He got my vote

posted by LW, Tuesday, December 08, 2009

He got my vote


I'll admit I've paid less and less attention in recent years to who wins the Heisman Trophy, who should win the Heisman Trophy, whatever.

There's too much regionalism, too much importance placed on being a member of an elite team, too much influence by the ESPN media juggernaut.

There's also too little definition. The criteria are largely left open to interpretation, and that's how you get some voters deeming it a career award, others voting for the most valuable player, others refusing to vote for a freshman, and so on.

I most certainly consider it an honor to be a Heisman voter, but I've never spent five hours a day crunching numbers and watching film to arrive at my votes.

This year has been far cooler than years past, for the obvious reason that the team I cover features a guy who is/was considered a legitimate Heisman candidate.

After C.J. Spiller went nuts at Miami, I wrote a column acknowledging that I dismissed the preseason poster campaign that drummed up support for his Heisman candidacy. The kid had never rushed for 1,000 yards, had yet to earn first-team All-ACC honors as a running back, and was not even on a team that was deemed capable of threatening for elite status.

Watching this kid for an extended period has a way of changing perceptions. And my perceptions were changed after watching Spiller rack up 310 all-purpose yards in that riveting 40-37 overtime win over Miami.

He didn't have my vote at that point, but he was squarely in the mix.

The momentum grew after wins over Florida State (312 all-purpose yards) and N.C. State (touchdown scored three ways).

But then he struggled against Virginia. And again at South Carolina, save for an 88-yard touchdown return.

After those two games, I thought Spiller's chances were largely done.

As I pondered my vote, my thinking was shaped based on what I thought would happen and not what should happen.

As I watched Spiller slice and dice Georgia Tech in the ACC title game -- and at about 70 percent, no less -- I experienced a revelation.

C.J. Spiller is the best football player in college football this year.

I understand the criticism that he's on an 8-5 team. I understand the criticism that he did a lot of his best work against flimsy defenses.

But the letter I received from the Heisman Trophy Trust said to vote for the "most outstanding" player of 2009.

Spiller fits that description better than anyone.

I think Dabo Swinney had it right last week when he was beating the Spiller drum at a press conference the day Spiller was named ACC player of the year.

Don't have the exact quote handy, but Swinney essentially said this:

"If you got a bunch of coaches together to watch the best players in college football this year, with those players' logos stripped from their helmets, almost all the coaches would point at Spiller and say: 'I want that guy.'"

You can't tell me that wouldn't be true. Nothing at all against the other candidates -- I'm a huge Mark Ingram and Tim Tebow fan -- but no player affects a game more than Spiller. No player takes your breath away more on a per-play basis.

Reggie Bush won the Heisman a few years back doing the same kind of stuff. And Spiller might be a better college player than Bush.

That's good enough for me.

Here's the vote:

1. Spiller

2. Ingram

3. Suh

I cannot argue with anyone who chose Ingram or Suh. Ingram carried that offense all year, and Saturday's performance against Florida was something to behold. And Suh ... my goodness, what a player.

Just feel I can sleep better at night with Spiller getting my No. 1 vote. Not because I'm afraid of backlash from Clemson fans or anything like that.

But because I'm comfortable saying C.J. Spiller is the best player in the country.

Travis Sawchik of The Post and Courier explains why he voted for Spiller (scroll down).

Paul Strelow of The State put Spiller No. 2 behind the Monster Named Suh.

Something bothered me about Tebow being one of the five finalists. Again, I love the guy. But something hasn't been right with him all year.

He got to NYC more on name recognition than anything, and that's disappointing.

Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel agrees with me.

Ron Morris of The State disagrees with me.

Mike Lopresti of USA Today also takes Suh, and that's who I'm pulling for at this point.


LW

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