Heisman Trophy Watch Week 12: Trevone Boykin, Marcus Mariota Move Up

Nov 8, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) runs with the ball during the second half against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Oregon won 51-27. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Separation Saturday may have cut down on the number of teams in the College Football Playoff race, but it burst open the number of players in the Heisman Trophy race. All of a sudden, there are certain teams becoming relevant again, and there are certain players whose numbers are so amazing that, even if they aren’t on great teams, we have to ignore them.

Then there are a few players simply passing our eye test and consistently earning their way into the race because, with their team in the national championship race, they have made crucial plays at crucial moments to be the difference.

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And finally, there are the players who have everything: a team in the College Football Playoff race, amazing stats, and their clutch gene showing in the biggest moments. All of this has made it hard for us to narrow down the Heisman Trophy Watch for Week 12. We still need a few more weeks to cut it down from 10.

And honestly, having at 10 might not be enough at this point. So many players could be in the running for the best player of the year, and we believe that this year, unlike some other years, almost all of these players will be stars at the next level.

So without a lot of confidence at least in terms of the people who belong on the list, here is our ranking of our Top 10 Heisman Trophy candidates.

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