With Heisman Deadline Looming, RGIII Appears to Have Leg Up on Luck

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III's name figures to be at the top of a lot of the Heisman ballots that trickle in before today's 2 p.m. PT voting deadline. It's still early, but HeismanPundit.com and StiffArmTrophy.com are reporting that RGIII is the favorite and Andrew Luck is second.

It's a crazy college football world we root in. While Virginia Tech earning a Sugar Bowl berth is a far greater injustice in my mind than Luck potentially losing out to Griffin, the Heisman Trophy race has long featured its fair share of unmitigated BS and media manipulation. At least with the BCS we know it's mostly -- OK, all -- about the money. What is the Heisman about?

It's not all about statistics, or Toby Gerhart would have won in 2009. It's not all about honor and leadership, or Andrew Luck would have won last year. It's not all about winning, or RGIII, whose Baylor squad has the losses to match its QB's catchy nickname, wouldn't even be in the conversation. And it's not all about amazing beards, or Luck would've won the thing at Pac-12 Media Days.

My undeniably biased vote would be for Luck, but I won't be upset if RGIII wins the Heisman. He put up some fantastic numbers this season and set the NCAA record for passing efficiency. He took advantage of being the only top Heisman candidate to play on the final weekend of the regular season with a strong performance against Texas. Beyond the stats, he's been a "program-changer" in Waco.

Still, nobody -- not RGIII, not Trent Richardson, and sure as heck not the Honey Badger -- did, or could do, what Luck did this season, or had a bigger hand in his team's success than the Cardinal QB. In the end, some voters understand what David Shaw has been saying throughout the season and is outlined in the awesome video below, while others can't see past the statistics, or whatever the Heisman is about.