The Buzz: The latest Heisman news and views
The first full week of the 2019 college football season – which spanned from Thursday to Monday – was a memorable one. Early-season Heisman contenders looked to be in mid-season form while numerous others threw their hats into the ring with impressive season-opening performances.
(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
First-year Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts had the spotlight all to himself with a Sunday night kickoff and did not disappoint, breaking the Sooners’ record for most total yards in a debut effort (508). The Dallas Morning News details his six-touchdown effort here.
“I think we did some really good things out there tonight, but there’s a lot of things we can improve on.” — Jalen Hurts
Hurts’ performance propelled him to the top of Bleacher Report’s Top 10 Heisman contenders.
The Sporting News explored the intrigue of Hurts and his former backup at Alabama, Tua Tagovailoa, duking it out for Heisman attention.
It also touched on the storyline of three Georgia QBs starting across the nation. Make that two former Bulldogs, Justin Fields at Ohio State and Jacob Eason at Washington, and one current Bulldog in Jake Fromm.
The Columbus-Dispatch broke down Ohio State’s opener against FAU and Fields’ breakout debut.
Meanwhile, The Seattle Times detailed Eason’s impressive first start in the Huskies’ purple and gold.
“After watching Eason pass for four touchdowns in the Huskies’ 47-14 romp, and do things with his arm that haven’t been seen from a Husky quarterback in quite awhile, well, anything seems possible.”
As for Fromm, he accounted for himself quite well in the Bulldogs’ opener, well enough to earn Pro Football Focus’ SEC quarterback of the week nod, as detailed in USA Today’s UGAwire.
Clemson has a quarterback-running back tandem in Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne that will jockey for Heisman votes unlike any since, perhaps, USC’s Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. Forbes breaks down the big games this week as well as Lawrence and Etienne’s upcoming tilt vs. Texas A&M.
The same piece also takes a look at Texas’ third-year starter Sam Ehlinger, whose Longhorns have a huge showdown with LSU on Saturday.
Quarterbacking on the other side of the field will be Tiger senior Joe Burrow, in his second season starting at LSU. The Athletic details his connection to Texas coach Tom Herman.
Georgia’s Fromm and D’Andre Swift could certainly challenge Lawrence and Etienne for best QB-RB duo. Swift is among the top 10 in this week’s ESPN Heisman Top 10.
Sneaking into the 10 spot on ESPN’s list is North Dakota State redshirt freshman quarterback Tre Lance. Lance threw four TDs in his debut for the Football Championships Subdivision power. The Minnesota Star Tribune has the details on the performance.
Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor led the Badgers to a 49-0 season opening win and became the first Big 10 player with two rushing scores and receiving scores in the same game in almost a decade. The performance earned him conference offensive player of the week honors. It’s his fifth such honor.
The NFL season is set to kick off Thursday. Arizona rookie quarterback and 2018 Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, poised to make his first start Sunday against Detroit, is being praised for his pinpoint accuracy in training camp.
Here’s a prediction from NFL.com’s Nate Burleson on a certain NFL record he thinks 2016 Heisman Trophy winner and Balitmore quarterback Lamar Jackson will break this season.
Tennessee Titan running back Derrick Henry, the 2015 Heisman winner, missed all of training camp with a calf injury, but says he’s ready for the season-opener.
