NCAA Football Heisman Predictions
Five weeks into the college football season, let’s examine who the frontrunners are for the 2015 Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best player in college football. Cappers Picks provides free College football handicapping tips all season long so keep checking back for more free analysis.
Heisman Forecast
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Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska
114 carries, 833 yards, 10 total TDs (rush & receiving), 7.3 yard avg.
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The Cornhuskers’ bell-cow RB is using a stellar campaign to date and a down year in the conference to really broadcast his candidacy.
The senior is coming off two massive games versus Miami (Fl) and division rival Illinois. In that pair of games alone, he put up 437 rush yards and five TDs. Wow.
Abdullah also saved his team’s bacon earlier in the season against middling McNeese State with a last-second long TD run; he’s helped guide Nebraska to an unbeaten record – rare in the oft-whipped Big Ten.
Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
1,135 pass yards, 13-0 TD/INT ratio, 74% completion, 214 rush yards, 3 rush TDs
For a program that has been good for at least the past decade, the junior from Hawaii might be the best skill position player ever to come through Eugene. Mariota has played nearly flawless football despite his team’s pulse-raising, narrow victory against Washington State last week.
Despite a 38-31 squeaker, Mariota put up a 21-for-25 line for 329 yards and five majors. The high-speed, relentless attack run by Oregon plays right into the QB’s strengths – athleticism and accuracy. Look for Mariota to be right near the top of the list come the end of the season.
Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
69 carries, 610 yards, 6 rush TDs, 8.8 yard avg.
The junior North Carolina native possesses stats that aren’t as impressive as his Nebraska counterpart, but he is also being used less heavily than Abdullah is in Lincoln.
The Bulldogs have an offense that can beat you in multiple ways and a scary group of future NFL linebackers, so they don’t have to always lean on Gurley. Regardless, he’s a future pro football player through and through. His 6″1, 226-lb frame makes SEC defenders wish they didn’t try to tackle him.
Gurley’s nearly nine yards-per-clip average shows that he also has breakaway speed.
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Georgia’s tricky upcoming schedule will explain much in terms of how viable Gurley’s Heisman candidacy is in 2014.
Kenny Hill, QB, Texas A&M
1,745 yards, 17-2 TD/INT ratio, 65.6% completion
While frontrunning candidate WR Amari Cooper had a bye week, I thought it’d be interesting to showcase Hill, the man who took over for Johnny Football at College Station.
The first-year starter threw a fourth quarter INT last week versus Arkansas that could’ve proved costly, but he recovered and led A&M to a win in overtime. His 386 yards and four TDs were vital to the Aggies’ success in that game.
The sophomore has led Texas A&M to an unbeaten record thus far, but the Aggies looked rickety last week and, being in the SEC West, a vicious schedule looms that should separate the players from the contenders.
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Hill might not be on the shortlist in a few weeks’ time.
DARKHORSE: Taysom Hill, QB, BYU
876 pass yards, 6-3 TD/INT ratio, 66.1% completion, 428 rush yards, 13 total TDs
The junior from Pocatello, Idaho, has passing stats that won’t bulge your eyes, but he deserves a mention because of his dual-threat capabilities and his team’s unbeaten record.
Hill and the Cougars of Brigham Young have impressive victories over teams like Texas, Virginia and Houston. Hill’s 160 rushing yards against the Houston Cougars was pretty impressive.
At 4-0, BYU controls its own destiny and if they keep winning on the strength of Hill’s arm and fleet feet, he’ll deserve a nod in New York come season’s end.
Others That Raise An Eyebrow: Everett Golson, QB, Notre Dame; Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin; Dak Prescott, QB, Mississippi State
Check out our Updated College Football Week 5 Odds.
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