West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith led his team to a significant road victory over Texas, 48-45, and improved his touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio to 24-0 as a passer this season. But he received only nine of 10 first-place votes in today’s fourth installment of the Scripps Howard News Service Heisman Poll.
The other first-place vote went to Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller, who threw for 127 yards and one touchdown and ran for 186 yards and another score in the Buckeyes’ 63-38 victory over Nebraska last week.
Smith remains comfortably in control of the poll, with Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein in second place and Miller third. 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, 1,996 passing yards, 81.4 completion pct., 24 TDs, 0 interceptions, 66 rushing yards, 1 TD, 49 (9)
2. QB Collin Klein, Kansas State, 887 passing yards, 67.0 completion pct., 7 TDs, 2 ints., 405 rushing yards, 7 TDs, 26
3. QB Braxton Miller, Ohio State, 1,060 passing yards, 61.5 completion pct., 9 TDs, 3 ints., 763 rushing yards, 8 TDs, 23 (1)
4. RB/WR/KR De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon, 377 rushing yards, 9.2 yards per carry, 6 TDs, 205 receiving yards, 3 TDs, 150 punt return yards, 88 kick return yards, 21
5. LB Manti Te'o, Notre Dame, 48 tackles, 3 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered, 10
Others receiving votes: South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney 7, USC WR/KR Marqise Lee 4, West Virginia WR Tavon Austin 3, USC QB Matt Barkley 2, Clemson QB Tajh Boyd 2, South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore 1, Alabama QB AJ McCarron 1
Last week's top five:
1. QB Geno Smith, West Virginia, 50 (10).
2. QB Collin Klein, Kansas State, 22
3. (tie) RB/WR/KR De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon, 16
3. (tie) QB E.J. Manuel, Florida State, 16
3. (tie) QB Aaron Murray, Georgia, 16
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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