Heisman Hijinks and Jordan Lynch

Jordan Lynch
Northern Illinois Quarterback

At this time of the year Heisman hysteria dominates college football.  Will Johnny Manziel repeat after being the first freshman in history to win the trophy? Or will Florida State's accomplished quarterback, Jameis Winston, join the ranks of Archie Griffin and Bo Jackson? And what about my favorite, Jordan Lynch, Northern Illinois' record-setting quarterback?

Perhaps the more important question is: will the Heisman voters follow the intent of Heisman Foundation's mission statement, or will they vote as though this is just another Most Valuable Player award?

At the very least, voters should remind themselves of what the trophy stands for.
"The Heisman Memorial Trophy annually recognizes the outstanding football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance and hard work."

With that in mind one would hope the Heisman voters want to find the one college football player who not only excels on the field, but whose "integrity" can be emulated by high school players. Such has not always been the case. In 2010, Auburn quarterback, Cam Newton, received the trophy in spite of the fact there had been evidence that his father was "auctioning off" his son's services.

Back to the present and two top contenders. Even if the prosecutor chooses not to file rape charges against Jameis Winston or if he waits to do so until after the Heisman voting, voters already know enough about his character and what has occurred in Tallahassee to know that he is deficient in the "integrity" aspect of a Heisman candidate.

And then there is Johnny "Football" Manziel. Last year many felt that in spite of his outstanding season, the Heisman should not be awarded to a teenager. As it turned out, the skeptics were vindicated thanks to Johnny's adolescent off-season shenanigans. Among other problematic behaviors, there was evidence that Manziel was selling autographs. As a slap on the wrist, the inscrutable NCAA punished him by making him sit on the bench for the first half of Texas A&M's first game. It would appear that, after all this, no Heisman voter could vote for Johnny with a straight face.

On the other hand there is no shortage of excellent college players who have great numbers and also seem to possess integrity, "diligence, perseverance and hard work." Among those is Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois. Although is a bit smaller (6ft, 216 lbs.) than today's quarterbacks, his numbers are among the best in the NCAA. His problem, however, is that he plays in the Mid American Conference, and the supposition is that his numbers are so good because of the lack of quality opponents. Skeptics will question how he would fare in the revered SEC, and will refer to his lack-luster performance in last year's Orange Bowl against Florida State. That is a valid point, but one also has to wonder how well he would do if he were surrounded by a team full of five-star athletes as are Jim McCarron at Alabama or Jameis Winston at Florida State.

Although the Heisman mission statement does not mention that the winner has to be from one of the so-called power conferences, the voters seem to have made that an important aspect of their thinking. Such was not always the case. Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago, Larry Kelley of Yale and Dick Kazmaier of Princeton were all Heisman winners. Today,  Heisman voters would not even consider Superman if he played at one of these schools.

Getting back to Jordan Lynch, here are some facts to consider:

• Northern Illinois, like Alabama, Florida State, and Ohio State, is undefeated this season. 
• NIU defeated two Big Ten teams.
• Lynch was intercepted only 6 times in 394 attempts
• He completed 60.2% of his passes.
• At this point he has over 3000 career rushing yards and 5000 passing yards  - all-time, only 8 other quarterbacks have done as well.
• he has 8 career 150 + rushing/150+ passing yard games.
• he has 4 NCAA records for rushing yards by a quarterback per game.

Realistically, I doubt that the voters would choose Jordan, but it would be unthinkable that he was not invited to New York  for the Heisman ceremony.