The Stanford Cardinal rolled to a 65-21 victory over the Washington Huskies on Saturday thanks to a dominant rushing performance by Stepfan Taylor, Tyler Gaffney and Jeremy Stewart, and effective field general-ing by Andrew Luck. While the Cardinal rushing attack continued to impress, Andrew Luck had to settle for slightly more modest stats on the day. Luck was pulled in the fourth quarter having completed 16 of 21 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns.
Luck's performance was not a mind-blower for Heisman purposes, but he might have actually further improved his draft stock. Luck is already a favorite to go number one overall next April, and Saturday he showed why as he made a variety of NFL-caliber throws.
While Luck's Saturday numbers do appear a bit pedestrian at first glance, his season long totals are reaching Heisman-caliber levels. Through seven games, Luck has 1,888 passing yards, 20 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. Those numbers are good for a 180.0 QB rating, which ranks fifth in the country. Luck is currently tied for seventh in the country in completion percentage, 22nd in passing yards and eighth in touchdowns.
Luck's performance against Washington presents a bit of a conundrum for his Heisman Trophy chances. On the one hand, as long as Stanford keeps winning, he sticks in the Heisman race. On the other hand, if he does not put up the gaudy statistics favored by some voters, it could cost him some votes. As it currently stands he remains a favorite but other players are climbing in the rankings. Fortunately for Luck, he gets a high profile game against the Oregon Ducks in November. If both teams are ranked in the BCS Top Ten as they are now, that could put his Heisman "campaign" over the top.
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