Heisman forecast for top 6 contenders entering championship weekend

Ian Book, Notre Dame

An undefeated season is literally the foundation of Book’s campaign because the numbers just aren’t there. He’s 28th in the nation in total offense at 284.7 yards per game and 19th with 138 points responsible for, with the former the worst of any quarterback on this list, and the latter ahead of Ohio State’s Justin Fields by 18 points, despite the Buckeyes playing five fewer games.

That said, in the past two weeks he’s gone from +4000 to fourth at +1600 as the senior quarterback and the No. 2 Fighting Irish play No. 3 Clemson for an ACC title and a CFP berth (and there’s a strong chance Notre Dame gets in regardless of what happens in this game). Add in Trevor Lawrence suiting up for the Tigers this time around, and Book has a chance to elevate his case even further.

Heisman Forecast: He’s not winning, though Book still has a chance at becoming the first Notre Dame quarterback to earn an invite to the ceremony since Tony Rice in 1987. We now get into the level of players whose hopes are resigned to being finalists, and that happening weighs heavily on what happens on championship weekend.

In the case of Book, a Lawrence-led Clemson win would devalue what happened in their first meeting in November in South Bend and likely keep him off enough ballots to make the ceremony. But beating the Tigers at closer to full strength can further validate the Irish’s unbeaten record and may be enough to get the Irish passer in (depending on how far down the cutoff in this year’s finalist field).