College Football Heisman Power Rankings After Week 5
By Jerry Trotta
Though it's still relatively early in the college football season, the Week 5 mark is normally a good time to separate the pretenders and contenders in terms of the Heisman Trophy race.
This weekend's slate of games featured a slew of of staggering performances around the country, but who was good enough to sneak into our rankings through five weeks of of action?
5. Joe Burrow
LSU had a bye in Week 5, but Burrow's sheer dominance through four games was more than enough for him to land at No.5. The Tigers' gunslinger has throw for 1,520 yards and 17 touchdowns through 16 quarters of play and is on his way to shatter a plethora of single-season school passing records. Another stellar showing next weekend could see Burrow ascend the list.
4. Jonathan Taylor
Jonathan Taylor didn't post the mind-boggling numbers this week that we've grown accustomed to, but he still did enough to keep his place in the ranking. He rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown against Northwestern to keep up his absurd TD rate, but the Wisconsin tailback will need 200-yard, multi-score games in the future to hold serve with the other candidates.
3. Justin Fields
Fields wasn't asked to do much on Saturday as Ohio State's game versus Nebraska was over after the first quarter, but the Georgia transfer still logged a compelling performance. He record 284 total yards, 72 of which were with his legs, and four total touchdowns -- three passing, one rushing in the Buckeyes 48-7 dub.
2. Tua Tagovailoa
Tagovailoa had, far and away, the most impressive performance in Week 5. The Alabama gunslinger messed around and threw for 418 yards and SIX touchdowns, including a seventh TD with his legs, which broke a Crimson Tide record previously held by AJ McCarron. At this rate, its shaping up to be a two-horse race between Tua and...
1. Jalen Hurts
Until the Alabama transfer provides something other than a mind-boggling spectacle, he will remain atop the rankings. Hurts played just three quarters in No.6 Oklahoma's 55-16 pummeling of Texas Tech on Saturday, but that was more than enough time for him to PAD the stat sheet. He threw for 415 yards and three touchdowns, adding 75 yards and an additional score on the ground. Simply put, Hurts has been unstoppable in Lincoln Riley's offense.