Finally, the Heisman race can begin
But Fields, Lawrence may be trailing Jones
Now that Justin Fields has arrived, the Heisman Trophy race can begin.
Though the front-runner might not be the quarterback you think.
Fields made up some ground Saturday, with a spectacular season debut for No. 5 Ohio State against Nebraska.
He went 20 for 21 for 276 yards and a couple of touchdowns. His only incomplete pass was a deep ball that hit Chris Olave in the hands in the end zone, but the receiver couldn’t hold on after hitting the turf hard.
“You guys saw the arm we saw,” Nebraska linebacker Collin Miller said. “He’s making throws guys on Sundays make.”
Fields also ran for 54 yards and a score, with a nice spin move to get into the end zone.
Fields and fellow Georgian Trevor Lawrence came into the season as the presumptive Heisman favorites, but with the Big Ten starting late Fields will only get nine games tops to make his case. That could be enough.
Meanwhile, Lawrence had his worst game of the season throwing the first pick-6 of his career and averaging only 6.7 yards per attempt as No. 1 Clemson messed around for a little while before putting Syracuse to sleep. Of course a ‘bad’ game for Lawrence was still pretty good.
So who’s the Heisman favorite at this point? Probably Alabama’s Mac Jones.
Jones is surrounded by bluechippers and he had a high bar to clear in Tuscaloosa as Tua Tagovailoa’s replacement. But he’s not just another guy. The junior has three 400-yard passing games already and just missed another, going for 387 against Tennessee.
The big news out of that game was Alabama star Jaylen Waddle breaking his ankle. The injury ends his season and deprives college football of one of its most thrilling players.
There is no upside to Waddle’s injury, but if Jones can keep up his torrid pace and excellent play without him it will only bolster his Heisman résumé.
BYU’s Zach Wilson and UCF’s Dillion Gabriel, who is putting up crazy numbers, deserve to be on the radar of Heisman voters, but it sure looks like trophy will go to one of the quarterbacks playing for the three best teams in the country: Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State.
AROUND THE COUNTRY: Two coaches who really needed victories had good weekends: Tom
Herman’s Texas team buried Baylor to snap a two-game losing streak. Maybe more importantly, the Longhorns players stayed on the field for the playing of the “Eyes of Texas” after a week of drama in Austin about the song.
In the SEC, Auburn got a late score to beat Ole Miss and take some heat off Gus Malzahn. For the second time in three weeks, the Tigers got the benefit of a fortuitous replay decision on a play that could have decided the game. Regardless, Auburn is 3-2.
Rutgers snapped a 21-game Big Ten losing streak by winning at Michigan State in coach Greg Schiano’s first game in his second stint at the school. Not to take anything away from the Scarlet Knights, but no Big Ten team was positioned to fail this season more than Michigan State. The Spartans had a late coaching change to Mel Tucker after Mark Dantonio stepped down in February. Then the pandemic hit and wiped out the spring and summer. Even in a typical year this would have been a rebuilding season in East Lansing.
Florida Internationa; (0-3) became the first — and potentially only — FBS team to lose to an FCS team this season, falling 19-10 to Jacksonville State on Friday. The Gamecocks outgained Florida International 444-156.