Iowa State football: Breece Hall can bring the Heisman back to the running back position
By John Buhler
Iowa State’s Breece Hall is a serious contender to win the 2021 Heisman Trophy.
Running backs rarely win the Heisman Trophy these days, but Iowa State’s Breece Hall can be the one to bring college football’s highest individual honor to the position group that made it famous.
No. 10 Iowa State crushed the No. 15 Oregon Ducks 34-17 in the 2021 Fiesta Bowl with Hall finishing the season as the nation’s leading rusher. The Big 12 runner-up finished 9-3 on the season under head coach Matt Campbell. While Campbell has made a huge impression in Ames, it is Hall who can be the Cyclones’ first Heisman Trophy winner in program history. Expect him to be among the favorites next fall.
Breece Hall belongs on the 2021 Heisman Trophy shortlist of favorites
Though Campbell and quarterback Brock Purdy take up a good deal of the Iowa State spotlight, you cannot deny what Hall did on the ground. He entered the Fiesta Bowl with 1,436 yards and 19 touchdowns on 245 carries. Hall had another 34 carries for 136 yards and two more scores in the program’s first New Year’s Six bowl. He finishes with 1,572 and 21 touchdowns, only second to Alabama’s Najee Harris.
No wonder he was a consensus First-Team All-American and if he’s named to the Walter Camp team, he’ll be the first unanimous All-American program history.
The Fiesta Bowl was Hall’s ninth 100-yard game of the season. Not too shabby for the former No. 339 overall recruit in the 2019 class. So what will it take for Hall to be the first Heisman winner in school history and the first running back to win one since Derrick Henry took the honor in 2015 and only the third overall since Reggie Bush won in 2005?
The big key is Iowa State needs to get back to the Big 12 Championship Game and be in the mix for the College Football Playoff into the latter part of November. The other important component is for Hall to not let quarterbacks like Spencer Rattler, D.J. Uiagalalei, Bryce Young, Kedon Slovis, Sam Howell and JT Daniels, among others, outshine him next fall. Thus far, Hall has outshined all of them.
If any running back wins the 2021 Heisman Trophy, the smart money is on Hall.
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