Heisman Race, week 11: All Shook up

Exhibit A of why you never say "they should just hand him the Heisman right now" any time before the final week of the season: Oregon's loss to Stanford, which puts a big dent in Marcus Mariota's candidacy. The Oregon quarterback finished with fairly decent stats, but just like the final score they were misleading. The Ducks could do no right for 3 quarters, then battled back to make the game respectable. Mariota's 250 yards, 2 TDs, and no interceptions look pretty good, but his negative rushing yardage and fumble were costly in the loss. Mariota was hobbled with an injury, and if Oregon could have completed the miracle comeback from the dead he would have solidified his position at #1, but instead he drops to #3. Down, but not out.

Johnny Manziel reclaims the top spot he relinquished several weeks ago. The way he's playing he really could buck the odds to win a 2nd Heisman, but his knack for throwing interceptions—particularly in the red zone—are a drawback, and his team's 2 losses are a big negative when compared to new #2 Jameis Winston of Florida State. But without Manziel A&M would have at least 4 losses, while FSU sans Winston might still be undefeated. For at least this week, we go with the guy who threw 5 touchdown passes over the one who threw just 2 in his team's blowout win.

Jordan Lynch lost a bit of momentum by not playing last weekend and drops a spot to #4. He was starting to catch on a bit with voters and he'll have to pick that back up in a Wednesday night game. Similarly, Tajh Boyd of Clemson was rehabilitating his candidacy lately but was idle last weekend and holds at #5; he plays on Thursday night.

SportsRatings Week 11 Heisman Race

1. [up 1] Johnny Manziel, QB Texas A&M (8-2; beat Miss. State 51-41)
   LW:   30-39  76.9%  446yd  5TD  3int  14rsh   47yd 3.4av 0TD 0fmb
   TOT: 230-315 73.0% 3313yd 31TD 11int 110rsh  611yd 5.6av 8TD 1fmb
2. [up 2] Jameis Winston, QB Florida State (9-0; beat Wake Forest 59-3)
   LW:   17-28  60.7%  159yd  2TD  1int   3rsh    4yd 0.8av  0TD 0fmb
   TOT: 166-240 69.2% 2661yd 26TD  7int  53rsh  157yd 3.0av  3TD 0fmb
3. [dn 2] Marcus Mariota, QB Oregon (8-1; lost to Stanford 26-20)
   LW:   20-34  58.8%  250yd  2TD  0int   6rsh  -16yd  -3av  0TD 1fmb
   TOT: 164-259 63.3% 2531yd 22TD  0int  62rsh  495yd 8.0av  9TD 3.5fmb
4. [dn 1] Jordan Lynch, QB N. Illinois (9-0; idle)
   LW:  no game last week
   TOT: 164-258 63.6% 1871yd 19TD  5int 173rsh 1150yd 6.6av 12TD 1fmb 1recTD
5. Tajh Boyd, QB Clemson (8-1; idle)
   LW:  no game last week
   TOT: 192-292 65.8% 2620yd 20TD  6int 100rsh  194yd 1.9av  7TD 1fmb
6. Teddy Bridgewater, QB Louisville (8-1; beat UConn 31-10)
   LW:   21-37  56.8%  288yd  1TD 1int   7rsh   21yd 3.0av  0TD 0fmb
   TOT: 200-280 71.4% 2845yd 24TD 3int  37rsh   40yd 1.1av  0TD 1fmb
7. Braxton Miller, QB Ohio State (9-0; idle)
   LW:  no game last week
   TOT: 108-149 72.5% 1316yd 15TD 3int  87rsh  410yd 4.7av  2TD 2fmb
8. [up 3] Bryce Petty, QB Baylor (8-0; beat Oklahoma 41-12)
   LW:   13-26  50.0%  204yd  3TD 0int  16rsh   45yd 2.8av  2TD 0fmb
   TOT: 135-202 66.8% 2657yd 21TD 1int  44rsh  118yd 2.7av  8TD 2fmb
9. Brandin Cooks, WR Oregon St (6-3; idle)
   LW:  no game last week
   TOT: 91rec 1344yd 14TD 0fmb; 23rsh 174yd 7.6av 2TD 0fmb  71retYd 0TD 1fmb
10. [dn 2] Melvin Gordon, RB Wisconsin (7-2; beat BYU 27-17)
    LW:   19rsh   86yd 4.5av  0TD 0fmb; 0rec 0yd 0TD; 0retYd  0TD 0fmb
    TOT: 143rsh 1160yd 8.1av 11TD 0fmb; 1rec 5yd 0TD; 0retYd  0TD 0fmb
11. [dn 1] Aaron Murray, QB Georgia (6-3; beat Appalachian St 45-6)
    LW:   19-26  73.1%  281yd  2TD 1int   2rsh   24yd  12av  0TD 0fmb
    TOT: 174-275 63.3% 2477yd 20TD 7int  40rsh  118yd 3.0av  5TD 3fmb
12. Sean Mannion, QB Oregon St (6-3; idle)
    LW:  no game last week
    TOT: 296-436 67.9% 3540yd 31TD 6int  28rsh -174yd  -6av 0TD 2fmb
13. [up 2] A.J. McCarron, QB Alabama (9-0; beat LSU 38-17)
    LW:   14-20  70.0%  179yd  3TD 0int   3rsh   -2yd -0.7av 0TD 0fmb
    TOT: 159-229 69.4% 2041yd 19TD 3int  16rsh  -22yd -1.4av 0TD 0fmb
    
    out:
    
    
14. Jadeveon Clowney, DE South Carolina
15. Marqise Lee, WR USC

#6 Teddy Bridgewater didn't have a great game against UConn and missed the chance to move up with Boyd idle. But Ohio State's Braxton Miller was idle, too, so he didn't add anything to his meager stats to justify putting him ahead of Bridgewater; he remains #7.

Baylor's Bryce Petty made a big move with the Bears' win over Oklahoma; it showed that Petty could excel against a strong defense. It's true that he only completed 50% of his attempts, but remember that Oklahoma has the #1 pass defense (per-game, adjusted for competition) in the nation. He still managed to throw three touchdown passes and run for two more. A 5-touchdown performance against Oklahoma? That makes his candidacy serious; he moves up three spots to #8 with several big-game opportunities left.

Petty leaps over the main non-quarterback candidates, Brandin Cooks and Melvin Gordon. Cooks was idle but he's still far and away the top receiver by yardage in the country. Wisconsin's Gordon, on the other hand, is slipping down the rushing chart and had another sub-100-yard game against BYU. Gordon falls 2 spots to #10 while Cooks remains at #9.

Georgia's Aaron Murray did okay against Appalachian State, an FBS team, but Petty passes him, too. He stays one spot ahead of Sean Mannion of Oregon State who was idle. Coming up behind them is Alabama's A.J. McCarron who led his team well against LSU. McCarron will stay in the race until the end if Alabama keeps winning.

Officially out of our race this week (but in reality, out many weeks ago) are Jadeveon Clowney and Marqise Lee, two candidate who started the year with a lot of hype but didn't come close to living up to it. We'll continue to eliminate two candidates each week until we have our final five and declare the winner.