Heisman Trophy Watch: Alabama’s Best Aerial Connection Leads Candidates From Week 3
With the third week of the college football season wrapped up, several players continue to pop up in discussions over who will win the Heisman Trophy.
Alabama and Oklahoma continue to lead the pack, with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy pacing the Crimson Tide in a smackdown of Ole Miss and Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray continues to replicate Baker Mayfield's outstanding 2017 season.
The early weeks of the season’s most impressive defensive case for the Heisman suffered a scare when defensive end Nick Bosa left Ohio State’s win with an apparent groin injury. The Buckeyes will head into next week with a few questions over Bosa's health.
Here's how some of the top candidates fared in Week 3:
Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray
Leading Oklahoma to their third straight win on Saturday, Murray went 21-for-29 with 348 yards and three touchdowns in a 37–27 win over Iowa State. Murray already has 863 passing yards, 169 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns for the season. As ESPN's David Hale pointed out, Murray, who has 1,032 total yards, is putting together numbers comparable to 2017 winner Baker Mayfield, who had 1,033 yards and 10 touchdowns through the first three games of last season.
Oklahoma State RB Justice Hill
Junior running back Justice Hill shined in No. 24 Oklahoma State's 44–21 win over No. 17 Boise State on Saturday. Hill recorded 15 carries with 123 rushing yards and one touchdown.
Boise State scored first but Hill tied the game with an eight-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Later, Hill wowed when he stiff armed a Boise State defender en route to the end zone. However, Hill stepped out of the bounds so the touchdown was called back.
ESPN Stats & Info pointed out that Hill has scored a rushing touchdown in nine straight games, the longest streak by a Big 12 player since Kansas State QB Collin Klein, who recorded touchdowns in 12 straight games in 2012.
Alabama WR Jerry Jeudy
Sophomore wide receiver Jerry Jeudy has turned heads early this season and continued to do so Saturday, finishing with 136 yards and two scores on just three catches as Alabama breezed to a 62–7 win over Ole Miss.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa connected with Jeudy on a 79-yard pass to give the Tide their second touchdown of the night with 9:51 left in the first quarter. In the third quarter, Jeudy scored again on a 22-yard pass from Jalen Hurts, putting Alabama up 42–7.
While his quarterback rightfully has earned the majority of national attention, the Crimson Tide’s best gamebreaking wide receiver deserves to be in Heisman discussions of his own after scoring six touchdowns in three games so far this season.
QB Tua Tagovailoa
Tagovailoa threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns in Alabama's stomping of Ole Miss. In the second quarter, Tagovailoa recorded a career-long touchdown pass with a 79-yard rocket to Jeudy to put the Tide up 14–7.
The sophomore quarterback completed 11 of 15 passes before leaving the game only midway through the second quarter.
Tagovailoa's name continues to circulate in Heisman talks, considering he is 36-for-50 with 646 yards, eight TDs and no interceptions through three games for the best team in the country.
Ohio State DE Nick Bosa
Ohio State took a tough hit during their 40–28 win over TCU when Bosa exited the game in the third quarter with an apparent groin injury. Bosa appeared to be pointing to his groin when the trainers came out to evaluate him on the field. He walked off under his own power and headed to the locker room, only to return to the sidelines later in sweatpants and be ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Bosa had five tackles, including a strip-sack that led to an Ohio State defensive touchdown, in the first half. The projected top-five 2019 NFL draft pick was wrecking the left side of TCU's line until leaving with the injury.
Entering Saturday's contest, Bosa recorded nine tackles and three sacks in the first two games of the season.
