The Heisman of the Week is a totally serious column in which we dissect the performances of literally thousands of college football players to tell you which ones deserve the Heisman Trophy mostly based on just this last week of competition ... and which players are actually setting themselves up for contention for the thing. (They’re not always the same.)
Leonard Fournette still faces an uphill road to the Heisman Trophy
He was incredible against Auburn, but LSU’s superstar has a long way to go to hoist the Heisman.
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Heisman of the Week: Leonard Fournette, LSU
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Our LSU blog!
Leonard Fournette's day against Auburn on Saturday was so awesome, so Herculean, that it's hard to even pick his best run.
On one play, Fournette obliterated Auburn’s Blake Countess head on and had free safety Rudy Ford so shook that he didn’t even attempt a real tackle. But Fournette had another such run where he shrugged off one flying Auburn defender and juked another one to Mars.
Fournette shifted the college football paradigm with his 228-yard, three-touchdown thrashing of Auburn. He came 22 yards short of LSU’s all-time single-game rushing record, and had to settle for establishing a new program record for yards per carry (an even 12.0) over more than 15 carries. Had Fournette not taken a helmet to his thigh on his third touchdown, or had he been needed at all in a closer game, there’s little doubt he would’ve rushed for 300 or more yards.
We will see other outstanding performances as the year progresses. We won’t see anything quite like Leonard Fournette against Auburn.
Heisman Hopeful of the Week: Leonard Fournette, LSU
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: Fournette still probably isn’t going to win the Heisman Trophy.
His candidacy will depend on two things:
- Fournette having a season so astoundingly great that he is by far the most logical choice (see: Bush, Reggie; Dayne, Ron; Williams, Ricky; Salaam, Rashaan).
- No quarterback on a great, Playoff-contending team having even arguably a better season than he does (see: Ingram, Mark).
Running backs, as a rule of thumb, do not win the Heisman without at least one of those two scenarios transpiring.
Now that he has his reputation for phenomenal play, Fournette’s going to have to maintain it, and pile up the stats (and remember, LSU will only play 11 regular season games), and avoid injury, and hope no quarterback can compete with him. Good luck!
Ha-Hasmen of the Week: Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma; Jerrod Heard, Texas
The two Red River rivals each had starting quarterbacks break school records for total offense. Mayfield racked up 572 yards (487 passing, 85 rushing) and six total touchdowns in Oklahoma's 52-38 win over Tulsa, topping a mark set by Landry Jones. Heard's 527 yards of total offense in Texas's 45-44 loss to Cal supplanted a vintage Vince Young performance.
The numbers are cool, yes, but the “Ha-Ha” portion is that Oklahoma and Texas needed them to stave off Tulsa and threaten Cal, respectively. Neither longtime power appears to have a defense worth hanging a “Make The Big 12 Great Again” novelty cap on, much less a 10-gallon hat.
He Can't Win The Heisman of the Week: Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame
Three years ago, Manti Te'o rode a surprising season by Notre Dame to a second-place finish in the Heisman voting, the best showing by a defender this millennium. Three games into the 2015 season, Notre Dame may be better now than it was that year — and Smith may be better than Te'o was.
Smith's 16 solo tackles are eight fewer than Missouri's Kentrell Brothers, the current national leader. But Notre Dame throttled Texas to begin the year, and held Georgia Tech under 5.0 yards per play for the first time since 2013 on Saturday. Smith is the guy who catches your eye whenever the Irish defense is on the field, flying to the ball with unnatural speed for a player listed at 6'2.5 and 240 pounds. If Notre Dame continues to succeed with backups running its offense, the spotlight's going to be on its salty defense — and on Smith.
He can’t win it, but I’d be very surprised if Smith doesn’t get some Heisman votes at year’s end.
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