Tag: Heisman Watch

Ranking college football’s best QBs through Week 13: Trask remains at the top

Florida Gators quarterback is ahead of Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Alabama’s Mac Jones in USA TODAY Sports’ Week 13 Heisman Trophy update.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in its entirety below. 

If there’s no correlation between pass attempts and team success — six of the top 10 in attempts per game have a losing record, led by 2-6 Mississippi State — you can draw a connection between winning and per-pass production.

The top 10 teams in pass attempts per game have a combined record of 39-36, boosted immensely by Clemson (8-1 overall and fifth nationally) and Nevada (5-1 and ninth).

The top 10 in yards per attempt are a combined 54-12, with no losing records in the group and four unbeaten teams: Alabama, Brigham Young, Ohio State and Western Michigan.

It’s a quarterback-driven sport, and the production at the position has never been better. Here’s a look at the best of the best — the 10 top quarterbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision during a 2020 season when as many as two dozen passers are under consideration.

These two SEC quarterbacks battle it out atop ESPN’s Heisman Watch

Florida Gators QB Trask lost ground in ESPN’s Heisman watch this week as ‘Bama’s Jones seized the top spot despite the odds favoring Trask.

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We’re already quickly approaching the end of the 2020 college football season. Only two weeks remain in the regular season, and that means that soon, another player will be awarded the Heisman Trophy, joining college football’s most exclusive fraternity.

If he continues to produce at the level he is now, there’s a decent chance that Kyle Trask will be that player.

Trask would be on pace for a more productive season than last year’s winner Joe Burrow if he played a full 15-game slate. His 2,810 passing yards ranks fourth in the FBS despite the Gators only playing eight games so far, and his 34 touchdowns are the most in the country. No other Power 5 quarterback has more than 24.

But on this week’s Heisman Watch from ESPN, he finds himself ranked No. 2 despite being the betting favorite to win the award. ESPN’s staff voted Alabama‘s Mac Jones, who is coming off a five-touchdown day in the Iron Bowl, the Heisman leader.

It is likely a two-man race for the trophy at this point. Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence gained some ground with a big game against Pittsburgh on Saturday, but there likely won’t be enough opportunities remaining for him to catch up. Meanwhile, Ohio State‘s Justin Fields threw three interceptions in his last outing, and cancellations have resulted in a Buckeyes schedule that has no more than seven games on it, including the Big Ten Championship.

That likely won’t be enough games for Fields to stake a claim for the award, and assuming Lawrence isn’t able to catch up, the way Jones and Trask play these next couple of weeks (especially in their likely head-to-head matchup in the SEC Championship), should determine the winner of the trophy.

Here’s what ESPN had to say about Trask.

2. Kyle Trask, QB, Florida

Total points: 58 (first-place votes: 5/14)

Notable: During Saturday’s win over Kentucky, Trask became the first player in school history with at least three TD passes in eight consecutive games. He benefited from the return of TE Kyle Pitts, who caught all three of his TD passes.

Quotable: “The sky’s the limit. We have huge goals for this team.” — Trask

Heisman odds: -125

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Heisman Watch: Florida’s Kyle Trask, Alabama’s Mac Jones locked in tight race

The pair of SEC QBs are neck-and-neck this week in USA TODAY Sports’ Heisman Watch after Week 13 of college football play with Trask leading

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Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in its entirety below. 

With the college football regular season stretching well into December this year, we’re still a few weeks from a conclusion. But it seems increasingly likely the Heisman winner will be determined in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and Florida quarterback Kyle Trask are neck and neck in this week’s USA TODAY Network Heisman survey, with their teams on a collision course to meet Dec. 19 in Atlanta.

Trask continues to hold the lead for now, named first by a majority of the official Heisman voters who work for USA TODAY Network properties. The Gators’ signal caller has 34 touchdown passes and has thrown for at least three scores in all eight of Florida’s games. He has 2,810 yards through the air, completing 71.4% of his attempts with just three interceptions.

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Jones isn’t far behind, named second by over half of the survey participants. He has amassed 2,728 yards and 23 TD tosses, also with just three picks.

A couple of his teammates, running back Najee Harris and receiver DeVonta Smith, also earned mentions.

Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence might still have something to say about the race. He checks in a distant third, but he saw his first action in over a month on Saturday and reminded everyone why he was the preseason favorite with a 403-yard day. He improved his career record as the Tigers’ starting quarterback to 32-1.

A new name found its way on to a few ballots following an eye-popping performance. Buffalo running back Jaret Patterson matched a Football Bowl Subdivision record with eight rushing touchdowns and ran for 409 yards in the Bulls’ 70-41 win against Mid-American Conference opponent Kent State. Through four games, he leads the nation averaging 230 yards per game on the ground.

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Kyle Trask remains atop USA TODAY Sports’ Heisman Watch

Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask currently has the inside lane on the storied Heisman Trophy as he takes a big lead over Mac Jones.

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Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in its entirety below. 

Senior quarterback Kyle Trask had an off day Saturday for Florida. He only threw three touchdown passes against Vanderbilt, the first time all season he didn’t toss at least four in a game.

OK, off days for some players can be relative. The performance was more than enough for him to move into the lead in the weekly USA TODAY Network Heisman survey.

For the season, Trask now has thrown for 31 touchdown passes with just three interceptions in leading the Gators to six victories in seven games. He has accumulated 2,554 passing yards while completing 70.7% of his attempts.

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Alabama QB Mac Jones is still in the mix but slipped to a strong second place in this week’s survey. Jones has an even more impressive 77.1% completion rate through seven games with 2,426 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Justin Fields of Ohio State is still in third place, but he lost some points after throwing three picks as the Buckeyes staved off a spirited challenge from Indiana. The race is far from over, however, with four weeks remaining in the oddly-paced season.

Nine players in all received mentions from the survey participants.

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Can Florida add a fourth Heisman Trophy to its trophy case?

Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask scored a plethora of votes this week after a monstrous performance against Arkansas on Saturday.

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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 truncated college football weekend created something of a conundrum for Heisman voters.

On one hand, it seemed unfair to demote a player who, through no fault of his own, was unable to get on the field. That was the case for Alabama’s Mac Jones and Ohio State’s Justin Fields, leaders in last week’s USA TODAY Network Heisman survey whose games were postponed or canceled due to COVID-19 issues for their opponents.

But Kyle Trask’s numbers are just getting impossible to ignore. A couple of weeks ago, he was getting minimal attention with just a single point. But Saturday with the stage largely to himself, the Florida quarterback lit up Arkansas for 356 passing yards and six touchdowns, bringing his season totals to 2,171 yards and 28 TDs through just six games.

As a result, Trask made a huge move in this week’s survey. Jones held on to first by a single point. Both Jones and Trask received nine first-place mentions from the 22 survey participants with official Heisman votes who work for USA TODAY Network properties. Fields is still in a strong third place with 30 total points, picking up the remaining four first-place nods.

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Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the preseason favorite who has been sidelined because of his own bout with the coronavirus, has fallen into a tie for fourth with BYU’s Zach Wilson.

Three other players got a point each this week. That group includes another quarterback, Liberty’s Malik Willis, along with Alabama running back Najee Harris and Mississippi receiver Elijah Moore.

The Heisman will be presented at a virtual ceremony from the ESPN campus on Jan. 5, and the finalists will be announced on Dec. 24.

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Justin Fields leapfrogs Trevor Lawrence in USA TODAY’s Heisman Watch

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields has officially passed Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence in the USA TODAY Heisman Watch. Can he grab No. 1?

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Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields is making moves in the latest USA TODAY Heisman Watch. Each week a panel of USA TODAY experts vote on the Heisman race by voting for their first, second, and third-place contenders. Fields was behind several players that had a jump start on him before he even played a game, but things have changed drastically since Fields stepped off the bus for the first time to break the seal on a very delayed Big Ten sesason.

And now, after just three games, he’s gone from an afterthought in the poll all the way up to No. 2 behind only Alabama quarterback Mac Jones. He climbed his way up to the No. 3 spot last week, but with his performance against Rutgers in combination with Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence sitting things out because of COVID-19 protocols, he has been on an accelerated climb.

Fields received five first-place votes, thirteen second-place votes, and just one for third. That gave him 42 points, and has significantly closed the distance between Jones’ sixteen place votes that led to 54 points.

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Lawrence drops to third after not receiving any first-place votes, followed by Kyle Trask of Florida.

NEXT … What USA TODAY’s Eddie Timanus says about Fields

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Justin Fields makes major move in latest USA TODAY Heisman Watch

After a nearly flawless performance, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields made a huge move in USA TODAY’s week eight Heisman Watch.

Raise your hand if you’re surprised by what I say next. Justin Fields is starting to get a little more love in the Heisman race. It’s as if voters forgot who the wonder kid that plays quarterback for Ohio State was as the Big Ten waited to get on the field. He had begun to lose a ton of momentum with other Power Five conferences playing.

But no longer.

One such example of that is the USA TODAY Heisman Watch that gets updated every week by Eddie Timanus. Just last week, Fields only received one third-place vote total. This week though, after an almost perfect performance where he completed 20 of 21 passes for 276 yards and 2 TDs, Fields has jumped all the way up to No. 3, just behind Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Alabama’s Mac Jones.

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The rest of the bunch is a little like little league soccer where the contestants are bunched up together trying to get a kick in, but there’s time for all of that to change. Regardless, don’t be surprised to see Fields continue to gain momentum as he rolls along in the season.

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Justin Fields in top three of ESPN Heisman watch

Justin Fields hasn’t taken a single snap in the 2020 season but the Ohio State quarterback is already seen as a Heisman contender.

Justin Fields hasn’t taken a snap in the current football season, but ESPN still thinks pretty highly of his skill and what they believe he’ll be able to do once Big Ten play begins on October 24.

ESPN ranked Fields No. 3 in their latest Heisman watch directly behind two Clemson stars, Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne. Both Lawrence and Etienne have collected all of the first-place votes for this week.

How does Justin Fields get on a list like this without playing a game and come in ahead of other guys like Alabama’s Mac Jones and Najee Harris? The answer is simple — Fields made a huge impact in the 2019 season, learning a new offense amazingly fast, and finishing third in the Heisman voting behind two senior quarterbacks in Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts. In 2020, the sky is the limit with a year of experience under his belt.

Mel Kiper shares his thoughts on the second-year starting QB for the Buckeyes.

“I’m really excited to see Fields in Year 2 as the Buckeyes’ starter, and I want to see him take a step forward in his decision-making and decisiveness.” — Mel Kiper Jr.

Buckeye Nation is chomping at the bit to get the season going and we’re all expecting big things from No. 1 in scarlet and gray.

 

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.

Download the USA TODAY SportsWire app to follow Buckeyes Wire and your other favorite teams in the Apple Store for iPhones and Google Play for Android devices.

Heisman Trophy Watch After Week 6

Who are the leaders to watch in the race for the 2020 Heisman Trophy?

Who are the leaders to watch in the race for the 2020 Heisman Trophy?

Top Heisman Contenders After Week 6 Are …

– Contact/Follow @PeteFiutak

The crickets you’re hearing is American not being interested in the 2020 Heisman Trophy race … yet.

There’s just no buzz – partly because the Big Ten hasn’t started up, there isn’t a Heisman-caliber signature star on Georgia or Notre Dame, and Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence is a better football player than everyone else – but it’s coming.

If the NFL can be all-in on the MVP discussion a month into its season, then it’s time to start making the 2020 Heisman a thing.

This isn’t about who the best players are. This is about who’s in the hunt to win the greatest individual trophy in all of sports.

Player of Week 6
(outside of the main guys on this list)

LB Monty Rice, Georgia
The Bulldogs held the Tennessee running game to -1 yard in the 44-21 win. Rice made a team-high eight tackles, two tackles for loss, and came up with a sack, forced fumble, and recovered fumble for a score to all but put the game away.

5 Other Players On The Heisman Trophy Watch List

In alphabetical order

QB Ian Book, Notre Dame
QB Sam Ehlinger, Texas
RB Travis Etienne, Clemson
QB Kellen Mond, Texas A&M
QB Zach Wilson, BYU

Bet on Heisman Trophy with BetMGM

5. QB Justin Fields, Ohio State

Of course, he hasn’t started playing yet, but because no one has been able to run away and hide with the Heisman race, he should be able to swoop in and shine once Ohio State kicks things off against Nebraska on October 24th. The talent is there, the numbers will be fantastic, and he’ll be in the spotlight each and every week for a team that will be knee-deep in the national title chase.

4. QB Kyle Trask, Florida

It’s not his fault the Gators blew it against Texas A&M. Had the defense been able to hold on in the 41-38 loss, he might be on top of this list. He’s second in the nation in touchdown passes with 14 – and with one fewer game than Sam Ehlinger of Texas, who has thrown 16 so far – on a pace that’s starting to approach 2019 Joe Burrow territory.

On the year he has completed 72% of his passes for 996 yards and those 14 scores with just one interception. Forget the A&M loss – he was brilliant in it, by the way – his chances will come to get back in this.

3. RB Najee Harris, Alabama

He doesn’t lead the nation in rushing, and his numbers probably won’t be off-the-charts compared to what the quarterbacks are doing across college football, but on Saturday night against Ole Miss he looked and played the part of the next Heisman-winning back from Bama.

He was held in relative check by Texas A&M and wasn’t needed much against Missouri, but he ran for five touchdowns in the first two games. Against the Rebels, though … 23 carries, 206 yards, five touchdowns. He couldn’t be stopped.

2. QB Mac Jones, Alabama

It helps to have an NFL receiving corps to work with, but he’s been flawless.

The numbers have been unbelievable considering the job wasn’t supposed to be his coming into the season. Super-recruit Bryce Young was going to arrive on campus, take over the gig, and that was going to be it, but Jones has completed 80% of his throws for 1,101 yards and eight touchdowns with a pick, averaging well over 13 yards per pass.

 1. QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

His brilliance is being taken for granted.

Of course he’s the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Of course he’s the best quarterback in college football. Of course he’s expected to lead his team to another ACC Championship and another College Football Playoff and – yawwwwwwn – another national title appearance.

He has made the amazing appear to be routine.

There’s nothing boring about 73%, 1,140 yards, 9.8 yards per throw, ten touchdown passes, four rushing scores, no interceptions, no drama.

Best of all this year, he’ll have more national spotlight games that matter to boost his Heisman resumé.

Week 6 Roundup: 5 Things That Matter
Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
Week 7 Early Line Predictions
College Football Playoff Chase, Who’s Alive?
Bowl Projections | Week 6 Scoreboard, Predictions
5 Thoughts: Texas A&M – Florida | Texas – OU

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Justin Fields slides in ESPN’s Heisman Watch

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields has slid down just a wee bit in the latest ESPN Heisman Watch. Where does the panel rank him?

It’s no secret that Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields is on the shortlist of Heisman contenders for 2020. However, with Big Ten teams still going through the paces of preseason practice while other teams are playing, there’s not a chance to make much of an impression early on in the season.

Much the same way that Ohio State has started to slide down some of the major polls for college football teams so far this fall, so too is the perception of Fields’ as a Heisman frontrunner.

That brings us to this week’s ESPN Heisman Watch where Fields has slid down just a wee bit.

He’s still there of course. A few weeks of not seeing the dual-threat playmaker on the field while others play doesn’t erase what he did last season in making his way to New York as a finalist, but we’re again seeing an out-of-sight, out-of-mind situation here.

So where does ESPN have one of the most dynamic players in all of college football after the last slate of games Saturday?

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NEXT … Justin Fields ranking in the Heisman Watch

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