This might be the first year in college football history that a Heisman Trophy campaign was killed not on a football field but at a lunch table.
By now, every college football fan is aware that Jameis Winston sat out the entirety of Florida State's 23-17 win over Clemson after yelling a vulgar phrase on campus.
FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher quickly established that Winston would return to the field immediately after he served his suspension.
"At the end of the day we felt like the one game made the most sense, and I chose to keep that process internal," said Fisher, per USA Today's Dan Wolken . "Now he's served that punishment and he's ready to move forward."
Has too much damage already been done to Winston's Heisman campaign?
Missing a game for any reason is bound to have a deleterious effect. According to Cory McCartney, only two Heisman winners—Charles White in 1979 and Charlie Ward in 1993—have missed a game in their respective award-winning seasons:
Voters are going to be even less sympathetic given Winston's reason for missing the game. Why reward a guy who can't seem to get out of his own way?
Not only that, but Winston's numbers aren't otherworldly, either. Throwing for 626 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions is solid but not what you'd consider worthy of one of the most prestigious individual awards in sports.
There's no question that Winston's Heisman stock is in the toilet. He doesn't even warrant mention in ESPN's Heisman Watch. USA Today conducted a survey of Heisman voters, and Winston placed ninth out of nine players:
Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston opened last season at No. 2 and ultimately won college football's top individual honor. In this season's first survey, however, he received a lone third-place vote from the 27 reporters and editors working at properties owned by Gannett , USA TODAY Sports' parent company.
Winston, hounded by multiple off-field issues, was suspended for Saturday's 23-17 overtime victory against then-No. 24 Clemson. FSU is ranked No. 1 in the Amway Coaches Poll and won last season's national championship.
Bleacher Report has him outside of the top five in its recent rankings.
With all of that said, it would be premature to rule the incumbent Heisman winner out completely.
All it takes is a huge string of games for Winston to get back into the discussion. If he can average 300-plus yards a game—or at least something close to that—against North Carolina State, Wake Forest and Syracuse, he will have positioned himself perfectly for what looks to be a huge matchup against Notre Dame.
That's the kind of game when a player has a Heisman moment that becomes synonymous with his season as a whole and gets replayed over and over again in the years following.
Not to mention that voters tend to reward the best player on the best team. After passing a major test on Saturday, the Seminoles took a major step toward qualifying for the four-team playoff. The hardest game they have remaining is home to the Fighting Irish.
It's difficult envisioning Florida State going unbeaten and not remaining the No. 1 team in the country. In the event the 'Noles go undefeated in the regular season, Winston would almost certainly be their only serious Heisman candidate.
As much as off-field issues have hampered Winston's chances of entering the same company as Archie Griffin, last year's results show that voters are willing to look past a lot if they feel a player is a deserving candidate.
In the same month Winston was cleared of sexual assault charges, he was present at the Best Buy Theater in New York City accepting the Heisman Trophy.
How can anybody be sure that voters will draw a line in the sand this time around?
Leaving that topic aside now, when you look at the rest of the Heisman field, you see plenty of players with possible holes in their candidacies.
Todd Gurley , Ameer Abdullah and Amari Cooper all play positions rarely given their due by voters. Running backs and wide receivers really have to go above and beyond to prove themselves as the best player in the country. The Heisman has almost exclusively become a quarterback honor.
Winston's stiffest competition is undoubtedly Marcus Mariota , but even there, you can see where the QB's hype train can ground to a halt.
Oregon's demonstrated an occasionally unhealthy reliance on the junior star. If the Ducks lose to a weaker opponent like Washington, California or Colorado, what would that do to Mariota 's Heisman chances? That's to say nothing of what impact a defeat at the hands of UCLA or Stanford might have.
The door is still wide open for a few different contenders, Winston included.
In the immediate aftermath of Winston's suspension, it would be easy to proclaim his Heisman odds dead in the water. In the coming weeks, though, don't be surprised if this all blows over and he slowly climbs back to or least near his perch atop the rankings.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1CdjiUF
via IFTTT September 23, 2014 at 03:53PM
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