The official first week of college football is in the books and now is the time for all the Heisman hopefuls to start putting on a show. As this is the first week naturally this list will be long and get shorter as we go throughout the season due to some players poor performances or injuries or pretty much anything that could take them out of the Heisman race. Let’s get into how these players performed in their first games on 2019.
Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson
Etienne put on show during his first performance of the year, putting up a 90 yard TD run and tacking on another 115 rushing yards with 3 touchdowns. Georgia Tech didn’t really put up much fight vs Etienne and the Tigers but a statline like this is nothing to look over.
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
Another Clemson player on this list showing how dominant of a team Clemson is not only on the defensive side of the ball but also the offensive. In Thursday’s game vs Georgia Tech Lawrence put up only 168 yards and 1 touchdown but only on 13 / 23 attempts. Lawrence didn’t get much playing time this game since it was such a blowout.
Johnathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin
Taylor put up some big numbers friday night vs USF. Taylor recorded 135 rushing yards, 2 rushing TD’s, 48 receiving yards and 2 receiving TD’s. A huge game like this is what Taylor needs on a regular basis to make a strong case for the Heisman.
Rondale Moore, WR, Purdue
Moore had a pretty good night on Friday but Purdue as a team did not. No worse way to lose than on a last second 50+ yard field goal. Rondale caught a lot of people’s eyes on friday night by already having 8 receptions 114 yards and a TD at half time but he only finished the game with 11 receptions 124 yards and 1 TD. If Moore wants to win the Heisman he’ll have to start putting up double these numbers which I think he can do.
Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
In Fields’ first game as a Buckeye he lead his team to a 45-21 victory over FAU. In the wind Fields managed to put up 229 passing yards 4 TD’s and 19/26 attempts while also recording 61 rushing yards and 1 rushing TD.
D’Andre Swift, RB, Georgia
Swift had a pretty average night in a win over Vanderbilt. Swift only recorded 147 rushing yards on 16 attempts and no touchdowns. Swift is going to need to step his game up in the future if he wants the Heisman.
Sam Ehlinger, QB, Texas
Uncle Sam put up a pretty impressive stat line on saturday night vs Louisiana Tech. Ehlinger led the longhorns to a 45-14 win while racking up 276 passing yards and 4 touchdowns on 28/38 passing attempts.
Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon
This game was honestly so hard to watch after Oregon started to unravel because Herbert and the Ducks were looking so good in the beginning of the game. Herbert recorded 242 passing yards and 1 touchdown on 28/37 attempts. I think Herbert can bounce back from this loss and get back on track for a Heisman.
Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama
Tua and Bama started off pretty slow vs Duke but then started to play like the Bama we all know. Tua only played the first 3 quarters or so since Bama was already winning by so much but he still put up some big numbers. In the 42-3 win over Duke Tua put up 336 passing yards and 4 touchdowns on 26/31 passing attempts.
Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma
It looks like my take of Jalen Hurts being overrated could turn out to be extremely wrong but I’m not going to make any final decisions until I see him play a ranked team. Honestly you can throw any average QB into Lincoln Riley’s system and they’ll put up huge numbers but Hurts’ 332 yards and 3 TD’s by air and 176 yards and 3 TD’s by ground is nothing to look over.
By Andrew Kalb
Wingspan Sports 