D’Andre Swift making late push for Heisman consideration

After another 100-yard rushing performance, Georgia Bulldogs running back D’Andre Swift has not so quietly forced his way into the Heisman Trophy mix.

Last week saw the Georgia Bulldogs beat the division rival Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington to win the SEC East for the second consecutive season. After handling the cross-divisional rival Auburn Tigers at home on Saturday, Georgia finishes SEC play 7-1 and two games away from a date with the Alabama Crimson Tide in Atlanta. Georgia can thank running back D’Andre Swift for their late-season push.

Swift is a true sophomore from Philadelphia that was tasked with the difficult job of replacing Nick Chubb and Sony Michel in the Georgia backfield. Though he does have Elijah Holyfield and Brian Herrien backing him up, Swift might have something in the works his teammates could only hope to dream for: a trip to the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

Yes, we are going there. Swift’s play in the last three SEC games versus the Florida Gators, Kentucky and now Auburn should at least have him in the Heisman conversation.

Against a stout Auburn defensive line, Swift ran for 186 yards on 17 carries and a 77-yard touchdown to break the Tigers’ back. He also had four receptions for 43 yards out of the backfield. Not too bad for a guy that was third on the running back depth chart a season ago behind Chubb and Michel.

Those 186 rushing yards were a career-high for Swift, inching him ever closer to getting over the 1,000-yard plateau. He is within 100 yards of that total. Look for him to cross that threshold next week versus the UMass Minutemen.

Before leading the Dawgs to a win over arch rival Florida down in Jacksonville, Swift’s season-high rushing total was 72 yards. That came in Georgia’s lone loss of the season on the road to the LSU Tigers in what feels like ages ago.

Overall, it has been a strange year for college running backs. Last year’s Heisman Trophy runner-up Bryce Love has dealt with injuries all year with the Stanford Cardinal. Though Jonathan Taylor has been as good as advertised, his Wisconsin Badgers have not.

While Michigan Wolverines running back Karan Higdon could be in the mix in his own right, Swift is simply catching his stride at the right time for the right team. Georgia has needed dynamism on offense for most of the season. While quarterback Jake Fromm has been good, we’ve seen greatness out of the speedy Swift in November.

With Georgia being overwhelming favorites over its next two opponents in UMass and the in-state rival Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, there is a great chance that offensive coordinator Jim Chaney will draw up a few well-designed runs for Swift and company to burst through.

Heading into the LSU game, you couldn’t have thought that Georgia, though a great team, had anything close to a Heisman hopeful. Four games later, Swift stands to be the first Bulldog to make it to New York City since the great running back that was Garrison Hearst back in 1992.

Hearst and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk came up short of winning the Heisman to Miami Hurricanes quarterback Gino Torretta that season. Let that sink in for a second.

With a handful of Heisman moments on the highlight reel, including that 77-yard touchdown versus Auburn, why not have Swift represent Dawg Nation in New York in December? Surely, it will be a quarterback like Tua Tagovailoa, Kyler Murray or even Will Grier winning college football’s most prestigious award.

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But the Heisman Trust likes to see other positions at least represented at their exclusive award ceremony. With the way he’s been playing of late, it could very well be Swift. His best bet to getting to New York is to keep running the ball down the opposition’s throat. He’s pretty good at that.