ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 02: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Oklahoma Sooners looks to pass against the TCU Horned Frogs in the second quarter during Big 12 Championship at AT&T Stadium on December 2, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The Heisman finalists have been announced, and the last Heisman hopefuls standing include Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield, Louisville Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson and Stanford Cardinal running back Bryce Love.
While all three players are very deserving of this award, only one person can, of course, come away with the Heisman hardware.
Your Heisman Finalists: pic.twitter.com/4jq3LCAQze
— ESPN (@espn) December 5, 2017
As one can expect, all three players have put up some incredible stats during the 2017 college football season.
Mayfield’s 2017 stats: 4,340 passing yards, 41 touchdown passes, five interceptions, 310 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns.
Jackson’s 2017 stats: 3,489 passing yards, 25 touchdown passes, six interceptions, 1,443 rushing yards, 17 rushing touchdowns.
Love’s 2017 stats: 1,973 rushing yards, 17 rushing touchdowns.
While all three players are deserving of this honor, it appears Mayfield (despite the fact that Jackson won the trophy last year) is the favorite.
Mayfield and Jackson are finalists for the second straight year, and Jackson is trying to become the second player to win two Heismans, joining former Ohio State star Archie Griffin.
Mayfield, though, will come to Manhattan as the clear favorite. He finished fourth in the Heisman voting in 2015, but was not invited to New York. Last year, he was one of five finalists and finished third behind Jackson and Clemson’s Deshaun Watson.
Mayfield is the seventh player to finish in the top five of Heisman voting three times , joining Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard of Army, Doak Walker of SMU, Griffin, Herschel Walker of Georgia and Tim Tebow of Florida.
The Heisman has been naming finalists and bringing them to New York for the presentation since 1982. Mayfield is the ninth Oklahoma player to be selected as a finalist, matching Miami for the most from one school.
Mayfield is trying to become the sixth Heisman winner from Oklahoma and third Sooners quarterback (Jason White and Sam Bradford) to win since 2003.
It’s important to note that Mayfield also managed to lead the Sooners to a College Football Playoff appearance this season as the No. 2 seed, if you will. Oklahoma will take on the Georgia Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 3 in the CFP rankings. The winner will, of course, play in the championship game against the winner of the contest between the Clemson Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide.
As for Jackson, he managed to lead the Cardinals to an 8-4 record this year, and they will be taking on the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the TaxSlayer Bowl. As mentioned before, Jackson won the Heisman Trophy last year, so winning it in back-to-back years would be quite the feat, to say the least.
Love managed to lead Stanford to the Pac-12 title game and to a 9-4 record in 2017. The Cardinal will take on the TCU Horned Frogs in the Alamo Bowl. It’s amazing to think how much Love has broken out onto the scene this season. While they are still solid stats, Love’s 2016 stats (779 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns) do not even come close to comparing to his 2017 stats. Needless to say, Love become a top player in college football this season.
The Heisman Trophy winner will be announced on Saturday, Dec. 9.
Follow Class Act Sports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
