Around the country, Marcus Mariota is a hot name in Heisman prognosticating.
For the second week in a row Oregon’s sophomore quarterback is the leader in the locker room at heismanpundit.com, ahead of Tajh Boyd, A.J. McCarron and Teddy Bridgewater. Georgia running back Todd Gurley is 5th, followed by Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray. The #6 Bulldogs, 2-1 this season, host #6 LSU Saturday between the hedges, a game that should end or elevate Heisman chances for the two SEC standouts.
Dual threat Duck: leading a 3-0, #2-ranked team, Marcus has thrown for 889 yards and 7 touchdowns without an interception, while running for 262 yards and 4 more scores, 17.5 yards a carry (Gary Breedlove, Eugene Daily News photo).
Heisman Pundit’s Huston doesn’t include Johnny Manziel in his top ten. He’s pretty emphatic that there will never be another two-time Heisman winner. Oregon running back De’Anthony Thomas is included in the “others to watch” category, along with former Duck Lache Seastrunk of Baylor, and Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan.
Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon is starting to move up in the forecasts after racking up 624 yards and averaging 11.8 yards a carry in the Badgers 3-1 start. In their next two outings Wiscy has showdown games with Ohio State and Northwestern that will make or break his candidacy. The Heisman benchmark for running backs is 2,000 yards, ideally on a Top 25 team. Mark Ingram was the last non-quarterback to win in 2009 with 1,658 yards and 20 total tds, but he was the star on a national championship winner.
About Mariota, Huston says,
Nothing of note happened in the Heisman race during his break, so he remains the front runner heading into the Ducks’ game with California. His production should be out-of-this world by the time Oregon takes on Washington, UCLA and Stanford in the span of four weeks starting in mid-October. If he gets through that stretch with his team unscathed, he will have built up enough of a cushion by then to be able to weather a sub par game, or even a loss, at a later point in the season. He is currently on pace to have a better statistical season than Johnny Manziel did last year.
Zach Ellis of si.com ranks the top 10 this way:
1. Tajh Boyd, QB Clemson
2. Marcus Mariota, QB Oregon
3. Johnny Manziel, QB Texas A&M
4. Aaron Murray, QB Georgia
5. AJ McCarron, QB Alabama
6. Teddy Bridgewater, QB Louisville
7. Jameis Winston, QB Florida State
8. Todd Gurley, RB Georgia
9. Melvin Gordon, RB Wisconsin
10. Brett Hundley, QB UCLA
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