As expected, Cam Newton ran away with the Heisman Trophy. Despite being omitted on 105 ballots because of the accusations surrounding Newton and his father Cecil, he still garnered the 3rd highest percentage of first place votes of all-time (78.7 percent). He picked up 2,263 points in all; Andrew Luck finished behind him with 1,079 points, and Oregon tailback LaMichael James finished with 916 points.
According to the ESPN geographic breakdown, Newton won EVERY region, including the Western bloc where Luck, James and Boise State’s Kellen Moore resided. For the second straight year, a Stanford Cardinal player finished in second place in the Heisman voting and lost to a Heisman player—in 2009, running back Toby Gerhart was barely edged out by Alabama’s Mark Ingram.
It would’ve been a far more interesting battle if both Luck and Newton had finished with undefeated seasons, especially if Luck had gone into Autzen and taken down Oregon. Luck definitely has some pretty impressive moments to measure up to Newton’s season, although even THAT might still haven’t been enough.