Montee Ball: Heisman Trophy Winner

If only people in this country actually took the time to learn a thing or two about the world around them. I feel like I find myself saying this almost on a daily basis. And while the south certainly has a leg up in its proclivity for ignorance, Americans all across the board have given up their reverence for fact. 

But this isnt about how Herman Cain nearly became the Republican nominee for President of the United States.

No, this is about something much more important: the Heisman Trophy.

Montee Ball has scored 38 touchdowns this season, one touchdown for every 7.24 times that he touches the football. The NCAA record for single-season touchdowns, a record not even sniffed since Barry Sanders set it back in 1988, is 39. Barring unforeseen injury or futility in the Rose Bowl, Montee Ball will hold the record when you wake up on January 3rd. 

But while Ball will likely hold the once-untouchable single-season touchdown record, he will not hold the Heisman trophy. Somehow.

Not only will Ball almost certainly not win the award, he wont even come close. Given that Alabama's Trent Richardson has somehow already been awarded the Doak Walker award given to the nation's best tailback, Ball's chances are virtually nil. 

Why?

Because no one bothered to check the numbers, no one bothered to check the facts and see if Richardson and fellow Heisman frontrunners Andrew Luck of Stanford and Robert Griffin III of Baylor actually had better seasons than the junior running back at Wisconsin.

Reality: They didnt.

First of all, lets assess Luck. Andrew Luck is the best quarterback in the country and will be the top pick in the 2012 NFL draft. After deciding, against the advice of many, to return for his senior year at Stanford, Luck led the Cardinal to an 11-1 regular season and a Fiesta Bowl appearance. Luck's 3170 passing yards and 35 touchdowns are staggering numbers, but he dropped the ball when it counted most, only managing to complete 66% of his passes in the Cardinal's lone loss at home against Oregon. The two interceptions that Luck threw in that game cost Stanford a shot at an undefeated season and ultimately ruined Luck's chances of running away with the Heisman.

Robert Griffin III has a good case to be named the most valuable player in college football. The junior quarterback has single handedly put Baylor football on the map, leading the Bears to a 9-3 finish that included their first-ever win over Big 12 stalwart Oklahoma. But while Griffin's numbers are impressive, 3998 passing yards and 36 touchdowns to go along with another 644 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground, they come in the offensive-heavy Big 12 conference. The Big 12 is by any statistical measure the “best” conference in college football, but it is not known for its defenses.

And once again, Griffin’s few mistakes came when the Bears could least afford them. His 4^th quarter interception against Kansas State cost Baylor the game and ended their undefeated run after just three games. Against Texas A&M, the nation’s worst pass defense, Griffin did set a school-record with 430 yards through the air, but once again threw a crucial interception and Baylor got blown out. The following week against Oklahoma State, Griffin had his worst game of the season, managing just a 136.0 passer rating despite throwing for another 425 yards on 50 attempts. It was the two interceptions that once again led in part to a lopsided Baylor defeat.

Never mind that Baylor is 9-3, with their lone road win coming in overtime over 2-win Kansas, and headed to the Alamo Bowl. I don’t like the argument of team record or BCS ranking, but if we are going to go there, then Griffin cannot be the way to turn.

Then there is Trent Richardson. After reading through this, you probably wont like the fact that I intend to lob the majority of my disgust at this final supposedly “deserving” Heisman candidate. But that is exactly what I am going to do.

Richardson doesn’t even deserve to be in the conversation. His team coasted through an easy schedule, lost its one big-time matchup at home against LSU, and has somehow rode the wave of SEC bias all the way to a BCS Title game appearance.

And it is that SEC bias that has not only brought Richardson into the conversation, but probably has gotten him the trophy.

First of all lets look at the numbers.

Richardson has rushed for 1583 yards on 263 carries, an average of 6.0 yards per carry. Montee Ball has averaged 6.4 yards per carry.

Richardson has scored 20 touchdowns on the ground. Ball has 32.

Richardson has caught 27 passes for 327 yards and 3 touchdowns. Ball has caught 20 passes for 255 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Against AP-ranked teams, Richardson has 95 carries for 507 yards (5.3 yards per carry) and 4 touchdowns. Ball has 100 carries for 559 yards (5.6 yards per carry).

So much for the SEC schedule being so much more difficult.

Oh, and Ball has scored 12 touchdowns against those ranked teams.

In games decided by less than 15 points, Richardson has just 23 carries for 89 yards, 3.9 yards per carry. And not a single touchdown.

Ball has 100 carries for 561 yards and 7 touchdowns in games decided by less than 15 points.

Six of Ball’s touchdowns have either tied the game or given Wisconsin the lead. Just two for Richardson.

Who is more valuable to their team?

The answer is clear. If you bothered to read the facts.

But the problem is that there is this assumption that SEC players are better, that SEC teams are better, and that SEC schedules are flat out tougher.

Alabama had arguably a far easier schedule than Wisconsin:

Home against Kent State. Automatic.

At Penn State. The Nittany Lions were young and at the time still gelling as a team. Plus the weather was still picture perfect. Try coming to State College in November.

Home against North Texas. Seriously? North Texas went 4-4 in the Sun Belt for crying out loud.

Home against Arkansas. The Razorbacks are a potent team, but not a potent defense. The Hogs gave up an average of 174 yards on the ground in 2011. Richardson had just 126. At home.

At Florida. Another team that, while ranked at the time, was in the top-25 by name only and Richardson torched them for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns. Florida’s defense was still strong and that was probably Richardson’s best performance.

Home against Vandy. 107 yards. Vandy? They are a bowl team this year, but if Vandy is going to be one of the tougher conference matchups, how can you argue the SEC is that good?

At Ole Miss. Richardson picked 203 all-purpose yards. But Ole Miss had just one win over a FBS team this entire season. And they gave up an average of 225 yards on the ground alone. 203 all-purpose doesn’t mean much against the Rebs.

Home against Tennessee. 77 yards and two touchdowns. Not bad. But again, the Vols gave up 163 yards per game on the ground.

Home against LSU. In the greatest sporting event the world has ever seen, the game that every American had a patriotic duty not only to watch, but to enjoy, Richardson managed just 89 yards on 23 carries. No touchdowns. 9-6 loss.

At Mississippi State. 127 and a TD.

Home against Georgia Southern. Not Georgia. Not Georgia Tech. 179 all-purpose yards and 3 touchdowns.

At Auburn. 203 yards on just 27 carries. In the Iron Bowl. The annual “greatest game of the year, no matter what”.

Yeah, don’t mind the fact that Auburn gave up an average of 195 yards per game on the ground and was just 79^th in scoring defense.

That was in the Iron Bowl. Come On!

For all the grief that gets lobbed onto the Badgers and onto Ball’s Heisman candidacy for having a weak schedule, this argument simply doesn’t match up with reality.

In games against UNLV, South Dakota, and Northern Illinois (all 3 non-BCS opponents for Wisconsin), Ball picked up just 242 yards and 7 touchdowns.

In games against Georgia Southern, North Texas, and Kent State, Richardson tallied 379 yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground.

On the other hand, in Wisconsin’s games at Michigan State (5^th in total defense), at Illinois (7^th), and Penn State (10^th), Ball rushed for 495 yards and 7 touchdowns. He also caught 5 passes for 38 yards and another two touchdowns.

Against Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship game Ball rushed for another 137 yards and 3 TDs, all while catching 3 passes for 7 yards and a touchdown and finally throwing one ball for 32 yards passing.

At the same time Ball was doing this, Richardson was sitting at home watching.

Richardson faced just three teams in the top 10 in total defense as well (Georgia and South Carolina are in the SEC, sure, but Alabama got the benefit of skipping them this season). One was LSU. Not exactly his best performance.

The other two were Penn State and Florida.

In addition to the 89-yard dud against the Bayou Bengals, Richardson rushed for 111 yards against the Nittany Lions, a full 45 yards short of the total Ball had against the same defense.

The 181 yard afternoon at Florida was the best performance Richardson had all season, but then again, doesn’t 242 on the ground against the 7^th best defense in the country outdo that?

Total for Richardson against top-10 defenses: 381 yards, 4 touchdowns. Ill give him a slight edge with 11 catches for 128 yards. But again, just the 4 touchdowns on the ground.

Advantage Ball.

The reality is that every number out there suggests that Montee Ball is the nation’s best running back. Not only that, Ball is also the clear most valuable back to his team.

The reason that Richardson is winning this award season is because of the perception that the nation has about the SEC being the dominant conference in college football.

First of all, the computers seem to disagree, with every statistical measure pointing to the Big 12 in terms of conference supremacy. And by a landslide.

But beyond that, Alabama did not play the entire SEC. Alabama was fortunate to have a schedule devoid of games against South Carolina or Georgia, essentially the only two competent football teams in the 6-team SEC east. They faced both LSU and Arkansas at home, with their toughest road test coming against a reeling Florida Gator squad on the first day of October.

That paragraph should not only show you why Alabama has no business being in the BCS Title game (the “no rematch” argument probably won Alabama the rematch after all), but also why Trent Richardson has no business being in the Heisman trophy candidate.

Even the SEC faithful profess that the SEC is a defense-heavy conference. The numbers don’t lie there. But so is the Big Ten.

And if the SEC in general, and Alabama specifically, is so consumed with defense, then why does Richardson become so valuable to Alabama?

Without Montee Ball, Wisconsin is nowhere near the Rose Bowl. Even with Russell Wilson, the Badgers don’t have the type of aerial attack that can overcome a weak running game. And while they have arguably the nation’s best offensive line, that only adds to the argument that Ball and the Wisconsin running game stood out above the rest.

Our country has always had, and the South is home to some of the most egregious offenders, a problem with blind faith.

Faith in god, faith in the word of political leaders, faith in the conventional wisdom.

This is just another case in which faith simply isn’t properly yielding to fact. There is a blind faith across the country in the SEC being the most dominant conference in college football. Each and every Saturday, we witness the dominant performances by Alabama, LSU, and………, well, at least Alabama and LSU and simply assume that those are clear evidence of conference supremacy.

But for every Alabama or LSU there is an Ole Miss and a Kentucky.

Don’t pay attention to the fact that the Big 12 only lost 3 games out of conference (SEC-6) or that the Big Ten has as many teams ranked in the top 25 of the coaches poll as the vaunted SEC.

The SEC has to be dominant.

After all, didn’t they win the last six national championships.

Yes, they did. They won the last six national championship GAMES.

But how about the process that got them six straight national title appearances. Heck, the Big East hasn’t even had one since the BCS started.

Its impressive that the SEC has won the last six title games, but that doesn’t say anything about the strength of the conference as a whole. Sure, they produce top-level teams year-in year-out, but the perception of the SEC as the dominant conference is now becoming part of the reality and that is dangerous.

This year proves it. Two SEC teams? Alabama’s best win was against an Arkansas team that struggled to overcome a halftime deficit against Texas A&M, had to rely on a missed chip-shot field goal to beat Vanderbilt, and scraped out a 5-point win after trailing 17-0 to lowly Ole Miss. Not exactly the greatest 6^th-ranked team in the history of the BCS. Beyond that, Alabama hasnt beaten another top 20 team.

The SEC isn’t that great. Montee Ball is.

It’s a shame that blind faith will cost him the Heisman, but that is what it is.

Ignoring the facts: It’s the American way.