The competition for college football’s most prestigious individual award has taken several unexpected turns so far this season with early front runners having fallen by the way side and previously unknown players coming to the forefront.
Kansas State Senior Quarterback Collin Klein leads the pack at this point behind consistent MVP like performances while leading his Wildcats to a so far undefeated season and picked to play in the BCS championship game. Klein, who is 6’5”tall and weighs in at 226, so far this year has completed 145 of 208 passes for 2020 yards and 12 touchdowns with only 3 interceptions.
Right up there with Kansas State this year and also undefeated in 2012 are the Oregon Ducks featuring high powered running back Kenjon Barner who is also up there in the running for the Heisman Trophy. So far this season he has run for 1360 yards on 199 carries for an impressive 6.8 yards per carry average and 19 touchdowns. Barner is also a senior, stands 5’11” tall and weighs in at 195.
At the beginning of the season USC Quarterback Matt Barkley was talked about as being the front runner for this year’s Heisman award but the fortunes of football did not fall his way and now he is out of the running. However, his Wide Receiver Marqise Lee, who is just a sophomore, is being mentioned more and more as a candidate. Up to this point in the season he has scored 13 touchdowns with 1447 yards gained on 98 receptions for an impressive 144.7 yards per game average. Lee is a long shot at this point but, it could happen!
The biggest surprise and the most impressive player of the 2012 season has been Freshman Quarterback Johnny Manziel, also known as “Johnny Football”.
Manziel is playing for the Texas A&M Aggies who were initiated this year into the SEC for the first time. The Aggies and Manziel have impressed the entire country this year by taking on the best that the SEC had to offer and holding their own quite will. Did we mention that Manziel and the Aggies beat mighty Alabama at home in Tuscaloosa! So far this year he has thrown for 2780 yards completing 227 of 336 passes and 18 touchdowns. He also has a 6.5 yard average running the ball.
Johnny Football is on line to be the first QB in the SEC to throw for 3000yards and run for another 1000 yards in one season. Being a freshman is his biggest obstacle in the Heisman quest.
