West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith received unanimous acclaim as the Heisman Trophy frontrunner in today’s third installment of the Scripps Howard News Service Heisman Poll.
Smith garnered all 10 first-place ballots from members of the voting committee after completing 45-of-51 passes for 656 yards and eight touchdowns – with no interceptions – during last week’s 70-63 victory over Baylor. Smith leads the eighth-ranked Mountaineers (4-0) into Austin for Saturday’s matchup against No. 11 Texas (4-0).
Smith’s closest pursuer in the Heisman race, based on this week’s ballots, is Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein, whose team had a bye last week.
The Scripps poll is the longest-running Heisman Trophy poll in the nation. Since its inception in 1987, it has correctly forecast the Heisman winner in its final weekly installment in 21 of 25 years, including last season. Below is a look at this week’s poll and a list of voters:
This week's top five:
Player, School, Season Stats, Poll Points (first-place votes in parentheses).
1. QB Geno Smith, West Virginia, 1,728 passing yards, 83.4 completion pct., 20 TDs, 0 interceptions, 99 rushing yards, 1 TD, 50 (10).
2. QB Collin Klein, Kansas State, 758 passing yards, 70.0 completion pct., 5 TDs, 2 ints., 289 rushing yards, 5 TDs, 22.
3. (tie). RB/WR/KR De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon, 302 rushing yards, 9.7 yards per carry, 5 TDs, 193 receiving yards, 3 TDs, 150 punt return yards, 53 kick return yards, 16.
3. (tie). QB E.J. Manuel, Florida State, 1,147 passing yards, 73.3 completion pct., 9 TDs, 1 int., 197 yards rushing, 1 TD, 16.
3. (tie) QB Aaron Murray, Georgia, 1,370 passing yards, 68.2 completion pct., 12 TDs, 3 ints., -8 yards rushing, 3 TDs, 16.
Others receiving votes: Ohio State QB Braxton Miller 11, Notre Dame LB Manti Te'o 6, Texas QB David Ash 5, USC QB Matt Barkley 3, Nevada RB Stefphon Jefferson 2, West Virginia WR Stedman Bailey 1, Clemson QB Tajh Boyd 1, Oklahoma State RB Joseph Randle 1
Last week's top five:
1.QB Geno Smith, West Virginia, 45 (8).
2. RB/WR/KR De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon, 23.
3. QB Collin Klein, Kansas State, 19 (2)
4. QB E.J. Manuel, Florida State, 14
5. LB Manti Te'o, Notre Dame, 12
Voters: Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman; Randy Beard, Evansville Courier and Press; Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Bob Condotta, Seattle Times; Dennis Dodd, CBSSports.com; Vahe Gregorian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; John Helsley, The Oklahoman; Mike Griffith, Knoxville News-Sentinel, Todd Jones, Columbus Dispatch, and Michael C. Lewis, Salt Lake Tribune.
_ Jimmy Burch
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