Championship Week Final Showcase for Heisman Hopefuls
Heisman hopefuls make final cases during Championship Week
Which four teams make up the first-ever College Football Playoff will ultimately be decided this week, but for Heisman hopefuls, Championship Week is the final chance to make their case for college football’s most coveted individual award. For five Heisman hopefuls, this week’s action is an opportunity to not only help bring their teams a championship, but some prestigious hardware as well.
The first to be in action will the guy that most see as the front-runner at the moment. Quarterback Marcus Mariota and the second-ranked Oregon Ducks will look to avenge their only loss of the season as they face Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship on Friday night (9 p.m. EST, FOX).
The nation’s top-rated passer, Mariota has enjoyed one of the best seasons ever for a quarterback, accounting for 47 total touchdowns and just two interceptions. Mariota has been a threat with both his legs and arms this season, but against Arizona on October 2nd, the Ducks’ signal-caller was bottled up against the run, finishing with just one yard on nine carries.
Though the Heisman Trophy looks to be Mariota’s to lose, a second loss to Arizona which would knock the Ducks out of college football’s playoff race, could force some to reconsider.
He seems like a long shot at this point, but so was his team entering 2014 and now it’s in line for one of college football’s four playoff spots. TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin likely has the Horned Frogs one victory away from the Rose Bowl after the team finished just 4-8 last season.
Once a wide receiver, Boykin has 34 total touchdowns and just six interceptions this season. Boykin and the Frogs will face Iowa State Saturday (12 p.m. EST, ABC) which should provide an opportunity for Boykin to have a monster game. The Cyclones rank just 115th in the country in terms of fewest points allowed.
It’s hard to imagine any star for the University of Alabama being overlooked, but the case could be made that junior wide receiver Amari Cooper has. Against Auburn last week, Cooper was downright unstoppable, finishing with 13 catches for 224 yards and three touchdowns — all career-highs — in a 55-44 win over the rival Tigers.
Cooper is without a doubt the best player on a team that ranks first in the country in every significant poll. Cooper ranks fourth in the country in receptions and second in receiving yards and touchdown grabs.
Saturday, he and the Crimson Tide will be taking on SEC East champion, Missouri, for the conference crown in Atlanta (4 p.m. EST, CBS). The Tigers are yielding fewer than 20 points-per-game and have a defense that could slow the Alabama offense.
For Cooper, another big day could be enough to make him the first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy since Desmond Howard in 1991 and just the second Crimson Tide player ever to win the award.
The reigning Heisman Trophy winner is not enjoying the season he had in 2013, but for the second year in a row, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston is leading the country’s last undefeated team as the Seminoles take on 11th-ranked Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship on Saturday (8 p.m. EST, ABC).
With 17 interceptions, Winston has been picked off more than any other quarterback from a Power 5 conference, but still ranks in the top 20 nationally in terms of completion percentage and yards-per-attempt.
If Heisman moments help define the trophy’s winner, Winston certainly has them. Over the course of the 2014 season, Winston has engineered four game-winning drives in the fourth quarter. His numbers aren’t particularly indicative of a Heisman Trophy winner, but a 25-0 record as a starting quarterback speaks volumes.
Over the last month, no Heisman Trophy candidate has picked up more traction than Wisconsin junior running back Melvin Gordon. Though his record stood just one week, Gordon’s Heisman push began when he rushed for a NCAA single-game record 408 yards along with four touchdowns against Nebraska on November 15th. The previous record set by TCU’s LaDainian Tomlinson lasted nearly 15 years.
With his first carry against Minnesota, Gordon took down another record as he bested another Wisconsin back and Heisman Trophy winner’s single-season Big Ten rushing record. Ron Dayne went for 2,034 yards on his way to the Heisman Trophy in 1999. Gordon already has 2,260 rushing yards this season and 29 total touchdowns.
Gordon sits less than 400 yards shy of breaking the NCAA record for rushing yards in a season. Gordon will be the last Heisman hopeful in action Saturday night (8:15 p.m. EST, FOX) as the Badgers look to take down fifth-ranked Ohio State to win their fourth Big Ten championship in five years with Gordon looking to leave a lasting impression.