Heisman Watch 2016: Week 12 players to watch
By John Buhler
Week 12 of the 2016 college football season will be on display this week. Which five standouts are on watch for the 2016 Heisman Trophy this weekend?
There is a ton of shakeup in this week’s Heisman Trophy watch list. It’s totally understandable, as three of the top four teams in the country all lost last Saturday in Week 11. The No. 2 Clemson Tigers fell at home to the Pittsburgh Panthers. The No. 3 Michigan Wolverines fell on the road in Iowa City to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Also falling on Saturday was the No. 4 Washington Huskies at home to the USC Trojans.
These untimely defeats did damage to the Heisman candidacy of Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers, and Washington’s Jake Browning.
Without further ado, here are the five players to watch in Week 12 in the 2016 Heisman Trophy race.
Louisville Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson has been the front-runner for the 2016 Heisman Trophy since his stellar performance Week 2 on the road against the Syracuse Orange in the Carrier Dome.
While Jackson had one of his worst games of the season against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Week 11, he did quarterback the Cardinals to victory over their ACC Atlantic rival in the fourth quarter.
On the season, Jackson has completed 58.6% of his passes for 2,898 yards, 27 touchdowns, and six interceptions. His yards per attempt of 9.2 is respectable, as is his 160.7 quarterback rating.
As a runner, Jackson has eviscerated defenses by running for 1,336 yards on 185 attempts and 19 touchdowns. Jackson has Louisville seriously vying for a College Football Playoff berth in 2016 and they need to beat Houston and Kentucky, as well as see Clemson fall to Wake Forest this weekend to get to the ACC Championship Game in Orlando.
Kickoff from TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas will be at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 17. ESPN will have the primetime telecast.