2013 Heisman Trophy - week 3: If not Johnny Football, then who?

Normally a loss is harmful to a Heisman hopeful quarterback, and a loss in "the Big Game" moreso. There's no doubt that losing to Alabama hurts Johnny Manziel's chances of repeating as the trophy winner, but damn did he put on a good show against the Tide last Saturday.

Even in losing he had more "Heisman moments" in the game than most of the other candidates have had all season so far. And while he threw two crucial interceptions—one in the end zone and one pick six—that were probably the difference in the game, without him the Aggies wouldn't have been in the game in the first place. The defense wasn't going to win it for them.

So while Manziel gets docked for the loss and it may ultimately be the reason he doesn't win the Heisman, for now we see no reason to drop him from the top spot. Who is going to replace him, Tajh Boyd who was idle and has 439 passing yards for the season—25 fewer than Manziel passed for against Alabama? I don't think so.

Nor Braxton Miller, who missed the Cal game with an injury and sees his trophy chances dwindling with every week he's out of the spotlight. Not Marqise Lee, who also drops a spot after catching just two passes in USC's win over Boston College. One was a highlight-reel 80-yard touchdown catch but his game is clearly off last year's. And even though Jordan Lynch moves up two spots it's mainly because of weakness above him, and the fact that Northern Illinois' defense was bad enough to allow lowly Idaho to stick with them. Lynch both passed and rushed for over 150 yards in the win; we'll see if his team can keep winning to keep him in the race.

1. Johnny Manziel, QB Texas A&M (2-1; lost to Alabama 49-42)
   LW:  28-39 71.8%  464yd  5TD 2int 14rsh  98yd 7.0av 0TD 0fmb
   TOT: 63-89 70.8%  984yd 11TD 3int 27rsh 153yd 5.7av 1TD 0fmb
2. Tahj Boyd, QB Clemson (2-0; no game last week)
   LW:  idle
   TOT: 32-53 60.4%  439yd  3TD 0int 19rsh  52yd 2.7av 3TD 0fmb
3. [up 2] Jordan Lynch, QB N. Illinois (2-0; beat Idaho 45-35)
   LW:  17-29 58.6%  152yd  3TD 0int 23rsh 159yd 6.9av 2TD 1fmb
   TOT: 42-70 60.0%  427yd  6TD 0int 45rsh 215yd 4.8av 2TD 1fmb
4. [dn 1] Braxton Miller, QB Ohio State (3-0; beat @Cal 52-27)
   LW:   did not play; injury
   TOT: 17-24 70.8%  208yd  2TD 1int 18rsh 82yd 4.6av 0fmb
5. [dn 1] Marqise Lee, WR USC (2-1; beat Boston College 35-7)
   LW:   2rec  90yd 1TD 0fmb 0rsh  0yd  0av 0fmb  0retYd 0TD 0fmb
   TOT: 17rec 221yd 1TD 0fmb 4rsh -7yd -2av 0fmb 42retYd 0TD 1fmb
6. Teddy Bridgewater, QB Louisville (3-0; beat Kentucky 27-13)
   LW:  16-28 57.1%  250yd  1TD 0int  6rsh  35yd 5.8av 0TD 0fmb
   TOT: 62-88 70.5% 1002yd 10TD 1int  9rsh  35yd 3.9av 0TD 0fmb
7. [new] Marcus Mariota, QB Oregon (3-0; beat Tennessee 59-14)
   LW:  23-33 69.7%  456yd  4TD 0int  6rsh  27yd 4.5av 1TD 0fmb
   TOT: 49-82 59.8%  889yd  7TD 0int 15rsh 262yd 17+av 4TD 0fmb
8. [dn 1] Jadeveon Clowney, DE South Carolina (2-1; beat Vanderbilt 35-25)
   LW:   4 tackle 1 sack 1 tfl 0 pbu 0 int 1 ffmb 0 kBlock
   TOT: 10 tackle 2 sack 3 tfl 0 pbu 0 int 1 ffmb 0 kBlock

Teddy Bridgewater's recent buzz seems to be fading already, but such is the nature of the race. He had just one touchdown pass against Kentucky. The new QB du jour is Oregon's Marcus Mariota, who jumped to #1 on some lists, just like that....we'll wait until he plays someone. We do bring him on board this week as his 5 TD performance against Tennessee was pretty great, and notice that after three games—two against BCS-conference foes—Mariota is averaging over 17 yards per carry. Falling a spot, as usual, is Jadeveon Clowney, who did have a forced fumble to go along with a sack and another tackle for loss in the Vanderbilt win. But nothing suggests that's enough to get him back among the leaders.

This coming week: #2 Tahj Boyd's Clemson faces North Carolina State on Thursday night. On Saturday #1 Johnny Manziel's Texas A&M takes on SMU. #3 Jordan Lynch's Northern Illinois hosts Eastern Illinois while Ohio State also faces an FCS team (Florida A&M) with Braxton Miller listed as "probable." Marqise Lee's USC faces a decent test as the Trojans host Utah State. Meanwhile Teddy Bridgewater and Louisville have a breather against lowly FIU, while Marcus Mariota and Jadeveon Clowney literally have breathers as Oregon and South Carolina are idle.