ShareThisIn a little more than a month, the 75th Heisman Trophy will be awarded in New York City. And right now, the race could not be more wide open.
The seesaw plight of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow proves that. Tebow, the 2007 Heisman winner who led the Scripps Howard Heisman Trophy poll for the first five weeks of the season before plummeting to fifth last week, is now back on top with last week's leader, Alabama RB Mark Ingram and Houston QB Case Keenum close behind.
After running for two TDs (the first of which broke Herschel Walker's career SEC record) and throwing for two more in a 41-17 romp over Georgia, Tebow managed three of 10 first-place votes. Ingram, who was off last week, actually got four first-place votes, but was left off one ballot so he trailed Tebow by two points, 35-33. No Alabama player has ever won the Heisman.
On the strength of a terrific game in Houston's 50-43 win over Southern Miss, Keenum, who earned the final three first-place votes, lurks in third just four points behind Tebow.
Voting tabulations are made on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis, with five points for a first-place vote, four points for second, etc. First-place votes are in parentheses.
This week's poll, with statistics from last week:
Player, Position, School, Last Week, Points.
1. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida, 15-of-21. 164 yards passing, 2 TD passes, 85 yards rushing, 2 TD runs, 35 (3).
2. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama, Did not play, 33 (4).
3.Case Keenum, QB, Houston, 44-of-54, 559 yards passing, 5 TDs, int., 31 (3).4. Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame, 22-of-27, 268 yards passing, 2 TDs, 12.
5. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas, 16-of-21, 171 yards passing, TD, 11.
Others receiving votes: Fresno State RB Ryan Mathews, 4, Cincinnati QB Tony Pike, 3; Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli, 3; Boise State QB Kellen Moore 2; Notre Dame WR Golden Tate 1; TCU DE Jerry Hughes, 1.
(Scripps Howard News Service Heisman Trophy poll voters: Kirk Bohls, Austin (Texas) American-Statesman; Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Dennis Dodd, CBSSports.com; Vahe Gregorian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Mike Griffith, The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel; Michael Lewis, Salt Lake Tribune; Bob Condotta, Seattle Times; John Lindsay, Scripps Howard News Service; Tom Luicci, The (Newark) Star-Ledger; John Rohde, The Oklahoman.)
(E-mail John Lindsay at lindsayj(at)shns.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
