3 weekends of college football are in the books, and while some questions have been answered as to which teams are good and who’s not, plenty remain unanswered. The race for the Heisman Trophy is much of the same. Brian Wolf takes a look at his top 5 Heisman contenders through 3 weeks and some of the stories that have interested him so far.
Stud wideout Will Fuller has meshed well with backup QB DeShone Kizer (Getty Images)
#5 Will Fuller, WR Notre Dame
The 6’0″ junior from Philadelphia, PA is on pace for over 1,500 receiving yards and 20 plus touchdowns. Through three games, Fuller has 18 receptions for 397 yards and 5 touchdowns. With the season ending injury to quarterback Malik Zaire, look for DeShone Kizer to rely heavily on the All-American candidate during crucial moments the rest of the season.
Buffalo Native Chad Kelly has surprised early for Ole Miss (Getty Images)
#4 Chad Kelly, QB Ole Miss
Who would have thought Chad Kelly would be performing the way he is and in the early running for the Heisman Trophy? The Buffalo, New York native is in charge of the number third ranked team in the AP Top 25 poll. The gun slinger put his name on the map with an impressive win on the road in Alabama. The former Clemson Tiger threw for 341 yards on 18 of 33 with three touchdown passes, one rushing touchdown, and no interceptions. Through three games, Kelly has thrown for 898 yards, nine touchdowns, and rushed for 67 yards and three touchdowns as well. Kelly did not play much of the second half against Tennessee Martin where Ole-Miss won 76-3.
Mayfield has impressed early for a resurgent Oklahoma (Getty Images)
#3 Baker Mayfield, QB Oklahoma
Baker Mayfield came in from Texas Tech and replaced Trevor Knight at the quarterback position. Coming from the high air raid machine that Mike Leach created and Kliff Kingsbury has continued, Mayfield has connected on 74 of 110 passes through three games for 1,062 yards and ten touchdowns to go along with just two interceptions. After a couple of down years for Bob Stoops, Mayfield has the Sooners at number 15 in both the AP Top 25 poll and the Coaches Poll as well. Oklahoma’s schedule gets very interesting the last 3 weeks as they travel to #5 Baylor, then host #3 TCU and then travel to #24 Oklahoma State to take on their in state rival. If Mayfield can perform well in those three contests and keep an undefeated record, look for the gunslinger to be standing on the Heisman podium and having the Sooners in the playoffs.
Boykin remains one of the most dynamic players in college fooball
#2 Trevone Boykin, QB TCU
After being a snub last year from the 2014 Heisman finalists, the TCU quarterback is an early favorite for the award. After a shaky first game against Minnesota where the Horned Frogs escaped with a 23-17 victory. In their last two contests, TCU has outscored their opponents (Stephen F. Austin and SMU) 126-44. Boykins has completed 66% of his passes for 985 yards with ten touchdowns and three interceptions. On the ground, the mobile quarterback has rushed the ball 32 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Things will start to get interesting for TCU and Boykin as they head into Big 12 play. Look for Boykin to continue to put up Heisman like numbers.
Fournette ran over and around Auburn in a dominant performance (Getty Images)
#1 Leonard Fournette, RB LSU
Early college football stats can be misleading as the top teams often schedule lesser opponents. While LSU did play McNeese State in its first contest, it has then played tough competition in Mississippi State and Auburn. All the sophomore has done in those three games in rush for an average of 193.5 yards which is almost 30 yards a game more than the next closest running back in the FBS. Fournette came into LSU as the number 1 rated running back in his recruiting class and he is showing all of America exactly why. He runs with speed, power, and can make any defender miss. Looks for LSU to rely on their star running back who in return will have plenty of touches, and plenty of chances to have some Heisman moments throughout the season.
Other Headlines:
Arkansas’s Bielema Puts His Foot in His Mouth
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema had some words over a coaches clinic in Texas over this past summer, calling out spread offenses and how effective they are and that they do not translate to the next level. Welp Kliff Kingsbury was not having any of that and after Texas Tech went on to defeat Arkansas this past weekend, the GQ head coach had some comments for Bret Bielema.
This is not the first time Bielema has run his mouth. He made comments in regards to Ohio State and their lack of a difficult schedule, and then proceeded to lose to Toledo from the MAC, and a school from the state of Ohio.
Alabama Wide Receiver Talks Trash But Can’t Back It Up
After Ole Miss went into Alabama and defeated the Tide, Alabama wide receiver Parker Barrineau had to vent and unfortunately took to Twitter to do so.
The thing about this, is that Parker does not play. The senior wide out has made an appearance on special teams, but has yet to record a stat. Actually, Mr. Barrineau only has two receptions in his four season for Alabama for a total of 16 yards. Barrineau later deleted the tweet after someone knocked some sense in him. It is always the guys on the bench that do the talking.
– Brian Wolf
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