I looked for a Heisman thread and didn't notice a recent one. Anyway, the LSU game is big for obvious reasons, and I like a lot of fans view the Heisman as of secondary importance. It still irritates me that in recent years it has been turned into the Oklahoma quarterback award though, and it would have been a nice consolation prize to the humiliation of the championship game last year.
Obviously the game is huge. It will practically guarantee the winner a spot in the playoff. The loser, particularly if it is LSU, will still have a shot at the playoff as well.
The Heisman trophy doesn't have a playoff though. The loser of this game will probably lose the Heisman. I have to admit, after the Tua injury I felt like his candidacy was over. It knocked him out of that game, it knocked him out of a future game, and I believe the last winner to miss a game due to injury was Charles Woodson.
A few things happened though. While Burrow played a solid game, his 1 passing TD and 145 rating was not good enough to distance himself sufficiently. Hurts, while salvaging his reputation a bit late in the game ended up losing. He also only threw for one touchdown. These two less than stellar performances resulted in Tua having the top QBR in college football.
Another recent development opened the path even further, Chase Young's suspension ends his already unlikely Heisman candidacy. So, miraculously Tua didn't really lose much ground after being hurt. I saw a new ranking which has Burrow 1, Young 2, Tua 3, and Hurts 4. I might as well mention Fields, who is right up there in QBR. He's just not throwing the ball enough to be a top candidate, and whether or not that's fair is another debate. That along with another player on his team stealing the limelight is all it takes to significantly weaken his chances.
Burrow as it stands is really running away with the award. He has the numbers, his team has the ranking, but all those things can change. For instance, the Fournette vs. Henry matchup. Coming into the game Fournette was seen as running away with the trophy, and he was. He was putting together big game after big game. The least amount of rushing yards he put up was 150. Winning the trophy seemed like a formality. Then Alabama happened, and he got a mere 31 yards. On the other hand, Henry had a massive game, with 201 yards and 3 TDs. Fournette never recovered, going for 91 yards the next game, and 108 after that. Henry went for 204, 271, and 189.
I also recall going to the 2012 Texas A&M game and telling a young cousin I brought with us that this would probably decide the Heisman trophy. Johnny Manziel already had a good shot at the Heisman, but AJ was kind of an outlier in the discussion. Johnny was as advertised, but unfortunately AJ struggled. He threw 2 interceptions and had one of his worst performances of the year. This ended any Heisman candidacy that year for AJ, but it solidified Johnny's position. A result like that would surely be the difference between Burrow or Tua.
This is a different situation, but it's hard to imagine the stakes being much higher. Tua is recovering from an injury, which might give he and Alabama a slightly larger margin for error in people's minds. However, we're talking #1 in Heisman standings, #1 in the playoff rankings, and quite possibly #1 in the NFL draft. The winner of this game likely picks up a lot of the support for the other team/candidate, giving them a rock solid hold on #1 (playoff and Heisman standings). I was a bit relieved that when it seemed like Tua was going to be out of the Heisman race, hoping it might re-balance the offense and take some of the pressure off. But, here we are...
Personally, I'm fine with an ugly win. I'd be fine with a throwback performance where Najee Harris takes over the game and Alabama dominates on the ground. However, I know the most likely scenario is that the quarterback who plays better wins the game... and the Heisman.
Obviously the game is huge. It will practically guarantee the winner a spot in the playoff. The loser, particularly if it is LSU, will still have a shot at the playoff as well.
The Heisman trophy doesn't have a playoff though. The loser of this game will probably lose the Heisman. I have to admit, after the Tua injury I felt like his candidacy was over. It knocked him out of that game, it knocked him out of a future game, and I believe the last winner to miss a game due to injury was Charles Woodson.
A few things happened though. While Burrow played a solid game, his 1 passing TD and 145 rating was not good enough to distance himself sufficiently. Hurts, while salvaging his reputation a bit late in the game ended up losing. He also only threw for one touchdown. These two less than stellar performances resulted in Tua having the top QBR in college football.
Another recent development opened the path even further, Chase Young's suspension ends his already unlikely Heisman candidacy. So, miraculously Tua didn't really lose much ground after being hurt. I saw a new ranking which has Burrow 1, Young 2, Tua 3, and Hurts 4. I might as well mention Fields, who is right up there in QBR. He's just not throwing the ball enough to be a top candidate, and whether or not that's fair is another debate. That along with another player on his team stealing the limelight is all it takes to significantly weaken his chances.
Burrow as it stands is really running away with the award. He has the numbers, his team has the ranking, but all those things can change. For instance, the Fournette vs. Henry matchup. Coming into the game Fournette was seen as running away with the trophy, and he was. He was putting together big game after big game. The least amount of rushing yards he put up was 150. Winning the trophy seemed like a formality. Then Alabama happened, and he got a mere 31 yards. On the other hand, Henry had a massive game, with 201 yards and 3 TDs. Fournette never recovered, going for 91 yards the next game, and 108 after that. Henry went for 204, 271, and 189.
I also recall going to the 2012 Texas A&M game and telling a young cousin I brought with us that this would probably decide the Heisman trophy. Johnny Manziel already had a good shot at the Heisman, but AJ was kind of an outlier in the discussion. Johnny was as advertised, but unfortunately AJ struggled. He threw 2 interceptions and had one of his worst performances of the year. This ended any Heisman candidacy that year for AJ, but it solidified Johnny's position. A result like that would surely be the difference between Burrow or Tua.
This is a different situation, but it's hard to imagine the stakes being much higher. Tua is recovering from an injury, which might give he and Alabama a slightly larger margin for error in people's minds. However, we're talking #1 in Heisman standings, #1 in the playoff rankings, and quite possibly #1 in the NFL draft. The winner of this game likely picks up a lot of the support for the other team/candidate, giving them a rock solid hold on #1 (playoff and Heisman standings). I was a bit relieved that when it seemed like Tua was going to be out of the Heisman race, hoping it might re-balance the offense and take some of the pressure off. But, here we are...
Personally, I'm fine with an ugly win. I'd be fine with a throwback performance where Najee Harris takes over the game and Alabama dominates on the ground. However, I know the most likely scenario is that the quarterback who plays better wins the game... and the Heisman.
