Heisman Trophy Betting – Update After Week Two

It was never understood. The Jacory Harris Heisman Trophy betting candidacy was a non-starter from the word go. Now, it won’t exist for the remainder of this college football betting season.

If there was Heisman Trophy news from week two of the college football season, it came in two primary forms: the elimination of Jacory Harris and the emergence of Denard Robinson. First, let’s look at Harris, who flamed out in Miami’s 36-24 loss at Ohio State.

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Harris made some clutch plays throughout the first month of the 2009 season. However, he scored only 21 points against Oklahoma last year, not a dynamic performance by any stretch of the imagination. Harris flourished against Georgia Tech’s defense, but as we learned last year and re-learned today, smoking the Yellow Jackets’ defense isn’t much to write home about.

Then, in the second half of 2009, Harris wore down mentally as much as anything else. He bailed out on throws and the Canes’ front line didn’t protect him as well. All in all, there was little to suggest that a profound transformation had truly taken root in Coral Gables, Florida.

Why the words “Harris” and “Heisman” occupied a lot of sentences in the past offseason was a head-scratcher of the first order.

Now we know why.

Make no mistake: Miami’s receivers did absolutely nothing to help out Harris against Ohio State this past weekend. The Canes’ pass catchers didn’t catch passes, and for that, Jacory Harris wasn’t responsible.

The game-changing interceptions Harris did throw? He was indeed responsible for those blunders. Had it not been for Miami’s kick-returning prowess, which produced two first-half touchdowns, Ohio State would have put away Saturday’s game by halftime.

Yet, when gifted with a paltry nine-point deficit at the break, Harris couldn’t pick himself off the deck and play one solid half of football to bring his team a victory. He was Ohio State’s best friend on a day when Terrelle Pryor remained inconsistent and showed little indication of becoming a Heisman-worthy one-man juggernaut in his own right.

Indeed, the front-runner for the Heisman is not Pryor, the Ohio State quarterback who was okay but hardly special against Miami. The leader for the prestigious individual award is a Michigan quarterback, Denard Robinson. The kid nicknamed “Shoelace” had Notre Dame’s defense tied up in knots this past Saturday in South Bend, Indiana.

Robinson was a one-man wrecking crew against the Fighting Irish. “Shoelace”racked up more than 500 yards of total offense. He made plays out of nothing. He demonstrated an ability to generate offensive production just by running around the field and daring linebackers to tackle him; they often couldn’t.

Robinson then punctuated his day by leading a 72-yard game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes of regulation.

Denard Robinson basically did in 2010 what Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier did versus the Fighting Irish in 2009. He has to be the Heisman Trophy betting frontrunner at this point. Michigan once again used a dashing signal caller’s late-game excellence to beat the Irish.

It’s worth noting that for all of Denard Robinson’s exploits, the Wolverines’ offense failed on seven straight possessions in the second half, as Notre Dame benefited from untimely holding penalties committed by UM’s incomplete offensive line. Yet, when it came time to win or lose at Notre Dame Stadium, Robinson stood tall and took over the game.

Playing big against Notre Dame on national television will always enhance your Heisman status. Robinson is the unquestioned front-runner right now.

Other contenders for Heisman trophy bettin: South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore (182 yards against Georgia).