aidan hutchinson

Aidan Hutchinson Named a Heisman Finalist Comment Count

BiSB December 6th, 2021 at 6:39 PM

In a selection that went from longshot to fait accompli in approximately four weeks, Aidan Hutchinson was officially announced as a finalist for the 2021 Heisman Trophy on Monday:

Hutchinson will be joined in New York by Alabama QB Bryce Young, Ohio State QB CJ Stroud, and Pitt QB Kenny Pickett. Young is the overwhelming favorite to win the award on the heels of a 461 total yard, 4 TD performance against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Stroud was the betting favorite until late in the season… but then Aidan Hutchinson happened.

The Heisman Trust has been naming finalists since 1982. Hutchinson is Michigan’s sixth finalist, joining Jim Harbaugh (’86), Desmond Howard (’91), Charles Woodson (’97), Chris Perry (’03), and Jabrill Peppers (’16). Hutchinson is the fifth defensive lineman to be named as a finalist, joining Steve Emtman (‘91), Warren Sapp (‘94), Ndamukong Suh (‘09), and Chase Young, (‘19). No defensive lineman has finished in the Top 3 in Heisman voting since Pitt DE Hugh Green in 1980 (and yes, Suh finishing 4th behind Mark Ingram, Toby Gerhart, and Colt McCoy remains an insult to gigantic men everywhere). Also, one little-known fact: only one defensive player has ever won the Heisman.

The trophy will be handed out — ostensibly to the Most Outstanding Player in College Football — on December 11th. There is no content after the jump.

Comments

michfan84

December 6th, 2021 at 7:02 PM ^

The saltiness on RCMB will be delicious. They are so pissed that Aidan has gotten the recognition he deserves, and that Walker fell off.  Congrats, Aidan!

Joined: 02/27/2013

MGoPoints: 1633

Newton Gimmick

December 6th, 2021 at 9:19 PM ^

Thought about this and Troy Davis comes to mind, he finished 5th in the voting in 1995 for 3-8 Iowa State, 2nd in '96 for 2-9 ISU.  Worst loss was in '95, 73-14 to Nebraska.  Not sure if he was an official finalist either year.

That Nebraska team was probably the best team in my lifetime.  They had 776 yards in that game, including 624 yards rushing.  Davis did manage 121 on 28 carries.  (One of two backs to get 100 on Nebraska that year.)

Edit: OK, I have an answer: Melvin Gordon, RB for Wisconsin in 2014.  Finished 2nd in the voting, one week after losing to OSU 59-0 in the Big 10 Championship Game in which he had 26 carries for 76 yards.  I wonder how many votes had already been cast/decided by then, but he did have 2336 yrds and 26 TDs by then so it was still pretty deserved...

Joined: 05/06/2015

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bronxblue

December 6th, 2021 at 9:19 PM ^

Walker should have gone to NYC at least but it's sort of crazy seeing MSU fans complain that Walker had better stats than the recent Heisman RB winners.  They're basically complaining that he should win the award if Mark Ingram got it in 2009, which is an argument that mostly highlights how undeserving Ingram was. Beyond him the other players who won the Heisman as RBs all had more impressive seasons, from Derrick Henry to Reggie Bush all the way to even Ricky Williams and Ron Dayne.  

I mean, we might as well consider Jerome Ford from Cincy, who put up more rushing TDs (and more overall TDs) with the same ypc. on a team going to the playoffs undefeated.  Or give it to Sean Tucker, who as a freshman at Syracuse put up 25 more total yards from scrimmage and only 5 fewer total TDs and helped them go from 1-10 to 5-7 in a P5 conference.

I think Walker should have gotten a bid over Stroud but crowing about Walker scoring 5 TDs against UM and then conveniently ignoring any games that came after that is why it's hard to take MSU fans seriously.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171752

jmblue

December 7th, 2021 at 5:22 PM ^

Ingram was a marginal Heisman winner for sure, but still had a more complete season than Walker.

Ingram: 1658 rush yards, 17 rush TDs,  32 receptions, 334 receiving yards, 3 receiving TDs

Walker: 1646 rush yards, 18 rush TDs, 13 receptions, 89 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD

MSU rarely passed to Walker, and from what I saw, he didn't distinguish himself in pass protection.  He was basically just a runner, and that usually isn't enough, unless you put up absolutely monster numbers (like 2000+ yards).

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102815

MGoBlue-querque

December 6th, 2021 at 7:05 PM ^

If only there were some precedent of a Michigan defender winning the Heisman over a highly touted SEC quarterback...

HA! This is great news. Aidan had a helluva season and is deserving of this honor!

HAIL!

Really hope he sits next to Stroud and just talks an enormous amount of smack to him all night.

Joined: 12/05/2012

MGoPoints: 12179

nerv

December 6th, 2021 at 7:14 PM ^

Suh not finishing as at least the runner up was such highway robbery. But I keep seeing people using that as justification for keeping Hutchinson down. Someone else not getting the full respect they deserve is certainly no reason to repeat that behavior. Im sure they give it to Bama's QB because that is how this works... but after what he did to Stroud Hutch better finish 2nd!

Joined: 04/14/2009

MGoPoints: 14072

Fan from TTDS

December 6th, 2021 at 8:25 PM ^

How many yards did Walker have against Ohio State?  25 yards and that was it.  Stroud had an amazing season for someone who never threw a pass in college going into the season opener against Minnesota.  His stats were pretty damn good being named B1G offensive player of the year, QB of the year, and Freshman of the year.  No other player has won those three awards in the same year in the Big Ten.

Joined: 12/05/2021

MGoPoints: 538

G. Gulo of the Dale

December 6th, 2021 at 7:37 PM ^

Alright, Mgoblog.  If we are going to push Aidan's candidacy over the top, we have five days to a.) set up a fake online profile with attractive pics, b.) catfish Aidan, c.) fake our death, and then d.) draw massive media attention to this fact.  Meeting at the old treehouse at midnight.

Joined: 04/01/2013

MGoPoints: 6800