Heisman Race, week 14: Winston makes for easiest pick, toughest decision

One weekend to go, then the voters make their decision. The obvious on-field candidate, Jameis Winston, would be running away with the award if not for possible pending legal difficulties, to put things mildly. We're supposed to know tomorrow whether an indictment will be made, and even that won't settle the arguments obviously.

Football-wise, Winston did well against Florida and with several others stumbling would have further distanced himself from the pack. Facing Duke this weekend, all he would need to do is not lose and he would be winning the vote by a landslide. As it stands, regardless of whether he's indicted, even a slightly poor performance against Duke will add more doubt to his candidacy. But the looming question is, who else deserves a #1 vote?

We move Jordan Lynch into the #2 spots after—for the 2nd time this year—he broke the NCAA record for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback. Lynch had 321 yards against lowly Western Michigan. He was just 5 of 17 passing in bad weather conditions but he had 3 rushing TDs, making him a member of the very elite 20/20 club. Now that Lynch is getting lots of attention, should we mention that this is the only place you would have seen Lynch in the top 5 the entire season? Yes, we should. Dropping a spot is last year's winner Johnny Manziel, whose A&M team lost its fourth game. Manziel had just one TD on the day.

Up two spots to #4 is Braxton Miller, who, by keeping Ohio State undefeated, has worked his way back into consideration as a finalist. Miller had a passing day similar to Lynch but rushed for 153 yards against Michigan and tallied 5 touchdowns in total. He edges past Marcus Mariota of Oregon who threw 2 more interceptions against Oregon State but did have a great clutch fourth-down touchdown pass.

SportsRatings Week 14 Heisman Race

1. Jameis Winston, QB Florida State (12-0; beat Florida 37-7)
   LW:   19-31  61.3%  327yd  3TD  1int   5rsh    8yd 1.6av  0TD 0fmb
   TOT: 218-317 68.8% 3490yd 34TD  8int  67rsh  134yd 2.0av  3TD 1fmb
   
   
2. [up 1] Jordan Lynch, QB N. Illinois (12-0; beat Western Michigan 33-14)
   LW:    5-17  29.4%   39yd  1TD  0int  27rsh  321yd  12av  3TD 0fmb
   TOT: 212-329 64.4% 2457yd 22TD  5int 248rsh 1755yd 7.1av 20TD 1fmb 1recTD
   
   
3. [dn 1] Johnny Manziel, QB Texas A&M (8-4; lost to Missouri 28-21)
   LW:   24-35  68.6%  195yd  1TD  0int  11rsh   21yd 1.9av  0TD 0fmb
   TOT: 270-391 69.1% 3732yd 33TD 13int 133rsh  686yd 5.2av  8TD 1fmb
   
   
4. [up 2] Braxton Miller, QB Ohio State (12-0; beat Michigan 42-41)
   LW:    6-15  40.0%  133yd  2TD  1int  16rsh  153yd 9.6av  3TD 0fmb
   TOT: 138-210 65.7% 1759yd 21TD  5int 132rsh  891yd 6.8av  8TD 4fmb
   
   
5. Marcus Mariota, QB Oregon (10-2; beat Oregon State 36-35)
   LW:   17-34  50.0%  285yd  3TD  2int   7rsh   53yd 7.6av  0TD 0fmb
   TOT: 227-360 63.1% 3412yd 30TD  4int  81rsh  582yd 7.2av  9TD 4fmb
   
   
6. [up 1] Bryce Petty, QB Baylor (10-1; beat TCU 41-38)
   LW:   19-38  50.0%  206yd  2TD  1int   9rsh   -5yd -.6av  1TD 0fmb
   TOT: 199-319 62.4% 3557yd 28TD  2int  73rsh  168yd 2.3av 11TD 4fmb
   
   
7. [dn 3] Tajh Boyd, QB Clemson (10-2; lost to South Carolina 31-17)
   LW:   19-27  70.4%  225yd  0TD  2int  15rsh   16yd 1.1av  1TD 1fmb
   TOT: 252-373 67.6% 3473yd 29TD  9int 134rsh  273yd 2.0av  9TD 2fmb
   
   out:
   
   
8. A.J. McCarron, QB Alabama (11-1; lost to Auburn 34-28)
9. Teddy Bridgewater, QB Louisville (10-1; no game last week)
10. Brandin Cooks, WR Oregon St
11. Melvin Gordon, RB Wisconsin
12. Aaron Murray, QB Georgia
13. Sean Mannion, QB Oregon St
14. Jadeveon Clowney, DE South Carolina
15. Marqise Lee, WR USC

Bryce Petty of Baylor had a decent day in a close win over TCU and moves up to #6, while Tajh Boyd of Clemson drops three from #4 to #7 due to Clemson's 2nd loss; Boyd threw the ball well in general but had two interceptions and a fumble on the day.

Falling out: With Alabama no longer undefeated, AJ McCarron drops off our consideration list, and Teddy Bridgewater slips out, too.

Winston, Lynch, Miller, and Petty are in action over the final weekend, while Manziel, Mariota, and Boyd are done until bowl time. Miller could slip into the top three with a great performance against Michigan State, and Petty could unseat Mariota in our "final 5", and technically the top spot is still up for grabs mostly depending on Thursday's news...but in the end we might go with the on-field action only, putting an asterisk by Winston's name. As long as he doesn't mess up against Duke, he'll stay #1 and we can rescind it later by decree if needed.