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Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in its entirety below.
The top offensive stars from the presumed playoff favorites made the most of their opportunity in prime time on Saturday. Those showcase performances have Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Alabama’s Mac Jones well ahead of the field in the Heisman Trophy race.
Lawrence once again leads the weekly USA TODAY Network Heisman survey after his Tigers pulled away from Miami (Fla.). Lawrence received 59 total points and was voted first by 18 of the 22 official Heisman electors employed by USA TODAY Network properties participating in the weekly survey. Through four games, Lawrence has connected on 84-of-116 passes, a 72.4% completion rate, for 1,140 yards, 10 touchdowns and no picks. He also has four rushing scores, one of which came against the Hurricanes Saturday shortly after he took a hard hit.
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But while Clemson extended its lead on the Crimson Tide in the Amway Coaches Poll, Jones closed the gap on Lawrence in the Heisman survey with 26 points including a couple of first-place mentions. Jones has an even better completion percentage of 79.5% through three games, with 1,101 yards and eight TD tosses. He could gain even more ground this week if he puts up more big numbers against Georgia, which has the SEC’s stingiest defense.
Teammates of Lawrence and Jones are also on the radar. Tigers running back Travis Etienne is fourth in the survey this week, including one first-place nod. He has 637 yards from scrimmage on 56 carries and 17 receptions, averaging over 10 yards a touch, with five total touchdowns. Crimson Tide running back Najee Harris also got some notice after rushing for 206 yards and five scores against Ole Miss.
Florida QB Kyle Trask remains in the mix, though he slipped one spot to third following the Gators’ loss at Texas A&M. The other first-place nod went to BYU QB Zach Wilson, who has an upcoming Friday night spotlight opportunity against Houston.
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