USC's Barkley Leading Heisman Poll, Lee And UCLA's Franklin Right Behind Him
LOS ANGELES (CBS) USC senior quarterback Matt Barkley is leading the HeismanPundit Poll for the third straight week after throwing six more touchdowns Saturday against Syracuse.
Barkley, who collected 11 first –place votes, has been launching the football to two extremely talented receivers – Marqise Lee and Robert Woods. He has already thrown for 559 yards and 10 touchdowns so far this season.
Right behind Barkley is teammate receiver Marqise Lee and cross town rival running back Johnathan Franklin of UCLA.
Lee, who ranks 5th in The Heisman Pundit Poll, has been Barkley's top target and has 263 receiving yards with four touchdowns.
UCLA running back Franklin, who's won the Pac-12 Player Of The Week for 2nd time in a row and leads the nation in rushing yards, is quietly creeping up in the ranks by averaging 215 yards per game. He helped the Bruins shock No. 16 Nebraska with 217 rushing yards.
The senior back from Dorsey High is on pace to break Gasten Green's all-time UCLA rushing record of 3,731 yards.
The HeismanPundit/CBSSports.com Heisman Straw Poll, 9-11-2012
Player, total points (first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Matt Barkley, QB, USC -- 28 (9)
2. Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia -- 14
3. (tie) Collin Klein, QB, Kansas State -- 6 (1)
De'Anthony Thomas, RB, Oregon -- 6
5. Marqise Lee, WR, USC -- 4 (1)
6. Jarvis Jones, LB, Georgia -- 3
7. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan -- 2
8. (tie) Johnathan Franklin, RB, UCLA -- 1
Marcus Lattimore, RB, South Carolina -- 1
Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State -- 1
