They say you can’t win the Heisman Trophy in September or even October. But, can you win it the first Saturday in November?
Lamar Jackson is testing that theory to its limits.
Entering Week 10, the Louisville quarterback was the overwhelming favorite for this year’s Heisman. Exiting it? If overwhelminger is a word it’s apt on this day as Jackson once again strung together a virtuoso performance against an overmatched and under siege opponent.
Matching up with a very respectable Boston College defense coming in -- ninth in total defense, 35th in scoring -- Jackson put up 416 yards of offense, the seventh time in nine games this season he’s gone for 400-plus, in less than three quarters of work in a game in which the U of L was winning 52-7 at the time of his departure. He passed for 231 of those yards -- on just 17 attempts -- while he ran for 185 of them on only 15 carries.
On those 32 combined pass/rush attempts, Jackson accounted for seven total touchdowns. It was the first time this season that he totaled three rushing touchdowns, while he’s thrown for four touchdowns in back-to-back games. The seven scores were one off his season-high of eight during the season opener.
Thus far this season, Jackson has accounted for 45 touchdowns. Coming into Week 10, only 10 FBS teams had scored more than the sophomore. Jackson has a chance for this to be an all-time campaign as he’s only 18 touchdowns away from tying the FBS record for most touchdowns responsible for in a single season (63, Colt Brennan, Hawaii, 2006) with four games remaining
So, circling back to the original premise: has Jackson locked down the Heisman with a month left in the regular season? Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers and Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, and possibly Washington’s Jake Browning, will certainly have something to say about the race; that said, it would take a stumble of historical proportions or a monumentally Herculean effort by one of the challengers -- or both -- for it to be anyone other than Jackson hoisting the stiff-armed trophy in the Big Apple come mid-December.
We tweeted this back in mid-September. Nearly two months later, it still stands.Our current Heisman Top Three:
1.) Lamar Jackson
2.) Jackson, Lamar
3.) That Louisville QB
— CollegeFootballTalk (@CFTalk) September 17, 2016