Brendan Smith

This Saturday (save for Army-Navy), the college football regular season will sadly come to an end. With the end of another exciting regular season, the College Football Playoff will commence for the fourth time. While speculating the members of the CFB Playoff, the race for the Heisman trophy will also be under intense scrutiny. As the world’s leading expert in Heisman talk (not really, but we can all dream), the following are my five final candidates for the coveted trophy.

Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma

There has been a ton of controversy surrounding star Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield in the last week. First, Kansas players refused to shake Mayfield’s hand during the pre-game captain’s meeting. Then, Mayfield was subjected to numerous cheap shots during the game. And finally, Mayfield grabbed where the sun don’t shine, and kindly reminded fans that their football team had one win. Now, Mayfield will neither start nor be a captain against West Virginia this weekend. Regardless, Mayfield is the clear front-runner in the Heisman race after keeping up his success by torching the Kansas defense for 257 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. Mayfield now stands less than 200 yards away from 4,000 passing yards on the season, and just one touchdown shy of 40 total touchdowns. Oklahoma stands in position to land a playoff spot, and Mayfield will be counted on to lead the Sooners to the promised land.

Stock: Rising

Bryce Love, RB, Stanford

In much quieter fashion than the Heisman front-runner, Bryce Love enhanced his Heisman campaign with 101 yards and a rushing touchdown against Cal this past weekend. Despite re-injuring a nagging ankle injury late in the game, Love was able to surpass the 100 yard mark for the ninth time this season. He has scored at least one touchdown in all ten games that he has played in so far. This week will be a tough test for Stanford and Love as Notre Dame will travel into Stanford Stadium on Saturday night. A win (maybe) would solidify Stanford’s position as Pac-12 North division champions. Love will key the Cardinal if healthy as quarterback struggles continue to plague Stanford. On the season, Love has accumulated 1,723 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Stock: Rising

Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville

Lamar Jackson continued his preying on lesser teams, this time handing an embarrassing 56-10 loss to Syracuse. Jackson threw for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns while running for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns. His return to Heisman prowess prompted head coach Bobby Petrino to tweet out a Heisman hype video in advance of the upcoming Heisman finalist announcement.

Stock: Rising

Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State

Just as soon as he departed from the Heisman rankings, Saquon Barkley has found his way back into the rankings after a stellar performance against Nebraska. Barkley loudly announced his return to Heisman candidacy with 158 rushing yards, 66 receiving yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. Despite a few down weeks, Barkley’s numbers still impress, with 1,057 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, 590 receiving yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. In addition, Barkley remains the only player in college football to register a rushing, receiving, passing and return touchdown in a season. Barkley may not win this year after defenses were fixated on him for weeks, but he provided us with plenty of highlight plays.

Stock: Rising

Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State

Once an early fixture in the Heisman rankings, Rashaad Penny was outperformed lately. But after a string of success, he finds himself right back in the rankings. In his last three games, Penny has rushed for 253 yards, 234 yards, and 222 yards, and 7 touchdowns over that time. Penny is now the leading rusher in all of FBS with 1,824 yard. In addition to his rushing totals, Penny has found the endzone 17 times on the ground while also catching 2 touchdown passes. Thanks to the success of Penny, San Diego State is just one win away from their third consecutive double-digit win season.

Stock: Rising

 

Outside looking in: Khalil Tate, QB, Arizona, Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin