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.)
UGA’s Nick Chubb is quietly having a great season in the Year of Leonard Fournette
Maybe Georgia’s best back since Herschel Walker is blocked by what could be the best season by a running back in college football history.
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Heisman of the Week: Josh Doctson, TCU
TCU’s 55-52 shootout win over Texas Tech featured two of the first great performances of 2015. Preseason Heisman favorite Trevone Boykin threw for 485 yards and four touchdowns, ran for 42 yards, and caught a two-point conversion in a game that was decided by a field goal.
He also didn’t have the best performance in that game by a TCU player. That was Josh Doctson’s 18-catch, 267-yard, three-score day, which culminated in a sky-walking tip for the game-winning touchdown.
That’s a high bar for any wideout to top this fall.
Heisman Hopeful of the Week: Nick Chubb, Georgia
Poor Nick Chubb. He’s very quietly having a terrific season, and has the misfortune of having it in the general proximity of Leonard Fournette.
Fournette became the first LSU running back to have 200-plus yards in consecutive games Saturday, trampling Syracuse for 244 yards (or, uh, more than he had last week against Auburn) and two touchdowns. He’s averaging 210.3 yards per game, which puts him on pace to top Barry Sanders’s FBS record of 2,628 and threaten his unofficial record of 2,850 if the Tigers play at least 13 games.
Chubb has just 32 fewer yards than Fournette this fall, and on two fewer attempts. He hasn’t had more than 21 carries in a game this season, and had 131 yards on just 15 carries against Southern on Saturday.
Of course, Chubb’s about to step into the spotlight: Georgia hosts Alabama this week. And the last Heisman candidate at Georgia to see the Tide in the regular season didn’t see his candidacy survive the weekend. Knowshon Moreno carried just nine times for 34 yards in a 41-30 loss to the Crimson Tide in 2008.
Ha-Hasman of the Week: Will Grier, Florida
Will Grier through the first three quarters of Florida’s 28-27 win over Tennessee: 12 of 24 for 142 yards and one interception. Passer rating: 91.36.
Will Grier in the fourth quarter of that game: 11 of 18 for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Passer rating: 163.57.
Granted, Jeff Driskel and Tyler Murphy both looked like Heisman candidates against Tennessee in the recent past, but it’s still pretty funny to see Tennessee turn otherwise spotty Florida quarterbacks into world-beaters.
He Can’t Win The Heisman of the Week: Jordan Howard, Indiana
You’d be forgiven if you thought Chubb, Fournette or Florida State’s Dalvin Cook led the nation in rushing yards. Nope: It’s Jordan Howard, a junior who only had to replace Indiana’s first 2,000-yard rusher in Tevin Coleman, and has done so by putting himself on pace to top that mark in the regular season.
Howard’s not winning the Heisman for the same reasons #iufb4gameday was fun but failed (essentially: Indiana’s best win is over Western Kentucky). But his performance so far should not go without notice.
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