Scoring Machines

The first two weeks of the 2016 college football season have featured a barrage of remarkable individual scoring efforts.

Kalen Ballage of Arizona State scored nine touchdowns last weekend against Texas Tech. Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson has a nation-leading 13 combined touchdowns running (6) and passing (7) after two games. Ohio place kicker Louie Zervos has already kicked nine field goals!

We’ll soon know whether these scoring explosions are the norm for 2016. If so, we might very well see some Heisman touchdown records fall by the time December rolls around.

As a baseline comparison, here are the Heisman winners with the highest touchdown production after three games:

Rushing TDs
Rashaan Salaam, Barry Sanders, O.J. Simpson — 9
Marcus Allen, Steve Owens — 8
Earl Campbell, Derrick Henry, Mike Rozier, Ricky Williams — 7
Mike Garrett, Bo Jackson — 6
Johnny Manziel, George Rogers, Tim Tebow — 5

Passing TDs
Andre Ware — 14
Robert Griffin III — 13
Sam Bradford — 12
Ty Detmer, Jason White — 9
Marcus Mariota, Tim Tebow, Jameis Winston — 8

TDs running and passing
Andre Ware — 15
Robert Griffin III — 14
Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow — 13
Johnny Manziel — 12
Ty Detmer, Marcus Mariota — 11
Jameis Winston — 10