[New post] Week 5 Heisman Watch: True Frontrunners Emerge

Xalfa Kasım 02, 2021

Week 5 Heisman Watch: True Frontrunners Emerge

by Alex Kielar

In another wild week of college football, the true Heisman candidates made themselves known as we approach midseason. Check out the previous editions below to see how much has changed from each week. There is still a lot that can happen from now until the end of the season.

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4

1. Bryce Young, Alabama

We now have a clear frontrunner for the award, after Young put up another solid performance against Ole Miss. The sophomore gunslinger finished the day with 241 yards of passing and one touchdown on 20-for-26 attempts. He did throw an interception as well, which was just not a good decision to throw on third and long into tight coverage in the endzone. But other than that, it was an efficient day for the Crimson Tide quarterback in a blowout.

2. Bijan Robinson, Texas

Week in and week out, the sophomore running back has impressed mightily, and this was his best game yet. On 35 carries, Robinson ran for 216 yards and two touchdowns. He is the first 200-yard rusher for the Longhorns since D'Onta Foreman rushed for 250 yards at Kansas in 2016. Of his 35 carries, none were bigger than his 33rd, in which he ran for six yards and a first down with under three minutes left to ice the game for Texas. Robinson also ran for a 27-yard touchdown in the first quarter, while his second touchdown was from a short four-yard distance.

3. Matt Corral, Ole Miss

In what we thought was going to be a close matchup between the top two Heisman candidates turned into a blowout led by the now frontrunner. While his team got killed, Corral still deserves to be in the conversation. After all, he had to face an incredibly tough Alabama team with his team not playing all that up to par, especially the defense. Despite that, the junior quarterback still put up solid numbers, completing 21-of-29 (could've been more with drops) passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns, along with one rushing touchdown and no interceptions. Corral is only the second quarterback since 2014 to complete more than 65 percent of his passes with at least one touchdown and no interceptions against the Crimson Tide. The second? Joe Burrow in his Heisman winning season of 2019. While the passing touchdown did come during garbage time against a more laid-back Alabama defense, it was still a solid finish.

4. Desmond Ridder, Cinncinati

The senior quarterback returned to the Heisman watch after leading Cinncinni to a huge statement win over Notre Dame on Saturday. Ridder threw for two touchdowns and ran for another. The rushing score was the dagger as it came late in the fourth quarter and put the Bearcats up two scores. After having some struggles against Indiana two weeks ago, Ridder came out of the bye week feeling dangerous. He and Cinncinati will have to run the table for him to bring home the trophy and them to make the playoff.

5. Kenneth Walker III, Michigan State

After a light rushing day last week, Walker came out and ran all over Western Kentucky. He did have a solid run that set up the game-winning field goal last week, and this week he ran for three touchdowns and 126 touchdowns on 24 carries. The junior running back averaged 5.3 yards a carry and has averaged 5.7 yards a carry on the season.