This is the seventh edition of the Heisman Watch, a weekly feature tracking the candidates for college football’s most prestigious award. For last week’s rankings, click here.
1. Dak Prescott, Mississippi State QB (Last Week: 1)
Dak had a pretty meh game last week as Mississippi State escaped an upset bid from Kentucky. He completed just 54 percent of his passes while throwing for 216 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Prescott’s rushing prowess remains a huge asset to his game and is the primary reason he’s still ranked at the top of this list. He’s ran for more than 100 yards in four games this season and ran for multiple touchdowns in each of his past three contests.
Despite an impressive statistical resume, Prescott remains the Heisman favorite right now because Mississippi freaking State is undefeated. Nobody saw that coming. Prescott’s candidacy is boosted simply because he’s the face of the unlikely No. 1 team in the nation.
2. Marcus Mariota, Oregon QB (LW: 2)
He finally threw an interception! The sky is falling! Pigs are flying!
Something drastic has to happen for Mariota to not be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. He’s the most talented player in college football and will be a franchise quarterback someday.
Mariota deserves all the superlatives. He’s thrown 24 touchdowns and just that one interception. He’s the leader in efficiency rating and yards per attempt. He ranks ninth in completion percentage and has also run for five touchdowns.
Mariota gets a big test this weekend against the country’s No. 4 pass defense in Stanford. The Ducks have lost to the Cardinal each of the past two seasons.
3. Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin RB (LW: 3)
In terms of yards per carry, Gordon had his second-worst game of the season last week against Maryland. He still ran for 122 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 5.5 yards per rush.
Among players with at least 100 carries, Gordon ranks fourth with a 7.6 yards-per-carry average. His 16 rushing touchdowns rank third in the country, but each of the two players ahead of him have played in eight games this season compared to Gordon’s seven.
Gordon remains this high on the list even with Wisconsin losing twice already. He’s definitely third place behind Prescott and Mariota, but if the Badgers make the Big Ten championship game, Gordon could leapfrog them.
4. Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska RB (LW: 7)
There’s a clear divide between the top three Heisman candidates and everyone else, but Abdullah is certainly the best among the second tier.
Abdullah has four 200-yard games. Nobody else in the country has more than two, which is insane considering he also has two games of fewer than 60 rushing yards. He’s also scored multiple touchdowns in five consecutive games.
The problem with Abdullah is that on his one opportunity on the national stage against a fantastic Michigan State defense, he was absolutely terrible, racking up 45 yards on 24 carries. In order to truly become a Heisman contender, Abdullah must keep putting up eye-popping numbers and Nebraska has to keep winning.
5. Blake Sims, Alabama QB (LW: 8)
Sims has quietly become one of the country’s best quarterbacks. He ranks fourth in efficiency rating and third in yards per attempt. Sims also has 15 touchdowns versus just three interceptions.
Though Sims’ completion percentage has been falling recently, he hasn’t thrown an interception since the Ole Miss game. His steady presence has helped the Tide rebound after their early loss.
Sims is pretty good, but we don’t yet know how good Alabama is despite the team being ranked so high. The Tide barely beat Arkansas, and even though they whooped Texas A&M, clearly the Aggies aren’t very good. Sims and the Tide still have to face LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn.
6. Tevin Coleman, Indiana RB (LW: 6)
Not much to say here, as Indiana was on a bye last week. Coleman’s blurbs will generally remain the same every week: a great player on a mediocre, irrelevant team.
The Hoosiers might not even make a bowl game, despite their shocking win over Missouri in September. Which basically means Coleman has zero chance at winning the Heisman.
But hey, it’s my rankings and I’m going to keep Coleman on the list. He leads the nation in rushing yards per game and averages an outstanding 8.8 yards per carry. He at least deserves a Heisman shoutout.
7. Jameis Winston, Florida State QB (LW: Not Ranked)
Winston is pretty much on this list only because Florida State hasn’t lost yet. His stats (13 touchdowns, six interceptions) are mediocre and not befitting of a Heisman winner. He does, however, have a 70.6 percent completion rate, third highest in the country.
Yeah, he’s pretty immature and everybody keeps waiting for Florida State to lose. But haters gonna hate. The Seminoles have a relatively easy schedule remaining, with their toughest game being Louisville this Thursday. If the ‘Noles go undefeated and make the Playoff, Winston will get a few votes thanks to being the quarterback of a great team.
8. Brett Hundley, UCLA QB (LW: 5)
Geez, UCLA is not a very good team. They’ve played six one-score games and have gone an unsustainable 5-1 in those contests. The Bruins’ decent 6-2 record should probably be closer to .500. I mean they needed double overtime to beat Colorado. Colorado!
Well anyway, Hundley has some good numbers, and considering the overall Heisman crop isn’t that great this season, Hundley stays on this list.
He’s got a 70.8 percent completion rate, which ranks second in the country, and a 14:4 touchdown to interception ratio. So might as well keep him on the Heisman watch.
9. Rakeem Cato, Marshall QB (LW: 10)
Cato has thrown a touchdown pass in 40 consecutive games, an FBS record. Like I said last week, he doesn’t have very good numbers. His completion rate is 57.9 percent. He’s completed less than 60 percent of his passes in six of Marshall’s eight games.
Cato does have 20 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Plus, his 9.3 yards per pass attempt ranks seventh in the country.
His entire Heisman candidacy revolves around whether or not Marshall goes undefeated. The Thundering Herd are one of three remaining teams without a loss, and if they take care of the rest of their easy schedule, they’ll probably play in a New Year’s bowl and net Cato a few Heisman votes.
10. Hau’oli Kikaha, Washington LB (LW: NR)
Hello, first defensive player to appear in these rankings. There’s a reason for that, as only one primarily defensive player has ever won the Heisman—Charles Woodson in 1997. Not to mention, the Huskies are 5-3 and not nationally relevant. They haven’t been for years.
Kikaha leads the nation in both sacks (14.5) and tackles for loss (19.5). If Kikaha was putting up these numbers for, say, Alabama or Florida State, he’d be a household name.
Alas, even with an awesome name like Hau’oli Kikaha, most people don’t know who he is. With such impressive stats, Kikaha deserves a handful of Heisman votes at season’s end.
