Can The Heisman Talk Rest Until November?

There are plenty of Alabama, Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State and Boise State fans out there that are asking for some respect for their alleged "Heisman candidtates". No offense to their respective all-stars, but let's get something straight: it's barely October. Let the Heisman talk die down already. Most teams have yet to play half of their games yet. Like the national rankings, the Heisman Trophy is being watered down by pre-season rankings and expectations, and bandwagon jumpers across the country are overflowing college football fans' brains with unnecessary hype.

Oregon's LaMichael James is a hot topic after his performance against Stanford this past Saturday, churning out 257 yards and three touchdowns against an overachieving Stanford defense. However, a good chunk of those yards came on a relatively meaningless 74 yard dash after the game was already out of reach for the Cardinal. He was held to under 100 yards against a sturdy Arizona State defense, and his other big day came against FCS Portland State. If his knack for the big run continues though (at least a 40-yard gain each game), his name will stay afloat the Heisman talk.

Michigan's Denard Robinson also made a name for himself in the opening two games of the season, thrashing Connecticut and Notre Dame for 197 and 258 yards on the ground, respectively. His effectiveness through the air has been impressive as well, completing nearly 70% of his passes and only throwing one interception. Again the problem remains the competition his big performances have come against. UConn, Notre Dame, UMass, Bowling Green and Indiana are ranked no higher than 68th in run defense nationally. Not exactly an imposing schedule.

Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State's big name quarter back, is getting by on name recognition. Anyone who saw his performance last week against Illinois would think the QB in blue and orange were the better of the two.

Kellen Moore, Mark Ingram, or any other great player on a great team will get a chance to play into a trip to New York. Just not now.

Last year at this time, was Mark Ingram on anyone's radar? Was Ndamokong Suh more than just an All-Big XII defender? Toby Gerhart was barely even a Pac-10 commodity. 2009 was supposed to be the ultimate showdown between Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy for college football supremacy, and that just didn't come to fruition. 

Hopefully fans and the all-important voters can keep in mind that there is still two thirds of a season left, and not jump the gun on any of these players. I am all for honoring there early season performances, but not for handing out prestigious awards in October.