Pushing Luck

Even before the season began, "Andrew Luck" and "2011 Heisman winner" seemed to be synonymous. And despite sitting out a game this season, Luck has done nothing to sway anyone away from this (72% passing, 11 TDs, 1 INT, and on a top-10 team). There have, however, been some extremely solid players not named Luck who have started this young season by playing some very impressive football.

Here is a list of my top five Heisman candidates not named Andrew Luck:

5. Kellen Moore — QB, Boise State

This guy is as consistent as they come (Tom Brady threw 4 picks last week, this guy can throw 2 every now and then). He is in his fourth and final year leading Boise State, and the Broncos have been nothing short of impressive in any of those years. Keeping on task as a Heisman candidate (Kellen Moore has taken less hits in the last four years than Wall Street has in the last four days, and thus he won't make it in the NFL), he has done nothing but impress this year.

He did throw two very uncharacteristic picks last week, but still led his Broncos to a big-time pride victory over last year's BCS nemesis, Nevada. He may not have the huge arm that Luck and Robert Griffin have, but the guy is a leader and this should definitely account for something in the Heisman voting. His teammates trust him. He wins games. He has a legitimate shot at winning the Heisman.

Biggest downfall: His team being under-matched in their conference.

4. Ray Graham — RB, Pittsburgh

This early in the season, there is always the "you can't consider this guy good … his team hasn't played anyone" excuse when talking about Heisman hopefuls, and for this very reason I wouldn't have had Ray Graham on my list a week ago. Then he ran for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns against a previously undefeated #16 USF team. Graham went absolutely nuts in this game and he played solid against Iowa and Notre Dame, who were both (questionably) ranked at different points this season. Graham's offensive line is decent, but if he were running behind the front five of Wisconsin, he would go top five in next year's draft, no doubt.

Biggest Downfall: His team is in the Big East and he's doesn't play basketball.

3. Robert Griffin III — QB, Baylor

Where Graham would not have made my list last week, Griffin would have been No. 1. He slips a few spots because of his loss to an unranked (yet very talented) Kansas State team, but the guy is a surreal quarterback. His confidence in the pocket is that of someone who has somehow been playing college football for six years (wait ... Cam Newton?) and you just can't argue with the numbers that Griffin puts up. His QB rating is 230.3, which is absurd, he has thrown for 1,308 yards on only 113 attempts, and he has 18 touchdown passes.

Compare that to Houston's Case Keenum, who everyone seems to be in love with: Keenum is No. 5 in the country in TDs at 15 and he did it on 201 attempts ... 88 more than Griffin's 18 TDs). If Griffin's squad can keep the Bears in the top 25, and Griffin keeps putting up insane numbers, he could very easily shake up the Heisman voting when the time comes.

Biggest Downfall: His team being overmatched in their conference.

2. Denard Robinson — QB, Michigan

Denard Robinson is awesome. Not in the "yeah, dude, that was rad" respect, but in the sense that when I watch a Denard Robinson highlight, I'm in so much awe that I can't focus on anything else for at least 10 minutes while my mind comes back down to the real world. Growing up a Penn State fan, I never liked Michigan because (less importantly) they beat us a lot and (more importantly) they added to their stadium and Happy Valley then became home to the "second biggest stadium in college football," which is like being the second best quarterback behind a Heisman winner (wait ... Cam Newton?). Then the Wolverines hired Rich Rodriguez, and I disliked them even more.

With that said, I love Denard Robinson and I would love to see him win the Heisman. He has a great toughness, and plays through pain. We won't mention his passing stats, because I just said I would love to see him win the Heisman (they are not bad by any means, but this is a pretty good list), but this guy has already rushed for over 600 yards and 6 touchdowns and even in the wake of the Rodriguez debauchery, he is almost single-handedly making Michigan look like a legitimate Big 10 contender (as much as it pains me to type that).

Biggest Downfall: When you run 65 yards laterally for a 7-yard gain at eight different times in the first half, you might get lit up and find yourself on the sideline for a few weeks.

1. Russell Wilson — QB, Wisconsin

I hadn't seen Russell Wilson play until Saturday night against Nebraska, and his performance was nothing short of perfect. If class and poise were part of the Heisman voting, this article would have been about candidates not named Russell Wilson. After absolutely tearing apart one of the best teams in the country, Wilson's biggest celebration was a fist pump and a jog to the coaching staff to see how he could improve on his TD drives of 91, 77, 54, 63, 42, 81, and 73 yards.

I tried my hardest to find a mistake he made, but I just couldn't. He controlled the game, only scrambled when it was the right thing to do (32 yds and a TD), and his passes ranged from lasers across the middle to touch passes that had to come down in a 2'x2' square. He has the second highest QB rating in the country behind Griffin, first in the nation in yds/pass (take into account his rushing statistics and the Badgers are averaging almost 10 yards a play when Wilson drops back), he's third in passing %, and he has only thrown 1 pick this year.

Wilson is amazing and he was a genius for deciding to take his last year of eligibility to Wisconsin to play behind their ridiculous offensive line and across the ball from one of the best defenses in the country. If Wisconsin can find a way to win a BCS bowl game, Russell Wilson could (and maybe even should) win the Heisman.

Biggest Downfall: His name isn't Andrew Luck.