With the college football regular season all but over — just a few teams have their final regular season games this week — the Heisman Trophy race is down to basically two men.
Freshman quarterback Johnny “Football” Manziel of Texas A&M and senior linebacker Manti Te’o of Notre Dame.
In my opinion there is an excellent argument for both players, and I believe both are deserving of the prestigious honor. But as with most things in life, there can only be one winner. So let’s look at the resumes.
For Johnny Football, he has the gaudy numbers and precedent on his side. Manziel has put up unbelievable numbers — 3,419 passing yards and 24 touchdowns and another 1,181 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. Those 4,600 total yards are more than both Tim Tebow and Cam Newton amassed during their Heisman seasons of 2007 and 2010, respectively. Let’s be honest, that’s just ridiculous. The guy’s a freshman and he’s doing this in the SEC — the strongest conference in college football. The knocks on Manziel’s Heisman hopes are that he is a freshman and his team has two losses. But Manziel was able to lead his Aggies to victory over the juggernaut that is Alabama on national TV, crushing the Crimson Tide’s title hopes — if only for a week.
As for Te’o, he is the defensive leader of the No. 1 team in the country. His seven interceptions are good for second best in the NCAA, and for a linebacker that is pretty impressive. His defense has only allowed a startling 10 touchdowns in the red zone, which in an era of high-powered offenses is incredible. For Te’o, his Heisman moment came this past week as his Fighting Irish went into the Coliseum and beat USC. The Golden Domers sealed the win with a goal line stand that is sure to go down in Notre Dame lore. The knock against Te’o is that he is a defensive player. He doesn’t get seen as much as an offensive playmaker and it’s easy for a linebacker to get lost in the mix.
When the decision is made in New York, I believe that Te’o is the one who should walk away with the hardware. Nothing against the amazing season Manziel has had, but like Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said, “If a guy like Manti Te’o is not going to win the Heisman, they should just make it an offensive award.” Manziel will have at least two more opportunities to bring home the award. Te’o has had a superb season, he is the face and playmaker of the defense, and his team is going to play for a National Championship. He’s made game-changing plays — see his interception against USC — and the Notre Dame defense has stood strong in crunch time again and again this year.
— Austin Bornheim is a senior in journalism and electronic media. He can be reached at [email protected]
