Oregon QB Marcus Mariota remains on top of the XN Sports Heisman Watch and if the award was being handed out this weekend he would be the winner. Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott is second and has a couple of high-profile games remaining to state his case including this weekend at Alabama.
TCU Trevone Boykin is gaining traction as a candidate while Notre Dame QB Everett Golson has become a turnover machine and has dropped from the watch just as the Irish have dropped from the playoff race. It’s unlikely Florida State QB Jameis Winston will win the award for a second straight year, but all he does is win and he has the Seminoles in the hunt for another national title and that is keeping him in the conversation.
XN Sports will take a look each week at who is in the Heisman running, who is knocking on the door, and who is under the radar but deserves a long look.
Here’s week 7 of the Watch.
Oregon QB Marcus Mariota – With games against Colorado and Oregon State left to close out the regular season, Mariota should add to his already gaudy statistics. Mariota is completing 67.1 percent of his passed and had 29 TD passes with only two interceptions. Mariota has done it all for the Ducks this season with 2,780 yards to go along with 524 rushing yards and eight TDs.
Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott – Prescott has three wins already this season against a team ranked in the top eight in the country at the time of the game. He’ll go for number four in his biggest game to date, a visit to Alabama. A win and impressive showing while doing it will boost Prescott right alongside Mariota as a Heisman favorite while a sub-par outing in a game most Heisman voters will undoubtedly be watching will doom his candidacy.
TCU QB Trevone Boykin – With Boykin in charge the Horned Frogs are averaging 47 points and 550 yards per game, up from 25 and 345 last season. Boykin has thrown for 2,691 yards with 23 TDs and four interceptions while also rushing for 546 yards and seven TDs. If he keeps it up, TCU will likely end up in the playoffs and Boykin will end up in New York as a Heisman finalist.
Florida State QB Jameis Winston – Winston remains in the Watch but is starting to slip. He has thrown six TD passes and six INTs in his last three games but all he does is win. The Seminoles beat Notre Dame, won at Louisville and beat Virginia in that span and Winston has a chance to bolster his resume Saturday as Florida State goes for win number 26 in a row against arch rival Miami.
Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon – Gordon leads the country with 1,501 rushing yards and 166.8 yards per game. He ranks second with 19 rushing TDs and if he can keep his average up over the next three games he will record a 2,000-yard season. The 2000-yard mark won’t guarantee a Heisman win but it should be enough to make him a finalist.
Keep an eye on: Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett, Nebraska RB Ameer Abdullah, and
Alabama WR Amari Cooper, who became Alabama’s all-time leader in receiving yards Saturday against LSU.
Darkhorse Candidates: Louisville sophomore safety Gerod Holliman had three interceptions in the Cardinals’ win over Boston College and is on the verge of breaking the NCAA record for interceptions in a season of 14 set by Washington’s Al Worley in 1968. Hooligan has two or more interceptions in a game four times this season (a program record) and he has recorded six INTs in his last three games.
