It really is hard to believe that ten weeks of the college football season are in the books already. With the arrival of November, most of us gained an extra hour of sleep but lost an hour of sunlight in the process. In many parts of the country, your gameday attire will probably (if it hasn’t done so already) transition to fan gear of the thick, long-sleeved variety.
The race for the Heisman Trophy has had its own series of subtle and intricate changes since I last wrote about the topic two weeks ago. Much like the natural variations of the seasons associated with this time of year, the names you see at the forefront of the drive for college football’s most coveted individual award have a tendency to change with every passing week. One quarterback’s poor performance that imperils his team’s national title aspirations opens the door for another promising prospect to leapfrog him on the Heisman hierarchy.
In putting together this ranking, I’m going to take the approach I anticipate that the College Football Playoff selection committee will be taking in formulating their Top 25 each week from here on out. What that entails is essentially starting from scratch each week, taking into account the additional data derived from the most recently completed games and using it to compile the new ranking.
With that in mind, you will find a few new additions to my list of Heisman favorites. At the same time, other hopefuls have either played themselves down the charts so to speak or completely off of it altogether.
Top Ten Heisman Trophy Frontrunners
1. Marcus Mariota, quarterback, Oregon Ducks
The Ducks have certainly gotten back on track after their inexplicable home loss to Arizona in week six, with Mariota undoubtedly playing a prominent role. In the four games since, he’s thrown for 11 touchdowns, two interceptions and has also accounted for four scores on the ground. Mariota personifies the dual-threat quarterback who can aptly be described as an exceptional passer who doesn’t live or die by his mobility but rather uses that component of his game when he has to.
It should be kept in mind that the past two Heisman Trophy winners have led the nation in ESPN’s Total QBR rating, and the Honolulu, HI native currently occupies that spot as we speak with a mark of 91.2. He’s also leads the nation in passing efficiency (187.2).
2. Dak Prescott, quarterback, Mississippi State Bulldogs
The junior signal caller who’s been an instrumental part of the Bulldogs rise to the summit of the college football rankings drops down a spot this week. I really try to avoid falling into the trap of considering a given quarterback’s stats as the be-all end-all when it comes to evaluating their Heisman Trophy prospects, but the last few games have been a tad worrisome in Prescott’s case.
Their previous two victories were in all likelihood much closer than expected, and in those games Prescott has combined for two touchdowns and three interceptions. When you’re dealing with such a prestigious award, sometimes you have to be overly nit-picking. After a glorified scrimmage against Tennessee-Martin this weekend, Prescott gets as good an opportunity as he’ll have all season to solidify his Heisman candidacy when MSU travels to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama.
3. Amari Cooper, wide receiver, Alabama Crimson Tide
Cooper makes a fairly significant jump from my initial analysis of the Heisman Trophy race, and that’s with only one extra game to pore over since Alabama was idle on Saturday. That said, what a game it was for the junior wideout from Miami: nine catches, 224 yards, two touchdowns at an average of 60.5 yards on the two receptions that found the end zone in the Tide’s 34-20 win over Tennessee.
The hallmark of any exceptionally talented receiver is his YAC-ing ability, and I don’t mean his gift of gab. Yards after catch are as demonstrative of a receiver’s ability to dominate opposing secondaries, and on both scores against Tennessee Cooper turned on the jets after getting the ball and left Volunteer defensive backs in the dust. If ‘Bama can get by LSU on the road this coming weekend, a potential showdown with national championship implications gets even more intriguing with two Heisman hopefuls taking the field in Prescott and Cooper.
4. Jameis Winston, quarterback, Florida State Seminoles
For the second consecutive game, Winston’s prospects for the Heisman Trophy looked like it was on life support in the first half only to be given a proverbial defibrillation jolt down the stretch. He’s another perfect case of why you have to look beyond the stats to get the full story of why he’s such an indispensable part of the Seminoles continued winning ways. Idiotic off-the-field antics aside, Winston has that “it” factor when he’s on the field. He proved it in the second half against Notre Dame, and repeated the feat late in the game last Thursday night at Louisville.
I think one of the most telling plays of the game against the Cardinals was the very first one of the second half where Winston threw his third interception of the game to safety Gerod Holliman then promptly figured out a way to strip him of the football. How many quarterbacks in college football history have committed and forced a turnover on the same play?
5. Melvin Gordon, running back, Wisconsin Badgers
If the Big Ten West Division is going to spoil the Playoff hopes of their two East counterparts Michigan State and Ohio State, good old-fashioned running back play is going to make it possible in the conference title game. Though the Wisconsin defense has only allowed seven points in their previous two games, Melvin Gordon has shown no signs of letting up in the Badger backfield.
He has continued to maintain a ridiculously high volume of carries while remaining among the nation’s leading backs in yards per carry. None of the top 12 running backs in the latter category has as many total reps as Gordon has so far. Much is being made of the looming showdown in East Lansing between the Spartans and Buckeyes this coming Saturday, but don’t sleep on next weekend’s clash in Madison between Wisconsin and Nebraska where two of the nation’s best running backs will feature prominently.
6. Ameer Abdullah, running back, Nebraska Cornhuskers
Abdullah enters the list for the first time, and were it not for the sprained MCL he suffered in the 35-14 win over Purdue on Saturday I’d most likely have him in the top three. His performance last week against Rutgers, a 42-24 victory, was nothing short of sensational as he rushed for 225 yards, three touchdowns, and finished the game with a school-record 341 all-purpose yards. That said, he was injured very early against the Boilermakers and was unable to build upon what he accomplished the week before. The upcoming bye week couldn’t have come at a better time. Next week’s trip to Wisconsin could be a Big Ten classic if he can get healthy and go toe-to-toe with Gordon.
7. Everett Golson, quarterback, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
It’s very interesting that Golson and Winston were adversaries in a hotly contested, down-to-the-wire game this year. Maybe I’m the only one, but I find that there are similarities between the two from the standpoint of on-the-field intangibles. Both the Irish and Seminoles were in action for the first time since their classic tussle in Tallahassee, and both had to fend off challenges from feisty opponents.
Much like Winston’s second half heroics willed FSU to victory over Louisville, Golson had his own share of stellar play against Navy where Notre Dame trailed in the 3rd quarter but ended up coming out on top, 49-39. He accounted for six total touchdowns against the Midshipmen, including four of five in the second half.
8. Nick Marshall, quarterback, Auburn Tigers
The final three players on this week’s Heisman Trophy top ten are all first-time entrants, including Marshall. Auburn has been in two close games since their only blemish of the season against Mississippi State, winning by an average margin of only 5.5 points. Marshall has been masterful though, especially on the ground, scoring five total rushing touchdowns in the victories over South Carolina and Ole Miss. He put up near perfect Total QBR numbers in both games and now ranks third nationally with an 89.1 score in that metric.
9. Josh Robinson, running back, Mississippi State Bulldogs
Also making his first appearance on the list is Robinson who joins his Mississippi State teammate Prescott in the Heisman conversation. Though obviously garnering less hype than his quarterback, the stocky 5’9″ 215-pound running back from Franklinton, LA has established himself as one of the nation’s most talented runners of the football. He’s currently tied for tenth in the nation with 11 rushing touchdowns, 12th in yards per carry (6.79) and 15th in rushing yards per game (118.9). His pass catching ability was on full display in the narrow win over Arkansas, as he brought in six receptions for a team-leading 110 yards.
10. Trevone Boykin, quarterback, TCU Horned Frogs
Boykin probably had his worst game of the year in Morgantown against West Virginia, and the Horned Frogs needed a last second Jaden Oberkrom field goal to escape with their CFP hopes intact. Nevertheless, with his team down 31-28, he completed a 40 yard pass on TCU’s final drive to set up the game-winning score. Once again, those kind of plays impress me the most about a quarterback and oftentimes trump what you see on the stat sheet. Leadership is a key quality that a Heisman Trophy winner must possess, and one of the many embodiments of a leader on the gridiron is a player’s ability to mentally shut out past errors, put a team on his shoulders, and will them to victory.
Honorable Mention: Blake Sims, quarterback, Alabama; Connor Cook, quarterback, Michigan State; J.T. Barrett, quarterback, Ohio State; Rakeem Cato, quarterback, Marshall
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