Although Stanford doesn't begin their 2011 football season until September 3, the Heisman Trophy hype season has already begun for Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck. As the season approaches, the hype will shift into overdrive for Luck. Each game will come under the media microscope like nothing Luck has ever seen before. Big things were expected of Luck heading into 2010 but the media focus was on guys like Terrelle Pryor, Andre Ingram and Kellen Moore.
Now we enter 2011 and Andrew Luck has quickly emerged as arguably the favorite to win the trophy after his strong second place showing last season. Cam Newton won the award running away but Luck was a solid second easily securing the second most first place votes. In 2010 Luck completed 70.7% of his passes with 3,338 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, 8 interceptions and 453 rushing yards, averaging 8.2 yards per rush.
As we head into the 2011 season, Luck will likely face some questions as to how much of his success was Harbaugh's coaching and how much was his own talent. We'll be here over the course of the season to follow Andrew Luck as he attempts to join Jim Plunkett as the second Stanford Cardinal to win the Heisman Trophy. He faces a tough run through the Pac-12 as the Cardinal look to follow up on their 2011 Orange Bowl victory.
The Heisman Trophy will be presented on Saturday December 10 on ESPN. Luck has twelve games to prove he is worthy of the most prestigious award in college football. We'll be here through the big day and you can read more about Stanford football at Rule of Tree.