Dalvin Cook, the nation’s most explosive back, is still looking for his spotlight

Despite what Heisman voters may think, Dalvin Cook was one of the nation’s most important players in 2015. The underrated Florida State tailback was the engine that churned the No. 9 Seminoles to a Peach Bowl appearance against No. 18 Houston.

All Cook did in 2015 was provide 40 percent of the Seminoles’ touchdowns en route to a 10-2 record and a top 10 ranking. He ran for more yards per game than all but two FBS players and exploded for six runs of 50 yards or more. He was the cantilever that provided a punishing counterbalance to Florida State’s solid-but-unspectacular passing game. He was the most explosive open-field runner in the country.

But he wasn’t a Heisman Trophy finalist. Or a Doak Walker Award candidate. Fortunately for the Seminoles, he’ll be around for his junior season to rectify those mistakes.

Cook’s Florida State career has been predicated on fast starts. He enrolled at the university in January 2014 as the nation’s No. 2 running back and finished his true freshman season with 1,008 rushing yards and eight touchdowns as his team rolled to a 13-0 record and a College Football Playoff berth. He closed out his first year with three straight 100-yard games and set the tone for a breakout 2015 campaign.

There was no sophomore slump in the cards. He ran for 1,658 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 games this fall.

Consistency was the key to his game. He was held to fewer than 100 rushing yards just three times this season. Once was against the nation’s top-ranked defense in a 14-0 win over Boston College; this was also the only contest in which he failed to score a rushing touchdown or average more than 4.7 yards per carry. Another came in the Seminoles’ upset loss to Georgia Tech where Cook suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out of the team’s ensuing game against Syracuse. The third was a two-carry performance at Wake Forest -- and he still finished that game with 94 yards.

As the aforementioned performances suggest, the Seminole didn’t pad his stats by rolling over cupcakes. Here’s what Cook did when he faced bowl eligible opponents.

For comparison’s sake, Heisman winner Derrick Henry faced 11 bowl eligible teams this fall. Here are his per-game averages in those contests:

Against top competition, Henry gained fewer yards and scored fewer touchdowns despite about five more carries per game. Though the Alabama running back was a deserving candidate for college football’s top honor, it’s tough to put his numbers up against Cook’s and declare that the FSU touchdown machine didn’t belong on stage in New York City, too.

Cook will have at least one more chance to make those voters regret their decision. While Leonard Fournette staked his claim as the 2016 award’s early favorite with a five-touchdown Texas Bowl performance, Cook can put himself near the top of that list by carving up Houston. The FSU sophomore ran for nearly 200 yards per game against bowl-eligible programs this fall. The advanced statistics like his chances of putting on a similar performance on Friday.