After another solid performance on Thanksgiving weekend, everyone is chasing Baker Mayfield in the Heisman race. Can anyone catch Mayfield after Week 13?
For most of the season, Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield has hovered at or near the top of the Heisman Trophy race. In the past few weeks, though, there has been some familiar names popping up in the Heisman hunt.
Last year’s winner, Lamar Jackson, has come on as of late with six straight 100-yard rushing games. He is putting up big numbers in the back half of the season, and boasts better passing and rushing averages than he racked up last season.
Saquon Barkley has also continued to hover on the cusp of the top five. Last week, the Heisman Watch put him in a tie at fifth place. But while Penn State won its 10th game of the season in Week 13, Barkley was outrushed by Nittany Lions backup quarterback Tommy Stevens and once again failed to reach 100 all-purpose yards.
Preseason favorites like Sam Darnold at USC and Derrius Guice at LSU helped their teams have solid late stretches. Newcomers like Khalil Tate at Arizona came on late. But there have been five key figures that have consistently held on to their spots over the past month who were not easily unseated from the Heisman race.
Is the top five all just window dressing, though?
At this point, though, the question is whether anyone can take down Mayfield in the Heisman vote. Mayfield didn’t get the start last week after questions of his integrity came up during the Kansas game. But while he sat out a few plays in the Sooners win over West Virginia, the Oklahoma gunslinger had another big performance when he got back on the field.
Can anybody unseat Mayfield from the top spot at this point, especially since the Sooners have a 13th game coming up in the Big 12 championship against TCU? Probably not. But given the Horned Frogs field one of the stingier defenses in the country, they will be itching to embarrass Mayfield in their second chance to knock off Oklahoma. If he has a poor outing, here are the four men who could unseat him as we enter the championship contests of Week 14.