Marcus Mariota, Oregon QB: Steady
Heisman Trophy watch: Mariota, Boykin, Barrett star in Week 11
Your latest look at the contenders for college football’s most prestigious honor.
Offensive linemen dropping one by one? Starting tight end likely out for the season? The adversity keeps building against Mariota, and yet, it matters less and less to him with each passing week. On Saturday, he led the Oregon rushing attack with 18 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown. Oh, and he’s wasn’t bad at throwing the football either -- after a slow start through the air, he recovered to go 17-of-29 for 239 yards and three more scores, helping the wounded Ducks to a 51-27 victory over a surprisingly feisty Utah team.
Dak Prescott, Mississippi State QB: Steady
Playing against a largely overmatched UT-Martin team, Prescott accounted for a relatively pedestrian -- to his standards this year, anyway -- 260 total yards and three touchdowns before giving way to backup Damian Williams. Those numbers don’t really matter too much though. It’ll be what Prescott accomplishes next week in Tuscaloosa and against Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl that’ll keep him in the Heisman race, although his odds of actually catching Mariota are quite slim.
Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin RB: Steady
That'll make it seven straight 120+ yard games for Melvin Gordon, as the junior back shredded Purdue for 205 on 25 carries this week. The real main event comes next week against Nebraska, though, when two unstoppable forces will collide. Okay, not directly or anything, but the upcoming meeting between Melvin Gordon and a hopefully healthy Ameer Abdullah will be can't miss television for college football enthusiasts -- or at least anyone who likes dominant running backs. Can we agree that the winner of that one takes over the Token Non-Quarterback Heisman Candidate Championship Belt?
Everett Golson, Notre Dame QB: Down
A few weeks ago in a huge ranked-on-ranked game against Florida State, Golson was instrumental in keeping the Irish upset bid alive until the very final play. Fast forward to Saturday, against Arizona State, a similarly large stage with College Football Playoff implications. To say it didn’t go nearly as well would be to put it kindly. Golson threw four interceptions on the afternoon and fumbled twice as the Irish fell 55-31 in Tempe, effectively dooming their hopes of a top-four bid.
Amari Cooper, Alabama WR: Steady
It wasn’t a pretty win by Alabama, and Cooper had several big drops on the evening, but the 6’1 junior still had 8 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown against yet another defense aiming mostly to stop him. In the game he took over the Alabama career record for receiving yards and the record for single-season receiving yards with over 1,200, with at least four more games still left to play.
Trevone Boykin, TCU QB: Up
Playing against one of the nation's top defensive units -- Kansas State came into the game ranked 21st in defensive S&P+ -- and with running back B.J. Catalon out due to a concussion, Boykin stepped up in tremendous fashion. He carried the ball on keeper after keeper for 123 yards and three touchdowns, and went a coolly efficient 23-of-34 for 219 yards to boot, as TCU kept their playoff hopes in very, very good shape.
J.T. Barrett, Ohio State QB: Up
After an inconsistent performance in his first conference test against Penn State two weeks ago, the Buckeyes’ freshman gunslinger put together a terrific game against one of the best defensive units in the country. Barrett completed 16 of 26 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns against Michigan State while also rushing 14 times for 86 yards and two scores. His ability to make big plays helped keep the Buckeyes in the game during what could have been a rough first half, while his calm, collected consistency in the second half secured the season-saving victory.
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