It was a response to a tweet about the Heisman Trophy race, and it had a nice ring to it: Put Mallett on the ballot. After only 11 games as the Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback, Ryan Mallett has become almost a folk hero locally – an e-mail suggested he be nicknamed The Rifleman – but outside of the Razorbacks state, he isnt getting a lot of consideration for the Heisman.

Before getting into who is in that race, the prediction here is that if Mallett returns for his junior year, which he needs to do, he will be one of the favorites to win college footballs highest award next year.

As for this years Heisman race, it seems Texas Colt Mc-Coy has become the slight favorite over Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, Alabama running back Mark Ingram and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

There are others who will get votes such as C.J. Spiller, Kellen Moore, Case Keenum and even Ole Miss Dexter McCluster.

In fact, if McCluster had played as much the first half of the season as he has in the second half, he might be ahead of McCoy right now.

Injury was the concern for McCluster, who is generously listed at 5-9, 170 pounds, but he is probably the most exciting football player in the country. In the past four SEC games, he has tallied 739 yards rushing, 214 receiving and passed for a 27-yard touchdown. He practically had the Northern Arizona game off.

Problem is, in the first six games of the season, he ran for only 164 yards total and had 198 yards receiving.

So hes probably a dark horse.

It seems right now that the Heisman is McCoys to lose. The senior has thrown for 3,024 yards and 23 touchdowns, and while Mallett tops those with 3,195 yards and 28 touchdowns, McCoy has led Texas to an 11-0 record.

If Texas remains undefeated, it will most likely face the winner of the SEC Championship Game between Florida and Alabama for the BCS championship.

However, if Texas were to stumble in the Big 12 Championship Game, it is possible Florida and Alabama would face each other again, only this time in the BCS championship.

As for the Heisman, Ingram will get some strong consideration, and it is well-deserved. He has rushed for 1,399 yards and 12 touchdowns to help Alabama move to 11-0.

He is a sophomore, and the past two Heisman winners have been sophomores. Sam Bradford, who is injured, took home the trophy last year, and the first sophomore to win it was Tebow.

Tebow may be one of the greatest players in the history of college football , but at this point, hes probably a bit of a long shot to get his second stiff-arm trophy.

As a sophomore, he passed for 3,286 yards to win the award, and so far this season, he has passed for 1,945.

Keenum, the Houston quarterback, has passed for 4,599 yards and 36 touchdowns, but most of that was in Conference USA.

On a side note, Keenum and Mallett could square off in the Liberty Bowl. If they do, expect the game to not only be highly entertaining, but perhaps the longest game in college football history without overtimes.

Voting for the Heisman closes Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. Central.

Thats this year.

Next year, when Mallett is on the ballot if he chooses to return to school, which he should, it might very well be his to lose.

In 11 games, Mallett has become almost a legend, but his improvement has to be shared with the coaches and receivers.

Posted on November 26th, 2009 by admin
Filed under: College football news, NCAA college football