Heisman Watch 2017: 3 reasons why Baker Mayfield will take home award

1. Baker Mayfield kept up a record-setting pace throughout 2017

Coming into the 2017 season, Baker Mayfield already held the record for the highest passing efficiency rating over the course of a season. In 2016, he broke Russell Wilson‘s season efficiency record by posting a mark of 196.4 to lead the Sooners to the Big 12 title. He shattered his own mark in 2017, finishing the regular season as the first passer to complete a campaign with an efficiency rating over 200 for a season.

Of course, he still has to play in a bowl game. And it is entirely possible that Georgia will make him look silly. But Mayfield put up big numbers against some solid defenses, including on the road at Big Ten champion Ohio State (27-of-35, 386 yards, three touchdowns) and twice against TCU in conference play. The Sooners star finished the regular season with 4340 passing yards, throwing 41 touchdowns against just five interceptions.

Even more amazingly, Mayfield is on pace to break not only his single-season efficiency record but also the FBS career mark held by his Oklahoma predecessor and former Heisman winner Sam Bradford. To break that record, all Mayfield has to do in his last bowl game(s) is to finish with an efficiency rating over 176 each time. As long as he does that, the gunslinger will become the career efficiency record holder.