For the first time all season, the top five Heisman hopefuls this week are the same as last week. The only difference is a shift in the order. Except for at the top, of course.
RankPlayer, Position, SchoolRecent Game StatsSeason StatsNext Game1Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford20-30, 206 yards, 3 TD, INTin 38-13 win at Oregon State194-272 (71), 2424 yards,26 TD, 5 INT, 2 rush TDNo. 7 Oregon2Kellen Moore, QB, BoiseState18-31, 219 yards, 5 TD,12-yard reception in 48-21 win at UNLV192-259 (74), 2229 yards,29 TD, 5 INTNo. 24 TCU (USA Today Poll)3Case Keenum, QB, Houston39-44, 407 yards, 2 TD, 2rush TD in 56-13 win at UAB257-347 (74), 3626 yards,34 TD, 3 INT, 2 rush TDAt Tulane (Thursday)4Trent Richardson, RB,Alabama23 rush, 89 yards, fivecatches, 80 yards in 9-6 OT loss to No. 1 LSU172 rush, 1078 yards (6.3YPC), 17 TD, 23 catches, 292 rec. yards, rec. TDAt Mississippi State5Brandon Weeden, QB, OklahomaState36-46, 502 yards, 4 TD, 2INT in 52-45 win over No. 14 Kansas State282-391 (72), 3212 yards,26 TD, 9 INTAt Texas Tech
On the bubble: Landry JonesQBOklahoma
Analysis:
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1) Andrew Luck: The future No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft faces his toughest challenge of the season Saturday night when the No. 4 Cardinal host the No. 7 Oregon Ducks in what is being called the biggest regular season game in Stanford football history. That's not an exaggeration. If Luck leads the Cardinal to victory, Stanford locks up a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game (which will be at home), keeps the Cardinal alive in the hunt for the BCS title game, and all but cements Luck as the Heisman winner. However, many of Luck's offensive weapons, including WR Chris Owusu and tight ends Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo, are questionable for Saturday's showdown. Can the Cardinal fly past the Ducks without them?
2) Kellen Moore: Five touchdowns against UNLV certainly don't hurt Moore's chances at leap-frogging Luck. The Broncos face their toughest opponent this Saturday, TCU, since their opening-weekend win against the Georgia Bulldogs (which is suddenly looking like a HUGE victory considering the 'Dawgs control their own destiny and will most likely meet LSU in the SEC title game). If Luck stumbles against Oregon, and Moore dices up TCU's defense (Baylor's Robert Griffin III threw for 359 yards and five touchdowns against the Horned Frogs in Week 1) it could be the southpaw in first-place next week.
3) Case Keenum: Don't look now, but the 6th-year senior has Houston at No. 11 in the BCS Standings. If they close out the regular season undefeated and take care of No. 22 Southern Mississippi in the Conference USA Championship Game, the Cougars should be BCS bound (but you never know because the BCS is the single worst "thing" in all of sports -- more on that at a later date). Three weeks ago, Keenum surpassed Hawaii's Timmy Chang to become the all-time FBS leader in total offense. Two weeks ago, Keenum put Graham Harrell in his rear-view mirror and became the all-time FBS leader in career touchdown passes. And over the weekend, Keenum once again surpassed Timmy Chang to become the all-time FBS leader in passing yards. Amazing stuff.
4) Trent Richardson: In a game that featured probably 20-30 future NFLers, Richardson was the best player on the field. The problem -- he was on the losing team. This guy simply doesn't go down after first contact and requires a multitude of defenders to bring him down. He makes up for his lack of Chris-Johnson-type-speed with some razzle-dazzle and head-and-shoulder fakes that cause defenders to whiff. Had the Tide won, he would easily be sitting in the No. 2 spot on the list and quite possibly head of Luck. But as they say -- "To the victor, go the spoils."
5) Brandon Weeden: It's hard for a matchup between the No. 3 and No 14 ranked teams in the country to go virtually unnoticed, but that's what happens when you play on the same day (let alone the same time) as the "Game of the Century." Weeden led the No. 3 Oklahoma State Cowboys past the No. 14 Kansas State Wildcats in a 52-45 barn-burner that was the antithesis of LSU-Alabama. Weeden did throw two interceptions in the win, but he also threw four touchdowns, and it should have been five had All-World wide receiver Justin Blackmon not fumbled as he was crossing the goal-line. Trap game coming up this weekend as the Cowboys head to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech.
Drew Shiller is a Web Producer at CSNBayArea.com. You can follow him on Twitter @DrewShiller