Andrew Luck finishes second in Heisman voting

NEW YORK (AP) - Robert Griffin III is Baylor's Superman and when he won the Heisman Trophy he was wearing the socks to prove it.

Who knows? Maybe they even helped him outluck Andrew Luck.

The junior quarterback known as RG3 beat out the preseason favorite from Stanford on Saturday night, becoming the first Baylor player to take home college football's most famous trophy.

Right before his name was called, Griffin took a deep breath. When it was announced he broke into a bright smile, his face framed by his long braided hair. Then it was hugs all around, for his coaches, his parents, his sister and his fiance.

He took a few long strides up to the stage and let out a laugh when he got there, making a joke about the Superman socks -- complete with capes on the back -- he was wearing before going into
his acceptance speech.

"This is unbelievably believable," he said. "It's unbelievable because in the moment we're all amazed when great things happen. But it's believable because great things don't happen without hard work."

Griffin started the season on the fringe of the Heisman conversation, a talented and exciting player on a marginal team, while Luck was already being touted as a No. 1 NFL draft pick.

Draft day might very well still belong to Luck, but Griffin diverted the Heisman to Waco, Texas, to a school that has never had a player finish better than fourth in the voting -- and that was 48 years ago.

Griffin received 405 first-place votes and 1,687 points.

"Everybody associated with Baylor has a reason to celebrate
tonight," he said.

Luck received 247 first-place votes and 1,407 points to become the fourth player to be Heisman runner-up in consecutive seasons and first since Arkansas running back Darren McFadden in 2006 and `07.

Luck was also first to congratulate Griffin

"It was so well-deserved by Robert Griffin," Luck said. "It was very hard to be upset."

Alabama running back Trent Richardson was third with 138 first-place votes and 978 points. Wisconsin running back Montee Ball (348 points) was fourth and the other finalist, LSU cornerback
Tyrann Mathieu (327) was fifth.
 

Luck was the front-runner from the moment in January he surprised many by returning to Stanford for one more season instead of jumping to the NFL to become a millionaire. He didn't disappoint, with 3,170 yards receiving, 35 touchdown passes, a completion percentage of 70 percent and a rating of 167.5.

Griffin outdid him using a similar formula: leading a downtrodden program at a private school out of the shadows of its powerful conference rivals with brilliant and heady play.

Luck made a sensational one-handed catch early in what turned out to be a blowout victory against UCLA. Nice.

Griffin made a 15-yard reception in traffic to convert a key third down on the game-winning drive in Baylor's opening 50-48 victory against TCU. Better.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder with sprinter's speed -- he was an all-American in the 400-meter hurdles -- had some early Heisman buzz, but faded in October as Baylor lost three of four. Griffin continued to pile up video game numbers, but not enough to compensate for the Bears' leaky defense.
  
An aspiring lawyer who is working on a master's degree in communications, he holds 46 school records and adoring Bears fans are praying he comes back for more.