2015 Heisman Race - Week 1

We're going to combine our pre-season and Week 1 Heisman Watch into one special double-sized issue. Here goes.

Pre-season

Our pre-season Heisman list is composed of those players left over from last year's official Heisman Trophy vote, in order—with a twist.

1. Trevone Boykin, QB TCU
2. JT Barrett, QB Ohio St
3. Dak Prescott, QB Miss St.
4. Scooby Wright, LB Arizona
5. Braxton Miller, WR Ohio St

The 'twist' is that Braxton Miller, who was 9th in voting in 2013, is playing this year. But not at the position that put him on the list back then. Still, we're including him, as well as JT Barrett who was in competition for the Ohio State starting QB job (more on that later). Trevone Boykin, 4th in last year's vote, starts at the top of our list, with Dak Prescott 4th to start this year, and Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright getting an early jump as the token defensive player.

Week One:

The biggest thing that happened in week one was Cardale Jones winning the starting spot for Ohio State. Just due to that fact, he makes our list this week. Even more importantly he played almost the full game, with JT Barrett getting in just a few plays. This puts Barrett's candidacy in great jeopardy, but he doesn't fall from #2 this week because #3 Dak Prescott didn't have an incredible outing, and Barrett managed to score a touchdown on his only pass attempt, while his sole rushing attempt went for 40 yards. If nothing else, his averages are going to be amazing. Trevone Boykin's first game was rather tepid, but again, he stays in first place because 2nd-stringer Barrett isn't about to push him out.

1. Trevon Boykin, QB TCU (1-0) beat Minnesota 23-17
   26-42 61.9% 246yd 1TD 1int 18rsh 92yd 5.1av 0TD
2. JT Barrett, QB Ohio St (1-0) beat Virginia Tech 42-24
   1-1 100% 26yd 1TD 0int 1rsh 40yd 40.0av 0TD
3. Dak Prescott, QB Miss St. (1-0) beat Southern Miss 34-16
   22-38 57.9% 237yd 2TD 0int 8rsh 72yd 9.0av 1TD
4. [up 1] Braxton Miller, WR Ohio St (1-0) beat Virginia Tech 42-24
   3rec 79yd 1TD 5rsh 61yd 12.2av 1TD
5. [new] Cardale Jones, QB Ohio St (1-0) beat Virginia Tech 42-24
   10-19 52.6% 187yd 2TD 1int 13rsh 99yd 7.6av 1TD
6. [dn 2] Scooby Wright, LB Arizona (1-0) beat UTSA 42-32
   1 tackle (injured)

The next biggest thing that happened was Arizona's Scooby Wright going out with an injury early in the Wildcats' win over UTSA. He'll be out for a month, which basically means his long-shot candidacy is over. If he comes back healthy he could still build up enough stats to be the defensive representative in this year's vote. Braxton Miller moves up a spot after scoring 2 touchdowns in his new role, so now the three OSU once-and-future QBs are on the list. There could be four Buckeyes soon if Ezekiel Elliot makes the list in the upcoming weeks.

Comments

[Aaron]

No bowl preview this year?

[SportsRatings]

Unfortunately, no. The "real world" has greatly impacted this year's coverage and I'm just maintaining the bare minimum for now. I'll try to update some more of the stats pretty soon but that's about it.