Heisman rankings Week 8: Tua injury changes everything

4. Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State

As the Ohio State Buckeyes keep rolling, sophomore quarterback Justin Fields just keeps scoring touchdowns. On Friday night, the No. 4-ranked Buckeyes went on the road to Northwestern and flexed their muscle on the Wildcats in a 52-3 win. Fields finished the night going 18-of-23 for 194 yards and four touchdowns, though he had just eight yards rushing and no scores, low marks for him.

Having said that, Fields has simply been finding the end zone at a remarkable rate this season. Furthermore, he’s doing it while barely having to come off the sidelines in the second half. That’s also holding back his Heisman Trophy candidacy, though. Fields may have 34 total touchdowns on the season but he’s also not topped 2,000 total yards either. In comparison to his peers in this race, that’s simply not good enough to be in the upper echelon of this race.

3. Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama

Tua Tagovailoa’s injury is one of the most disappointing things that could happen for college football and the Heisman race at large. It seemed that the Alabama quarterback was going to be a part of a three-horse race at the top of these rankings all season but, with him leaving early due to a sprained ankle against Tennessee and set to be out next week, he’s almost surely going to drop out of that upper tier.

Having said that, Tagovailoa’s numbers to this point are still impressive enough to have him at No. 3 for now with the hope that he returns and continues to play at a high level. He went 11-of-12 for 155 yards and one interception against Tennessee prior to the injury, which still leaves him with 2,166 yards passing and 27 touchdowns on the year. Let’s hope that Tua is able to rebound and get back in the mix but, for now, he drops down a peg due to the injury.