Week Five Heisman Watch

Story posted October 4, 2015 in CommRadio, Sports by Abhar Shah

We’re almost halfway through the college football season and the Heisman race is as fierce as ever. There are some early favorites who clawed their way back into the top five after disappointing starts and some recent favorites who saw their stock drop after this week. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

Leonard Fournette (RB for LSU)

Stats: 864 yards, 11 touchdowns on 8.7 yards per carry                                                                    Last week standing: 1

Fournette is the best player in college football and there’s just no denying that. He runs angry, yet every time he hits a hole and breaks a big run it’s beautiful to see. The 6-1 sophomore might be the most dominant running back we’ve seen in college football in a decade because of his sheer strength and speed make him unstoppable. His latest victim were the Eagles of Eastern Michigan and Fournette made sure he was the star of the game by running the ball 26 times for 233 yards and 3 touchdowns. That makes three straight games where Fournette has rushed for at least 230 yards.

Fournette and the Tigers will take on South Carolina Gamecocks this week. If I were a LSU fan, I would mark a check in the win column and expect Fournette to have another Heisman worthy game.

Trevone Boykin (QB for TCU)

Stats: 119-188 1,802 yards 19 touchdowns and three interceptions                                                   Last week standing: 3

Boykin saw his stock rise this week after torching Texas for 322 yards and five touchdowns. The senior has had an amazing season thus far and even though he might not be the most recruited NFL quarterback, he is a perfect for college ball because of his ability to run the ball. This season, Boykin has averages about five yards per carry and has two rushing touchdowns. He has also led the TCU Horned Frogs offense to four consecutive 50 or more point games.

He will look forward to continuing that streak against Kansas State Saturday at 7:30 pm.

Nick Chubb

Stats: 745 yards, seven touchdowns on 8.2 yards per carry                                                               Last week standing: 2

Chubb dropped to spot three for several reasons. The main reason is that there is another running back in Fournette who is totally outplaying Chubb, so it makes his stat line look not so great. Secondly, the fact that Georgia can throw the ball and give plenty of carries to Chubb’s backup doesn’t help him with Heisman worthy stats. Chubb did have a good game against Alabama, rushing for 146 yards and one touchdown, but that was overshadowed by Fournette’s fantastic game against Eastern Michigan.

There is still a lot of games left and if Chubb can pull of some amazing games in the next couple of weeks, he still could be in the hunt. His next task will facing Tennessee and there’s no better game to get back on track than this game.

Ezekiel Elliot (RB for Ohio State)

Stats: 729 yards, eight touchdowns on 7.3 yards per carry                                                                Last week standing: Not in top 5

Elliot found himself back in the run after a monster game against Indiana, where he ran for 274 yards and three touchdowns. The third year back from Ohio State put on a show, breaking multiple big runs and helped the Buckeyes win a thriller in Indiana. While Elliot was a big favorite before the season started, his stock consistently dropped because of his lack of production, well he showed the college world that he is capable of putting amazing numbers and he did just that this week.

Elliot is far from the top spot but if he can keep putting up huge numbers, he could climb the Heisman ladder quickly. His next opponent are the Maryland Terrapins.

Baker Mayfield (QB for Oklahoma)

Stats: 88-135, 1,382 yards 13 touchdowns and three interceptions                                                    Last week standing: Honorable mention

Mayfield had a heck of a game against West Virginia, going 14-25 for 320 yards and three touchdowns. He is slowly starting to get on people’s radars because of the how entertaining the kid is. When he scrambles, he look like a recent Heisman winner Johnny Football but he can throw the ball a lot better than Manziel. He has put up huge numbers throughout the season and because he’s so entertaining to watch, he gets a nod at this week’s top five.

Mayfield will have another easy task when he takes on the Longhorns who were just torched by TCU.

Players to keep an eye one:

C.J. Prosise (RB for Notre Dame)                                                                                                         Kyle Allen (QB for Texas A&M)                                                                                                                 Paul Perkins (RB for UCLA)

 

Abhar Shah is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email abs5349@psu.edu.