The first week of college football has come and gone, bringing a lot of action and news with it. Alabama proved it was the best team in the country, Louisville and USC overcame scares, Jake Olson made history, and UCLA had a comeback for the ages.
Of course, all of that impacts our Heisman race. We only have one drop out from last week: Deondre Francois of Florida State, who suffered an injury against Alabama and will miss the entire season. That being said, let's get started.
10. Jalen Hurts, Alabama (Last Week: 10)- Like last year, Hurts was not the main reason Alabama beat FSU (the real reason was 'Bama's defense and special teams unit). Nonetheless, Hurts played decently well, as he threw for 96 yards and a touchdown while also adding 55 yards on the ground. Games like these will keep him in the Heisman conversation, but only on the outskirts. If he wants to win, he'll have to start doing a lot more.
9. Josh Rosen, UCLA (Last Week: NR)- I'm sure a number of you are surprised to find Rosen ranked so low. After all, other pundits have him as high as #1. I don't dispute that he had a great game against Texas A&M, there's just the problem that he had a pretty weak first half. He eventually rebounded to finish with four touchdowns and 491 passing yards, but the slow start prevents him from being ranked higher.
8. Royce Freeman, Oregon (Last Week: 9)- In limited playing time, Freeman racked up 200 total yards and four rushing touchdowns. Unfortunately, his performance did play a little under the radar as he was playing against Southern Utah.
7. Nick Chubb, Georgia (Last Week: 7)- Like Freeman, Chubb saw his time on the field limited. He did however, still run for 96 yards and two touchdowns. He'll need to have a big game against #24 Notre Dame next week if he wants to move up.
6. Saquon Barley, Penn State (Last Week: 8)- Barkley dazzled for the Nittany Lions as they rolled over the Akron Zips. He ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns while also catching three passes for 54 yards.
5. JT Barrett, Ohio State (Last Week: 5)- Barrett quietly had a great game as OSU picked up its first conference win of the season. He went 20 for 35 for 304 yards and three touchdowns while adding 61 yards and a touchdown on the ground. This isn't the first year Barrett has been inexplicably left out of the Heisman conversation, but it might also be the year he gets invited to New York.
4. Sam Darnold, USC (Last Week: 1)- If you just look at the stat line, then Darnold had a decent game. He threw for 289 yards and ran for a touchdown. But if you watched the game, then you know that the stats don't tell the full story. Darnold threw two picks, racked up -6 rushing yards, and struggled mightily against Western Michigan. This game didn't kill his chances of winning the Heisman, but it certainly hurt.
3. Derrius Guice, LSU (Last Week: 3)- Guice put up good numbers against BYU as he ran for 122 yards and two scores. It was a pretty quiet game but you can be sure that Guice will explode sometime soon.
2. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma (Last Week: 4)- Some quarterbacks threw a touchdown this week. Others ran for a touchdown. Baker Mayfield on the other hand, threw one incompletion. Honestly, I had no idea that was even possible.
1. Lamar Jackson, Louisville (Last Week: 1)- Yes, the Cardinals had a bit of a scare against Purdue, but Jackson once again played beautifully. In total, he accounted for two touchdowns and 485 yards. It seems like he has a really good chance of becoming a repeat Heisman winner.
Thanks for reading.
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