The Buzz: The latest Heisman news and views
Week 13 of the season is the books and we are three weeks away from the big day. Let’s see what the college football world is talking about when it comes to the Heisman …
(Disclaimer — The Heisman Trophy Trust and Heisman.com does not endorse any college football player for the Heisman Memorial Trophy. The information contained here serves as a platform of information for fans and media, and is not intended to contain a definitive and comprehensive list of possible contenders.)
The Buzz
The headline starts “Chase Young redefined what a Heisman moment looks like …” We’re hooked.
The Buckeye defensive lineman returned from a two-game suspension and was his old dominating self with nine tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles, details Yahoo’s Pete Thamel after No. 2 Ohio State’s 28-17 win over No. 8 Penn State.
“If there’s a more dominant player in the country on defense than Chase Young, someone needs to bring me the tape and I’ll watch every snap,” OSU co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said.
The Toledo Blade took it one step further, calling him the best player in college football. Here is one of his three sacks. None other than sack-meister J.J. Watt is a bit impressed. So is the King.
Down South, LSU QB Joe Burrow kept the Tigers atop the college football world with a 58-37 rout of Ole Miss. And like he does seemingly weekly, helped set some LSU and SEC records, notes The Advocate.
The Athletic’s latest straw poll has Burrow a decisive first with Young second and QB-1 teammate Justin Fields third.
Burrow extended his LSU school passing yard total to over 4,000 yards while running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire surpassed 1,000 yards rushing on back-to-back plays. Combined with WRs Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, who each hit 1,000 yards last week, they are the first 4K-1K-1K-1K combo in SEC history. Not. Too. Shabby.
Nor is Burrow’s completion percentage of 78.9%, a jump of over 20 points with about the same amount of attempts notes this tweet from The Athletic.
FanSided has its updated top 10 Heisman rankings and LSU’s Chase, now with 1,260 receiving yards this year on 63 catches, comes in eighth. Hurts is second.
Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard now leads the leads the nation with 1,832 rushing yards and 2,044 all-purpose yards after leading the Cowboys to a 20-13 win at West Virginia. He’s sixth on the FanSided list.
Pro Football Focus has Burrow ranked No. 1 in its Heisman list with Young second and Hubbard third.
Fourth is Fields, who led the Buckeye offense in its win with 16-of-22 passing for 188 yards and two TDs and 21 more carries for 68 yards. All J.K. Dobbins did was carry the ball 36 times for 157 yards and two more scores. He’s eighth in the Athletic poll, ninth on the PFF list and now third on Ohio State’s career rushing chart after passing 1995 Heisman winner Eddie George.
Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts, second on the FanSided list, stayed in the top five on most lists by leading another harrowing Sooners’ win. He also joined an equally exclusive club, joining Heisman winners Lamar Jackson and Johnny Manziel in this tidy trio after rushing for 173 yards and two scores on 28 carries while throwing for 145 yards and two more scores.
No. 3 Clemson and the Tigers tandem of QB Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne are still ninth and 10th, respectively, on FanSided’s list.
No. 7 Utah was definitely not off. The Utes kept the gas pedal floored with a 35-7 win at Arizona as running back Zack Moss rushed for 203 yards and a score (and now has a school-record three 1,000-yard seasons) while QB Tyler Huntley passed for 211 yards on 19-of-23 passing and another score.
No. 4 Georgia is still led by its own twosome of QB Jake Fromm (163 yards passing) and RB D’Andre Swift (103 yards rushing) after the twosome helped the Bulldogs dispatch of Texas A&M, 19-13.
Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor pounded out 222 yards on 28 carries in the Badgers’ 45-24 win over Purdue, an NCAA-record 12th time he’s had at least 200 yards in his career. He broke a tie with former Heisman winners Ron Dayne, Ricky Williams and Marcus Allen.
Baylor QB Charlie Brewer rebounded from the Bears tough-to-swallow come-from-ahead loss to Oklahoma last week with a convincing 24-10 win over in-state rival Texas. Brewer posted 296 all-purpose yards and two scores as Baylor clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game.
Heisman Trophy Winners In The NFL
Baker Mayfield (2017) kept Cleveland rolling with a 41-24 win over Miami, throwing for 327 yards and three TDs on 24=of-34 passing.
Derrick Henry (2015) turned in a huge performance in a 42-20 Titan win over the Jaguars, totaling 159 yards on 19 carries and two scores, 74- and 7-yarders on consecutive possessions.
Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston (2013) led the Bucs to a 35-22 win over Atlanta. Winston passed for 313 yards and three TDs while rushing for 38 yards.
Lamar Jackson (2016), Mark Ingram (2009) and Robert Griffin III (2011) will take their Heisman offense onto Monday Night Football against the Rams.
Kyler Murray (2018) and the Cardinals had a bye.
