Week 10 of the college football season is upon us and surprisingly, for the first time in several years, there isn’t one clear-cut Heisman favorite.
In 2012, Johnny “Football” Manziel shocked the college football world with his incredible performances each Saturday. His 3,706 passing yards, 1,410 rushing yards and 47 total touchdowns was enough for Manziel to lock up college football’s most-coveted award early in his redshirt-freshman campaign.
Manziel is again a Heisman candidate this year, but far from the front-runner.
The most talked about college athlete in the world is battling with Oregon gunslinger Marcus Mariota and Florida State’s freshman phenom Jameis Winston for his second-consecutive Heisman.
Manziel’s 3,080 combined rushing and passing yards this season is the highest out of any of the three quarterbacks, but because of Texas A&M’s dreadful defense, Manziel has had to single handedly advanced the Aggies to a 6-2 record. His performances week in and week out are arguably the most impressive out of any playmaker in the country.
Mariota, a redshirt sophomore from Honolulu, has eclipsed 2,700 yards of total offense and 29 touchdowns. Not to mention, Mariota is the only starting Division I quarterback that can say he hasn’t thrown an interception this season.
While some analysts give Mariota the nod as top Heisman candidate heading into week ten, his Oregon Ducks squad still have colossal games against the fifth-ranked Stanford and archrival Oregon State. These end of the year tests will make or break Mariota’s Heisman hopes.
Florida State’s Winston is having a stellar Heisman campaign of his own. The redshirt freshman is looking to do what only Manziel has done and that is to be declared a Heisman winner in his freshman year of college football.
Winston, who passed up a MLB contract in 2012, came to Tallahassee, Fla. as one of the most-touted quarterbacks of all time. Winston has lived up to that hype, compiling 2,177 passing yards and 26 total touchdowns through just seven games.
While Manziel and Mariota have three games remaining, Winston has four more matchups to impress Heisman voters.
With several weeks remaining in the college football season, it’s a safe bet that one or maybe two of these candidates will retract themselves from Heisman contention due to injury or a poor performance.
That being said, if the college football season ended today, and I was on the Heisman voting committee, there’s no doubt Johnny Manziel would be written on my ballot.
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@SKwiatkowski247
