Heisman Trophy Watch 2017: Big upsets shift order in Week 6
By Zach Bigalke
With a big win over No. 20 Utah on the road in #Pac12AfterDark, Bryce Love saw his season averages drop but his Heisman stock rise. The Stanford running back busted off another highlight touchdown run, breaking tackles and romping 68 yards in the 23-20 win over the Utes. For the night, Love finished with 20 carries for 152 yards and the score while adding another 14 yards on two receptions.
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No running back in the country is churning out yards at a more prolific clip than the Cardinal standout. Love was the first tailback to reach 1000 yards on the season, and after Saturday night’s performance he remains on pace to blow past the 2000-yard mark before the end of the regular season.
Love is still well within range of Barry Sanders‘ rushing yards per game record set back in 1988 during his Heisman-winning campaign. When you include the Holiday Bowl numbers for Sanders, he rushed for 2850 yards in 12 games for an average of 237.5 yards per game. After six games, Love averages 206.7 yards per game.
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Now that Stanford is back in the hunt for the Pac-12 title, Love emerges as the new favorite for the Heisman Trophy. If the Cardinal runner comes out on top, he would join 1970 winner Jim Plunkett as the second winner from Stanford.