With six weeks in the books all the players vying for postseason awards have had a chance to build up their stats. Which players are currently leading the Heisman race? Here are the top five:
1. Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
Barkley has been the talk of college football so far this season. He had some really big plays against Iowa to help the Nittany Lions escape with the win a few weeks ago. He has also been beating up on some sub par competition thus far. He might need some big games against some better competition to help finish off his Heisman campaign.
This week Northwestern bottled Barkley up for most of the game. He was able to get loose on a 53 yard run for a touchdown to go along with a one yard touchdown run. This ultimately would have hurt his case for the Heisman, but no other contenders made much of a statement.
James Franklin has allowed Barkley to do a little bit of everything this season and he has exceeded expectations.
Season stats: 649 rushing yards, 395 receiving yards, 9 total touchdowns
2. Bryce Love, RB, Stanford
With Baker Mayfield losing to Iowa State, Bryce Love moves up the ranks. He has a great chance to steal the trophy from Barkley if Stanford can win at least eight games. With two losses already that will not be easy. His biggest reason for being this high on the list, and a good candidate to win the Heisman, is his 10.5 yards per carry.
The Cardinal played a physical Utah team this week and were able to get a close win. Love rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown in his worst game this season stats-wise. That is incredible.
He will surely slow down, but he is on pace to have over 2,000 yards this season.
Season stats: 1,240 rushing yards, 19 receiving yards, 9 total touchdowns
3. Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
Mayfield may have lost this weekend, but has had a great season otherwise. He has one of the biggest “Heisman moments” of the season when he planted the flag at Ohio Stadium. Mayfield has been almost flawless this season with a completion percentage of just under 75% and no interceptions thrown.
While the loss is never good for a Heisman resume, Mayfield passed for 306 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 57 yards and another touchdown. It doesn’t seem like Mayfield has all that much help on the offensive side of the ball and is doing the best he can. Avoiding more losses like this is crucial for his Heisman case.
There are still a lot of Big 12 games left, so that means Mayfield has a chance to put up some serious stats in his last seven regular season games.
Season stats: 1,635 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns, 74.6% completion, 74 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown
4. Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State
He may not play for a Power Five school, but Penny has been dominant this season. In the Aztecs’ big upsets of Arizona State and Stanford, Penny stepped up big time. He is on pace for just under 2,000 yards.
San Diego State had an easy game against UNLV and Penny played well yet again. He rushed for 170 yards and two touchdowns. It doesn’t matter how good, or bad, the competition is, Penny is going to produce.
While he may not have too many marquee games left, if San Diego State can keep winning Penny will make his way to New York for the Heisman ceremony.
Season stats: 993 rushing yards, 9 rushing touchdowns, 127 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns
5. Luke Falk, QB, Washington State
Washington State is 6-0, which is a different site. Luke Falk has had a fantastic season, despite being benched for a while in the Boise State game before getting injured. He has helped the Cougars get a big win over USC, which has now helped them get into the top 10 in the polls. Falk already has 2,000 yards passing in the first six games of the season.
Falk didn’t have his best game of the season against Oregon, but was still solid. He threw for 282 yards and three touchdowns to keep on producing. With a good start to the season, Falk will continue to put up gaudy numbers in the Pac-12.
He has chances to make statements against Washington and Stanford later in the season as well as a possible Pac-12 Championship Game.
Season stats: 2,000 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, 71.8% completion, -73 rushing yards,
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