win the Heisman over Mark Ingram, it's hard to imagine any purely defensive and special teams player is going to, especially with Robert Griffin III around.

Still, LSU Tigers blog And the Valley Shook points out Mathieu's production is in line with those put up by Charles Woodson, the closest thing to a defensive Heisman winner there's ever been:

The one time the Downtown Athletic Club got cute and gave it to a defensive player, they gave it Charles Woodson, who also played some snaps at wide receiver. But let's just look at Woodson's defensive numbers in his Heisman winning campaign:

44 tackles
5 TFL
1 sack
9 pass break ups
8 INT
1 TD

That's pretty impressive. Let's look at Mathieu this season:

70 tackles
6.5 TFL
1.5 sacks
7 pass break ups
1 INT
4 TD
6 forced fumbles
4 fumble recoveries

Mathieu matches up. He has a ton more tackles and was a more disruptive player, constantly getting into the backfield to make tackles. OK, he doesn't have as many picks, but that's made up for by his amazing ability to force fumbles. And he's scored 4 touchdowns, an amazing number for a defensive player.

Let's also remember this: Mathieu's only a sophomore. There's always next year.

Visit LSU blog And the Valley Shook for more Tigers. For more, stay tuned to our 2011 Heisman Trophy stream, and here are the year's other college football awards winners.

The Heisman Trophy, as of late, has gone to the best offensive player on the best team. Since the LSU Tigers' best offensive player plays defense, next in line is Alabama Crimson Tide running back Trent Richardson. While Montee Ball has bigger numbers, Richardson is the primary offensive firepower of a national championship contender.

Our own C.J. Schexnayder of the essential Alabama Crimson Tide blog Roll Bama Roll outlines why Richardson should become the Tide's second winner in three years:

Trent Richardson has been the engine of an offense for a team that has never been ranked lower than No. 2 this entire season. The Alabama scheme puts a premium on defense but that only works if you can keep control of the game on the offensive side of the ball. Richardson had done that in spades.

Thus far this season he has rushed for 1,583 yards and has scored 23 touchdowns this season. Richardson ranks fifth in the nation with an average of 131.92 yards per game. He has also caught 27 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns

In 12 games he carried the ball 263 times - more than any back in the SEC - for more than six yards per carry and an almost 60 percent success rate. And in 614 career touches Richardson has lost just one single fumble.

Richardson over Robert Griffin III would be too much for an already SEC-weary nation to bear, but you would not hear a single complaint out of the state of Alabama if he did win. He has a better case than Mark Ingram did in 2009, in fact.

Visit Alabama blog Roll Bama Roll for more Tide. For more, stay tuned to our 2011 Heisman Trophy stream, and here are the year's other college football awards winners.

Entering 2011, Stanford Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck was the far-and-away favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. But performances by Robert Griffin III and others have made his Saturday night just a little less expectant, as Luck is picked to finish second or third.

The exquisite Stanford Cardinal blog Rule of Tree runs down the case for Luck, starting with his mind over his numbers:

Andrew Luck should win the Heisman because he did something that no other quarterback did this season, or the last 10 seasons, or maybe ever. How's that for outstanding?

No, Luck didn't set an NCAA individual passing record like the remarkable Robert Griffin III, but he called his own plays at the line of scrimmage, which is unheard of in college football. He did a damn fine job of it, too.

Forget Luck's 35 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, and 70% completion rate, or that he managed to surpass last year's passing totals despite losing his top two receivers to the NFL. Marvel instead at Stanford's NCAA-best 98% success rate in the red zone and consider that the Cardinal finished with the fewest plays for negative yards of any FBS team. Both accomplishments were products of Luck's decision-making, athletic ability, and unrivaled ability to dissect a defense. Both accomplishments were products of college football's most outstanding player. 

Luck's advancements throughout the season certainly helped solidify him as the No. 1 draft pick, but did they do enough to retain his Heisman spot?

Visit Stanford blog Rule of Tree for more Cardinal. For more, stay tuned to our 2011 Heisman Trophy stream, and here are the year's other college football awards winners.

Alabama Crimson Tide running back Trent Richardson is one of three presumed potential winners of the 2011 Heisman Trophy. But aren't we overlooking Wisconsin Badgers back Montee Ball, whose numbers are better and were earned against tougher opposition?

Adam Hoge of the excellent Wisconsin Badgers blog Bucky's 5th Quarter summarizes the case for Ball:

Montee Ball has quietly been the most dominant player in the country. He snuck up on the Heisman race mainly because teammate Russell Wilson was getting all the hype, but he deserves to be in New York and deserves more consideration to win the prized trophy.

It's almost a guarantee Ball will break Barry Sanders' single-season touchdown record (39) and he leads the country in rushing by more than 100 yards. As far as total touchdowns go, the next closest player has 12 less than he does.

Somehow Trent Richardson is getting more hype even though Ball has 176 more yards and 15 more touchdowns than the Alabama running back. And don't throw the SEC at me because the average rushing defensive rank of Alabama's opponents is 59, while the average rushing defensive rank of Wisconsin's opponents in 68. That difference does not make up for the large statistical edge Ball has over Richardson.    

If not for two Hail Marys, the Badgers would be undefeated right now. They couldn't put Ball on the field to defend against those plays, you see, because he would've just run them back for touchdowns somehow, and that's simply running up the score.

Visit Wisconsin blog Bucky's 5th Quarter for more Badgers. For more, stay tuned to our 2011 Heisman Trophy stream, and here are the year's other college football awards winners.

Alabama Crimson Tide running back Trent Richardson, Baylor Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III, Stanford Cardinal, quarterback Andrew Luck, LSU Tigers cornerback/kick returner Tyrann Mathieu and Wisconsin Badgers running back Montee Ball are all headed to the Downtown Athletic Club to hope to hear their name called as the winner of the 2011 Heisman Trophy. 

The overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman however is currently still Baylor's Robert Griffin III at 1/20 odds, according to Bodog. Griffin's odds took a drastic turn earlier in the week after championship weekend closed out. Alabama's Trent Richardson follows Griffin in the odds at 9/2, as he looks to become the second Alabama player in the past three years to win the trophy. Slightly after Richardson is Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with 11/2 odds.

Rounding out the list are two players least likely to win the award, especially looking at Bodog's odds for the players. Wisconsin running back Montee Ball, who had an eye popping 38 total touchdowns for the Badgers in 2011. Ball's odds however look to make him an unlikely winner, sitting at just 75/1 to win. LSU's Tyrann Mathieu has been a big play machine for the undefeated Tigers, but he'd need to make another big play to win the Heisman as a defensive player with just 150/1 odds to win. It's a good thing the Honey Badger don't care.

Stay tuned here for more Heisman Trophy news

The 2011 Heisman Trophy presentation will air on December 10th on ESPN at 8:00 pm ET, though the award won't be given out for at least a half-hour after that or so. The list has been narrowed down to five deserving candidates.

Robert Griffin III can be the first player from Baylor to receive The Heisman Memorial Trophy. Griffin ranked second in the nation in total offense with 387 yards per game. This season he threw 36 touchdowns and passed for 3,998 yards. Griffin and former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow are two of four players in major college history with at least 9,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing in a career.

Andrew Luck can be the second player from Stanford to win The Heisman Trophy, joining Jim Plunkett who won in 1970. Luck passed for 3,170 yards and 35 touchdowns this season. Luck broke Stanford's records for career touchdown passes and single-season touchdown passes.  

Tyrann Mathieu can be second LSU Tiger to win The Heisman Memorial Trophy, joining Billy Cannon who won in 1959. Mathieu had 71 tackles, 5 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions this year. He also gained 420 yards and 2 touchdowns in punt returns during LSU's 13-0 season.  Mathieu can be the second cornerback to be inducted into this group Charles Woodson, who won the award in 1997.

Montee Ball led the nation with 1,759 rushing yards and 32 rushing touchdowns for the Wisconsin Badgers. He holds second place all-time at UW with 60 career touchdowns and 54 career rushing touchdowns. He has the opportunity to join two other Badgers in winning the award: Ron Dayne (1999) and Alan Ameche (1954).

Trent Richardson rushed for 1,583 yards and had 20 touchdowns this season for Alabama. If awarded the Heisman, Richardson will only be the second player from Alabama to receive the trophy joining the 2009 winner, Mark Ingram, Jr.

Stay tuned here for more Heisman Trophy news

Alabama Crimson Tide running back Trent Richardson, Baylor Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III, Stanford Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck, LSU Tigers cornerback/kick returner Tyrann Mathieu and Wisconsin Badgers running back Montee Ball are all headed to the Downtown Athletic Club to hopefully hear their name called as the winner of the 2011 Heisman Trophy. 

That's more names than were expected. That's no consolation to some of the great college football players who won't be going to New York for the opportunity to be recognized. Those who sit among the snubbed include:

Case Keenum, Houston

It's highly likely that Keenum would have been headed to New York had he and the Houston Cougars not laid such an egg in the Conference USA Championship Game. Part of Keenum's appeal was his seemingly indestructible way of carving up defenses and leading the undefeated Cougars towards a BCS bowl. Both of those ideas were smashed when Houston lost to Southern Miss on Saturday.

Still, Keenum's numbers are ridiculous. His 5,099 passing yards were nearly 800 more than the next guy and his 45 passing TDs were the best in the nation as well. Not to mention that his TD-to-INT ratio was 45-to-5. His 383 completions were third-best in the nation

Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State

After playing hard all season and doing almost everything asked of him, an Oklahoma St. Cowboys player has to sit and watch while others vie for the title. Why does that sound so familiar?

Weeden might not have Case Keenum numbers, but his numbers are almost as impressive and he did it against much tougher competition. He completed the season with 4,328 yards and 34 touchdowns while leading the Pokes to an 11-1 record, a win over the hated Sooners, a Big 12 crown and getting within a few Harris Poll votes of playing for the National Title.

Matt Barkley, USC

If the Heisman Trophy rewarded the best player in the final month of the season, Barkley might have a serious case to be the one holding it come December. The USC Trojans signal-caller threw for 1,238 yards (8.7 per pass), 17 touchdowns and two interceptions in the final four games of the year, which included a win over Oregon.

Unfortunately for Barkley, he got off to a slow start, at least in terms of Heisman-level season statistics and an amazing finish wasn't enough to make up for it. He finished with 3,528 yards and 39 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. That TD total was third-best in the nation.

Kellen Moore, Boise State

Once the Boise St. Broncos lost to TCU, the collective national eyeballs stopped watching them, ending whatever Heisman campaign Moore was putting together. That's a shame since Moore racked up some significant numbers along the way.

He ended the season with 41 touchdown passes, second in the nation only to Keenum. He also threw for 3,507 yards and coughed up a mere seven interceptions. Moore was a Heisman finalist in 2010 with similar numbers (3,845 yards, 35 touchdowns and six interceptions). 

It's hard enough for Boise to drum up national respect as a whole, let alone on a player-by-player basis.

LaMichael James, Oregon

James was a victim of Oregon's two losses, which rendered them an also-ran in the national title picture and lessened the impact his stats would have in the Heisman race (which sounds as dumb to me as it does to you).

Montee Ball ran for more yards but James did much more with less. On 222 carries, he ran for 1,646 yards and 17 touchdowns. His 7.4 YPG average is a good yard higher than Ball's. On the flip side, he ran for almost half as many touchdowns. Like Moore, James was a Heisman finalist in 2010, when he ran for 1,731 yards and scored 24 total touchdowns. 

LSU Tigers cornerback Tyrann Mathieu is a longshot to win the 2011 Heisman Trophy because he doesn't have the status of an Andrew Luck or the national media support of a Trent Richardson. And that's before you mention the fact that he plays defense.

So why should Heisman voters seriously consider making Mathieu only the second defensive-first player ever to hoist the Heisman?

First of all, his nickname should warrant a few first-place votes all by itself. "The Honey Badger" has no equal.

Nickname aside, he's also got the stats to back it up. Mathieu leads one of the best defenses in the nation with 70 tackles and has forced six fumbles while recovering five. He also has a pair of interceptions.

In the last two weeks, he has sparked the Tigers to rally from early deficits. First, thanks to a 91-yard punt return against Arkansas and then a 62-yard punt return. The sophomore has a 16.1 yard per return average.

The odds are heavily against the Honey Badger winning the Heisman, and that's before you factor in early-season troubles for failing a drug test. His prize is likely the invitation. But if there's anything Mathieu has proven, it's that when the momentum is against him, that's when he does his best work.

The four other finalists for the 2011 Heisman Trophy are Stanford's Luck, Alabama's Richardson, Wisconsin's Montee Ball and Baylor's Robert Griffin III. 

If the Heisman Trophy isn't about names but instead based on hardcore, undeniable stats, then Wisconsin Badgers running back Montee Ball could very well be the one hoisting it at the Downtown Athletic Club.

In 13 games this season, Ball has carried the ball 275 times for 1,759 yards, which is the best in the Big Ten and the entire FBS. Not only that, but Ball's 32 rushing touchdowns are the most by a skill player in major college football by six scores. His 6.4 yards per carry is second in the nation among RBs with 200+ carries.

Lest you think Ball is a one-trick pony, he also caught 20 passes for 255 yards and six touchdowns.

In the biggest game of the year, with the Big Ten Title on the line, Ball scored four touchdowns and led the Badgers to victory and the Rose Bowl over the Michigan State Spartans.

To give you a picture of just how dominant Ball has been this year, there was not a single game that Wisconsin played where Ball had fewer than two touchdowns.

The other four finalists for the 2011 Heisman Trophy were Stanford's Andrew Luck, Baylor's Robert Griffin III, LSU's Tyrann Mathieu and Alabama's Trent Richardson.

Stay tuned here for more Heisman Trophy news