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Editors note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in its entirety below.
There is no such thing as a foregone conclusion in the wild world of college football, particularly this season in the world of COVID-19 where the unpredictable is predictable.
Perceptions could change when the Big Ten and other conferences finally kick off starting this weekend. But for the moment, There’s an air of inevitability developing around the notion that Clemson and Alabama are unstoppable forces again destined to square off for the national title and that the Heisman winner will be the quarterback of one of those programs.
Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence continues to hold the lead in the weekly USA TODAY Network Heisman survey. He tossed five more TD passes last week as the Tigers routed Georgia Tech, though he did throw his first interception of the season. He has 15 scoring passes thus far in 2020 and a total of 1,544 yards.
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Alabama’s Mac Jones was every bit as impressive in the Crimson Tide’s win against Georgia in a top-five showdown. He moved 14 points closer to Lawrence in the survey and added three first-place votes to last week’s total. Jones’ first pass was picked off, as well, on his first attempt of the game, but he bounced back to add four TDs to his ledger, bringing his season total to 12 with 1,518 yards.
Jones’ teammate, running back Najee Harris, is also on the radar in fifth place with the most points among non-quarterbacks.
Another prolific passer, BYU’s Zach Wilson, has moved up to third and could be emerging as a dark horse. Though he hasn’t faced quite the same level of competition, he impressed a national television audience Friday night in the Cougars’ important victory at Houston. Through five games he is averaging 328.2 yards through the air. He has a total of 12 TD throws with just one pick, and has also run for six more scores.
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