For the second year in a row, a redshirt freshman has topped the college football season’s final HeismanPundit.com Heisman Straw Poll.
Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston collected seven out of 10 possible first-place votes and totaled a season-best 26 points from the weekly survey of Heisman voters, putting him on the verge of becoming a landslide winner of the most prestigious trophy in sports.
The result comes just five days after Florida state authorities decided against charging Winston for felony sexual assault and two days after the freshman led the Seminoles to a 45-7 victory over Duke in the ACC title game to complete an undefeated regular season.
To get to this point, Winston set NCAA freshman records this season for passing yards (3,820) and passing touchdowns (38) and produced a passer rating of 190.06, just below the all-time efficiency mark of 191.78 held by Russell Wilson of Wisconsin. If, as the poll predicts, Winston goes on to win the Heisman, he’ll do so with the highest passer rating in the trophy’s history.
He will be the third Florida State player to win the Heisman and first since Chris Weinke did so in 2000, which was also the last time the Seminoles made it to the BCS national title game. He’s also set to be the youngest player to win the trophy, beating out Alabama’s Mark Ingram by 14 days.
“He’s been spectacular all season,” said one voter. “Florida State has been a juggernaut on offense and he’s the main reason for it. No other candidate has been as consistent as he has been.”
The lack of consistency by other candidates in the race is reflected in the poll’s results, which includes a HeismanPundit Straw Poll-record 12 players in the final balloting, topping the 11 selected in 2009′s final poll (when Mark Ingram defeated Toby Gerhart by the closest vote in Heisman history).
If this year’s poll is correct, Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch will take second in the race and claim the highest Heisman finish by a non-BCS-conference player in the BCS era. Lynch grabbed two first-place votes to finish with eight points, well behind Winston’s total.
Defending winner Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M was third with seven points, while running back Tre Mason of Auburn picked up the last first-place vote to finish fourth with five points.
Alabama’s AJ McCarron was fifth with four points.
Now in its eighth season, the HeismanPundit.com Heisman Straw Poll is the college football world’s most trusted gauge of Heisman voter sentiment. It has been the most accurate Heisman poll in the country during the past seven seasons, with the final 2012 poll correctly picking the top five finishers and the final 2011 poll picking the top seven. This year’s poll is made up of 10 anonymous Heisman voters from across the country. Each week during the season they picked three players. Tabulations for the preseason poll are tabulated like a real Heisman ballot, with three points awarded for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote and one point for a third-place vote.
Each week’s poll was released on Tuesdays throughout the season at HeismanPundit.com. Heisman votes are due on Monday, Dec. 9 at 5 p.m ET. The finalists for the 2013 Heisman Trophy ceremony will be announced at 6 p.m. on Dec. 9 and the trophy will be awarded on Saturday, Dec. 14.
The HeismanPundit.com Heisman Straw Poll, 12/9/2013
Total Points (with first place votes in parentheses)
1. Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State — 26 (7)
2. Jordan Lynch, QB, Northern Illinois — 8 (2)
3. Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M — 7
4. Tre Mason, RB, Auburn — 5 (1)
5. AJ McCarron, QB, Alabama — 4
6. (tie) Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon — 2
Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State — 2
8. (tie) Andre Williams, RB, Boston College — 1
Bryce Petty, QB, Baylor — 1
Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville — 1
Shayne Skov, LB, Stanford — 1
Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh — 1
Number of ballots
Winston — 8
Lynch — 4
McCarron — 4
Manziel — 4
Mason — 3
Everyone else — 1