Heisman watch: Trevor Lawrence opens door for Justin Fields, Mac Jones; welcome Graham Mertz

Heisman watch candidate No. 8: Javonte Williams, RB, North Carolina

On the heels of an upset loss to Florida State, the No. 14 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels needed a big bounce-back game. But while many people came into the year expecting quarterback Sam Howell to be the unquestioned leader on offense, junior running back Javonte Williams has been an outright superstar in the backfield and that was indeed the case in a 48-21 win over rival NC State.

Williams led the charger for a dominant UNC performance as he took 19 carries for 160 yards and three touchdowns. In five games this season now, Williams has 562 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground to go with 200 receiving yards and two more scores. As a player who wasn’t on the Heisman radar coming into the year, he’ll have work to do to keep climbing the ladder. That being said, he’s done his part to this point.

Heisman watch candidate No. 7: Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson

In a game that was undoubtedly tighter than Clemson expected it to be against Syracuse considering that they were roughly 45-point favorites in the matchup, the Tigers needed star running back Travis Etienne to step up and play a larger role than he has in previous weeks when they’ve been blowing opponents out. And when called upon, Etienne answered the call.

The senior running back carried the ball 16 times for 86 yards and, while his yardage total wasn’t otherworldly, he found the end zone on three occasions and added 20 receiving yards as well. Etienne now has 522 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns along with 294 receiving yards and another score. While he may not be the best Heisman Trophy candidate on his own team, he certainly has a case to be made.