Blake Corum finished 7th in Heisman Voting

Submitted by Lionsfan on December 9th, 2022 at 9:21 AM

ESPN and the Heisman Trust announced the rest of the top 10 vote-getters for the Heisman Trophy:

5. Hendon Hooker
6. Bryce Young
7. Blake Corum
8. Michael Penix
9. Bijan Robinson
10. Drake Maye

— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) December 9, 2022

Qmatic

December 9th, 2022 at 9:24 AM ^

Lol. He was the best player in the country for 10 weeks; and in all honesty it wasn’t particularly close; Hooker for a period completed but that’s it. He would have won in a walk away if he plays the final 2 1/2 games. 

But hey, let’s celebrate 3 QBs who all have lost their last game. I hope Bennett wins just because the “big names” of Stroud, Young (not a finalist), and Williams all didn’t deliver when it mattered most.

LBSS

December 9th, 2022 at 9:51 AM ^

And in fairness, he rules. Corum should still have won and it's a joke that he finished 7th but Williams is fun as hell. 47 total TDs, over 4400 yards gained, and a lot of "holy smokes!" moments. He's got that Kyler Murray/Pat Mahomes improvisation swag. The Pac-12 Championship game is different if he doesn't get hurt. 

Also, he's from DC so I must stan. 

TrueBlue2003

December 9th, 2022 at 1:26 PM ^

Yes he is and he absolutely deserves it.  Pretty much single-handedly got USC to where it was this year.  Carried an awful defense.  Was brilliant all year.  And played well in the PAC12 title game.  It's not like he didn't show up. Their defense just sucked.

Corum was awesome all year, and deserves all the RB awards as the best RB in college football. 

But it's just not a high enough leverage position to win these awards when you don't even play in your two most important games.  And his team dominated without him in those games.  Just the nature of the position and how much it benefits from good line play.

YouKnowNothing…

December 9th, 2022 at 10:22 AM ^

I like the solution that Doug Karsch ( and I’m sure many others) have suggested: pick all of the positional awards, then the winners of those awards become the pool of Heisman candidates. No reason to have more than 1 player of any position in contention for the Heisman when voters have already decided who is the best of each position. 

BleedThatBlue

December 9th, 2022 at 11:04 AM ^

Or how that 8-4 team that he played on, most of his yards came from fcs level teams? I posted on another thread last night how ridiculous this really is. UM played three top 10 teams ranked defensively where Texas played 1 (Alabama). That lone game his average was 2.7 a carry for 50 yards. BC averaged over 6 with minimum 100 yards in those games. Not even close. Scam I tell ya, SCAM! Okay, I’ll hang up and listen. 

ShadowStorm33

December 9th, 2022 at 11:18 AM ^

That has some appeal, but it still doesn't fix the issue of voters doing stupid things, it just shifts who those voters are. Like this year for example, Corum didn't even win the Doak Walker (which is complete bullshit), so he would have been left out anyway. At least theoretically he still could have been in contention for the Heisman (and indeed, he had more Heisman votes than Doak Walker winner Bijan Robinson). 

There's also the issue of voters being unable to find consensus. Last year, LB Will Anderson won the Nagurski for best defensive player, but Nakobe Dean won the Butkus for best LB. I don't necessarily agree that deference should be given to the positional award; who's to say that the Nagurski voters didn't have it right re those two. And for further examples, Jordan Davis won the Bednarik for best defensive player, and Hutchinson won the Lombardi for top player and Lott for defensive impact, i.e. three different players won awards for top defensive player.

Newton Gimmick

December 9th, 2022 at 10:58 AM ^

Bennett winning won't happen but would be a hilariously worse choice than Gino Torretta / Eric Crouch / Jason White.  Guy isn't even a top 5 player on his own team.

Imagine we had to redraft all FBS players based on the season they just had.  Would Bennett be in the top 10?  Top 100?  Would he even be a top 20 QB drafted?  If he played on a team with Maye or Penix he'd for sure be holding a clipboard

4godkingandwol…

December 9th, 2022 at 9:28 AM ^

Everyone has already said how the award is for QBs, but it is really absurd. How can any one of these qbs be considered exceptional, when there are literally 8 of them that are basically interchangeable? 

Qmatic

December 9th, 2022 at 9:35 AM ^

It is interesting that in the past 3 years, there has not been a remarkable QB that has been a shoe-in. This year they’re basically pulling out of a hat and each person has a similar level of good moments, and apparent bad ones.

Last year, Young was nowhere near the level of the previous QBs to win the award (Burrow, Murray, Baker, Lamar), it’s just that his main competition was a defensive player. Devonta Smith deservedly won in 2020, but there really wasn’t a great challenge because if their was a QB would win it. 

It will always be a QB award, but as of late there hasn’t been that clear-cut QB. The last 3 QBs to win all went #1 in the draft. I don’t think any NFL team is willing to trade up to #1 for a Stroud, Young, Bennett, or Duggan. I’ll admit I don’t know what the scouts say about Caleb Williams who is going to win, because he is not draft eligible.

matty blue

December 9th, 2022 at 9:43 AM ^

makes sense, really. 

i mean, how many defensive coordinators have had sleepless nights worrying about that transcendent georgia quarterback? 

no way they go undefeated without a 25-year-old mediocrity that finished fifth in the SEC in touchdown passes.

(edited to remove the original pejorative.  my apologies to all)

Bohannon

December 9th, 2022 at 9:47 AM ^

5-10 is great company. 

I'm disappointed for Blake, UM, and fellow fans that we haven't had a Heisman winner this century, but I'm so proud that we can celebrate a player of elite ability and character. 

Go Blue. Beat TCU. 

mmjoy

December 9th, 2022 at 9:55 AM ^

Any chance it hurt Corum that the Don came in and was just as productive? Maybe the committee wrote Corum off a bit as benefiting from a really good offensive line? Not that I agree, just a thought.

MacMarauder

December 9th, 2022 at 9:59 AM ^

Heisman is meh this year. No one had a Heisman moment or game that put them over the top. Closest was Williams against ND but then the Utah game spoils it.

If you took Corums first ten games and combined with Edwards last two that hypothetical RB would win the thing. 

mgo.bfa.mba

December 9th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^

He deserved to be there. Not complaining about the outcome of The Game, but had Blake been healthy enough for his "Heisman Moment" in Columbus, things would've worked out differently. And I have no doubt he would've broken a few open against that soft defense.

LSAClassOf2000

December 9th, 2022 at 10:09 AM ^

For a long time, I've had a certain amount of disdain for how this award is ultimately doled out, and this highlights one of the reasons, when it is "let us list some of the best players, but in no particular order".