Opportunity knocks in Heisman Trophy race for these 4 players

In the wake of the season-ending injury to Tua Tagovailoa, a quartet of Heisman Trophy wild cards now have a chance to be a finalist for the award.

Whether Tua Tagovailoa’s injury is the end of his college career — the collective thinking is a resounding “yes” — the Alabama quarterback finds himself continuing two droughts in terms of the Heisman Trophy.

The runner-up last season, losing Tagovailoa will mean we haven’t seen a player follow up a second-place by winning the following season since Herschel Walker in 1982. He was also the preseason favorite, which someone last rode to the trophy in 2004 with Matt Leinart.

Of course, LSU’s Joe Burrow was well on his way to ending Tagovailoa’s hopes on his own, and there was a definite dividing line between Burrow, Tagovailoa, Ohio State’s Justin Fields, Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts and everyone else. But with Tagovailoa’s campaign over, it does create an opportunity for a player from the next tier of contenders to make a push to get to New York.

It’s worth noting while there is always a minimum of three players, there is no set amount for the maximum number invited to the ceremony. That is determined by the natural break in voting, hence there being as many as eight bids in 1989, though the most common total is five.

There may not be enough time for anyone to join the locks to be in Times Square on Dec. 14 (Burrow, Fields, Hurts, and Tagovailoa potentially still joining them), but these are the players who are the most logical choices to push their way onto ballots, ranked in order of probability of earning a spot at the table.

Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin RB

Despite the way the voting has gone at times — think Ricky Williams in 1998 and Ron Dayne a year later — the Heisman is not a career achievement award. That said, Jonathan Taylor has the kind of numbers that haven’t just been a ticket to the ceremony; they’ve been a guarantee to being the one hoisting the trophy. Sitting on 5,634 career rushing yards, Taylor is seventh all-time and behind just four players from Power 5 programs — all of whom are Heisman winners in Dayne, Williams, Tony Dorsett and Charles White. Averaging 146.3 yards per game, Taylor is on pace for 1,755 yards in a 12-game season or 1,900 if the Badgers can reach the Big Ten title game (where he could meet Fields and the No. 2 Buckeyes). That could have him becoming just the fourth player from a major program to go over the 6,000-yard mark in their career and, most stunningly, he would have done it in just three seasons. Reach that plateau and it’s hard to not see Taylor earn enough support to make the ceremony.

Trevor Lawrence, Clemson QB

He’s. Still. Here. Just behind Tagovailoa in the preseason pecking order, Trevor Lawrence hasn’t been nearly as prolific in terms of yardage this season after throwing for 3,280 as a freshman. He’s on pace for 3,043, but is trending toward more touchdowns (31) than the 30 he tossed last year and is completing passes at a higher clip (68.1 compared to 65.2 in 2019) and he has a better rating (171.8 after finishing at 157.6 in ’19). Add in that the undefeated and No. 3 Tigers appear to be a shoo-in to return to the College Football Playoff and their poster boy will assuredly have voters taking a closer look at the resume of a player who was largely written off after he tossed five interceptions through the first three weeks of the season.

Justin Herbert, Oregon QB

The Ducks remain very much in the College Football Playoff hunt, sitting sixth and on a collision course with No. 7 Utah for the Pac-12 crown. Outside of the SEC, it’s looking like we won’t see a matchup of higher-ranked teams on championship weekend, creating a stage for Justin Herbert who has rebounded nicely after his campaign looked to be derailed with the season-opening loss to Auburn in Atlanta. Burrow (21) and Fields (15) are the only players in the race with more passing touchdowns against Top 25 teams than Herbert’s 13 and only Burrow at 78.9 percent has a better completion percentage int hose games than Herbert at 72.4.

Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State RB

The wild card here, Chuba Hubbard is the nation’s leader in rushing yards (1,726) and yards per game (172.6) and has two more things going for him: history and a high-profile matchup with a leading contender. Hubbard is on pace for 2,071 yards through 12 games, key because the previous five players from Power 5 program who had at least that many yards at the time of voting all made it to New York. Then there’s a chance to make a splash in the regular-season finale opposite Hurt and the ninth-ranked Sooners in the Bedlam Game. If Hubbard can upstage the Oklahoma quarterback, there’s a reason to believe he can get some voters in his corner.

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