The results are in from a Northern Star poll which ran last Thursday and Friday asking students, faculty and the public where they would place LeShon Johnson in the Heisman rankings if they had a vote.

Well, the results left some major room for debate.

The number one choice, with 35 percent of the 477 respondents’ votes, was to place the “Cowboy” fifth.

However, 58 percent of the voters put Johnson either first (33 percent) or second (25 percent).

After a sub-par afternoon against Louisiana Tech Saturday, in which he gained only 105 yards on 32 carries (3.3 average), the number of first place votes could be on the way down.

Johnson has a chance to redeem himself against the Iowa Hawkeyes and SEC powerhouse Mississippi Rebels in the next two weeks, but it now appears unlikely the 2,000-yard plateau will be reached.

The Football News magazine has placed LeShon in their top 10 Heisman rankings for the majority of the season and Matt Marsom, who is the managing editor of the magazine, remains in awe of the Huskie running back.

“LeShon’s gaudy numbers aside, what separates him from the rest of the pack is his God-given ability to make people miss, Marsom said. “A slashing runner with impressive acceleration, LeShon is always seemingly fighting for that extra yard or two, whether it’s the first quarter or the fourth.

“Not since Walter Payton have I seen a runner LeShon’s size punish tacklers at the point of impact the way he does. The tackler, regardless of his size, always seems to get the worst of it during the collision.”

This is extremely high praise, being compared to the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, especially considering Payton is LeShon’s boyhood idol.

With the overwhelming success of the poll, a follow-up will be conducted at the culmination of the season after Thanksgiving break.

So keep up with how Charlie Ward, Tyronne Wheatley, Errict Rhett and the rest of the hopefuls finish out the season so that when the next poll comes around we can get a good idea of how the NIU community would vote, come Heisman time.