Tag: 2021 Heisman Trophy

Heisman Watch Top Candidates After Week 11: Will ANYONE Rise Up?

Who are the top candidates still in the mix for the 2021 Heisman Trophy race? Will anyone step up and take over in the race?

Who’s in the hunt for the Heisman Trophy? The top candidates, what they need to do, and who still has a realistic shot.

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Heisman Watch: Top Candidates After Week 11

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Week 11 Roundup
Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-130 Rankings
Week 12 Early Line Predictions | Heisman Race
College Football Playoff Chase, Who’s Alive?
Bowl Projections | Week 11 Scoreboard, Predictions
Big Game Reactions: Baylor, Mich, Ole Miss, more
Coach Hot Seat Top 10 | Bowl Bubble: Who’s In, Out

Now that the season appears to be the Georgia Invitational, the nation desperately needs the Heisman Trophy campaigns to get rolling – and it’s really, really not.

No one has captivated a nation. No player has been able to rise up and grab the best individual award and all of sports and make it his.

But the chances are coming.

It’s Heisman time.

It’s the middle of November and the race is wide open, so it’s going to come down to who shows up with the biggest performances in the biggest games with everyone watching.

It’s the ultimate sports beauty contest, and here are the main stars still in the mix, where they stand, and what they need to do to win the thing.

Player of Week 11
(outside of the main guys on this list)

QB Jalon Daniels, Kansas
Will the young quarterback burn more playing time to take away his chance at redshirting? That was the one question everyone wanted to ask, when the real focus was this …

Kansas just hung 57 on Texas and won a Big 12 game on the road.

Unlike past years when Kansas would come up with a shocking win, this one seemed to signify the start of something under first year head coach Lance Leipold. Daniels had a whole lot to do with that, completing 21-of-30 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns – with a game-winning two-point conversion throw – and running 11 times for 45 yards and a score.

5 Other Players On The Heisman Watch List

At the very least, these five will receive a whole lot of votes and are still in the mix to be a finalist. In alphabetical order …

QB Matt Corral, Notre Dame
DT Jordan Davis, Georgia
QB Sam Hartman, Wake Forest
RB TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
QB Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati

5. QB Kenny Pickett, Pitt

The numbers continue to be fantastic. He might not be cranking out Joe Burrow stats from 2019 or Kyle Trask numbers of last year, but he’s not terribly far off with 32 touchdown passes, just four picks, and with 300 yards or more in seven of his last eight games.

Why Kenny Pickett Will Win the Heisman: He’s got a nice mix of stats and buzz. The foundation has been set, and the numbers will only get more impressive over the next few weeks. He should get his shot to show off in the ACC Championship, but …

Why Kenny Pickett Won’t Win the Heisman: There just aren’t enough big games left. Virginia and at Syracuse won’t receive a whole lot of national attention, and once again, the ACC Championship will likely get swallowed up by the other conference championships.

4. QB Caleb Williams, Oklahoma

He had a rough day at the office in the 27-14 loss to Baylor, but no one has more Heisman-like moments this season. From the fourth down run against Texas to turn the year around, to the heady plays to save the say against Kansas, to the phenomenal performance against Texas Tech with six passing scores, he packed a whole lot into a half a season.

Why Caleb Williams Will Win the Heisman: No one will catch Coastal Carolina’s out-for-the-year injured star Grayson McCall in quarterback rating, but Williams is still No. 2 in the country. It’s not just about the numbers – he has Iowa State and Oklahoma State up next. If he rocks in those two games and takes OU to the Big 12 Championship, he’ll be back in the mix, but …

Why Caleb Williams Won’t Win the Heisman: 10-of-19, 146 yards, no touchdowns, two picks, one rushing score. That was his day in the loss to Baylor. It wasn’t all his fault, but he couldn’t move the offense and was eventually lifted for Spencer Rattler.

Heisman Watch 2021: Top 3 Candidates After Week 11

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Oklahoma’s Caleb Williams on the rise in latest Heisman rankings

With a stellar week nine, Caleb Williams is seeing his stock rise in USA TODAY Sports’ latest Heisman rankings.

Caleb Williams took the college football world a month ago when he helped the Oklahoma Sooners overcome an 18 point halftime deficit. He hasn’t looked back, amassing 18 total touchdowns on the season and completing 70.9% of his passes, good for seventh in the nation among quarterbacks with at least 94 dropbacks on the season.

That completion percentage is better than every other quarterback in Heisman contention for 2021. And believe it or not, Caleb Williams is in Heisman contention.

In USA TODAY Sports college football analyst Paul Myerburg’s latest Heisman rankings, Caleb Williams has moved up one spot from last week to fifth.

The freshman phenom keeps stacking monster Saturdays, the latest a six-touchdown performance in the Sooners’ rout of Texas Tech. In 99 attempts since replacing Spencer Rattler midway through the Red River Shootout against Texas, Williams has thrown for 1,097 yards and 14 touchdowns against one interception. – Myerburg

Last week, Caleb Williams was ranked sixth in Myerburg’s rankings, but his performance over Tech gave him a bump over Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder and Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman.

Williams is the highest graded quarterback through week nine of the season according to Pro Football Focus. Things appear to be heating up for the true freshman quarterback who just threw for 402 yards and six touchdowns in an offensive domination of Texas Tech last Saturday.

His passer rating of 142 (NFL) is second only to Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall.

At this point, games played might be the only thing keeping Caleb Williams from being higher on lists for college football’s most prestigious award.

Even if Williams doesn’t end up a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, what he’s done in such a short time is pretty remarkable. He’s helped transform the Oklahoma Sooners back into the big-play offense that we’ve grown accustomed to.

Oklahoma’s scored 50 points in three of their last four games since Williams took over as the starting quarterback. Though they were blanked in the first half of their win against Kansas, Williams orchestrated a 35 point second half to help Oklahoma to the win.

The following month of the season will tell the tale for Caleb Williams and the Oklahoma Sooners. How he and OU perform in games against Baylor, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State will go a long way toward getting Williams to New York and the Sooners into the College Football Playoff.

Though they’re on a bye week, the stakes are higher now than they’ve been all season after the College Football Playoff committee ranked the Oklahoma Sooners eighth in their initial playoff rankings.

The Oklahoma Sooners will need “Superman” to be heroic over the final three games of the regular season and the Big 12 championship. Caleb Williams will have plenty of opportunities to create his signature Heisman moment over the last month of the season. The question is, will it be enough to put him in serious contention for the Heisman.

After the bye, we’ll find out.

Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams among USA TODAY’s Heisman Trophy race notables

Caleb Williams continues to dazzle for No. 4 Oklahoma. As a result, he’s one of the top quarterbacks listed to win the Heisman Trophy.

Oklahoma true freshman quarterback Caleb Williams has wasted no time putting his imprint on college football since taking over the signal-calling for the No. 4 Sooners.

In a little more than two and a half games starting, Williams has accounted for 11 touchdowns. Eight of those touchdowns have come through the air, including a four-touchdown passing performance against TCU two weeks ago in a 52-31 win over the Horned Frogs.

The dual-threat ability is where the Washington, D.C., native has consistently dazzled, though. Williams has a 40-plus yard touchdown run in each of the Sooners’ past three games, including his 66-yarder against Texas that announced his presence in college football.

Against Texas, TCU and Kansas, Williams has completed 49-of-68 passes (72 percent completion percentage) for 679 passing yards. He’s also racked up 224 rushing yards on 21 carries in those games.

As a result, Williams continues to receive Heisman Trophy buzz. USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg listed Williams sixth in his quarterback rankings to win the Heisman Trophy.

Williams’ biggest impact might be as a runner, and not just when he steals the ball away from a teammate to turn a potential fourth-down stop by Kansas into a first down. He had a game-changing touchdown run after being inserted into the lineup against Texas. He had another flashy run on the option against TCU. And he scored on the ground yet again as the Sooners escaped the Jayhawks’ upset. – Myerberg, USA TODAY

Williams is listed behind Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, Ole Miss’ Matt Corral, Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder.

Williams’ start to the season and his career is already an incredible story. If he continues to play like he has thus far, there’s a great chance he winds up in New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist.

The next chance to impress for Williams comes today when Oklahoma plays host to Texas Tech.

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Spencer Rattler slides to 6th in BR’s Heisman Power Ranking

Sooners’ quarterback Spencer Rattler has fallen to sixth in Bleacher Report’s Heisman power rankings.

Sooners’ quarterback Spencer Rattler has fallen to sixth in Bleacher Report’s Heisman power rankings. While the Sooners are a perfect 3-0 on the young season, they have stumbled into those wins behind uncharacteristically shaky quarterback play. BR’s David Kenyon does not view Rattler’s Heisman candidacy as dead in the water; however, he makes it clear that the young quarterback is trending down in September.

In two games against FBS competition, Oklahoma has clipped Tulane 40-35 and held off Nebraska 23-16. Rattler managed a combined 7.1 yards per pass attempt in those matchups, totaling 560 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions.

Without a doubt, he’s trending down.

As we introduce changes to the group of favorites, though, Rattler shouldn’t be eliminated. Oklahoma is 3-0, and a massive performance against West Virginia or Kansas State would begin to erase his underwhelming start to 2021. Whether you expect that to happen is where opinions may diverge.

Kenyon is correct that Rattler is capable of turning things around. Yes, he’s been shaky in the pocket. And yes, he’s missing receivers. But on arm talent alone, Rattler deserves the benefit of the doubt until either Oklahoma loses a game or he completely bottoms out.

Nebraska’s “2 high” safety set is nothing new. Lincoln Riley is too good of a coach to let deep coverage become Rattler’s undoing. This week’s game vs. West Virginia provides Rattler and the offense a tremendous opportunity against a quality secondary. Pro Football Focus ranks the Mountaineers defensive back groups as the fifth best secondary in the country.

If Rattler can jumpstart the vertical passing game against a formidable WVU defense, they can get right back on track.