With The First Pick
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Heisman Trophy Watch: Final edition as Championship weekend arrives

By Nicholas Perlich

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - NOVEMBER 30: Jonathan Taylor #23 of the Wisconsin Badgers looks on before the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium on November 30, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - NOVEMBER 30: Jonathan Taylor #23 of the Wisconsin Badgers looks on before the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium on November 30, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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The college football regular season is now in the books. How does the race for the Heisman Trophy look with one week left until the finalists are announced?

And just like that, we have reached the end of the college football season. This season has been filled with great performances, surprises, and disappointments. Even the race for the Heisman Trophy has been packed with excitement all season.

Going into Conference Championship week, there is one guy that is the clear leader in the clubhouse. That being said, you can easily make an argument for up to seven players to at least get invited to New York for the ceremony next week. While most of these contenders will have one more shot to impress the voters, here are the current standings for the Heisman Trophy:

Honorable Mentions

Chuba Hubbard, RB, Oklahoma State

Last week vs. (7) Oklahoma: 24 att.| 104 yards| 4.3 ypa| 1 TD| 22 Long| 3 receptions| 13 yards| 0 TD

Season Stats: 309 att.| 1,936 yards| 6.3 ypa| 21 TD| 92 Long| 21 receptions| 183 yards| 0 TD

There is no denying that Chuba Hubbard has been nothing short of magnificent all season. He ended the season with only one game in which he didn’t break 100 rushing yards and that was against McNeese State where he only had eight carries on the day.

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He showed his trademark explosiveness all season and finished the year with an impressive 6.3 yards per carry. That’s not even to mention the fact that he finished in a tie for second in rushing touchdowns with 21 on the year or will have a very good chance to break 2,000 rushing yards in Oklahoma State’s bowl game. Hubbard should have an excellent chance of at least winning the Doak Walker Award.

The history of the Heisman Trophy, however, shows team success matters as well. Unfortunately, that hurts Hubbard as his team is the only one of the Heisman contenders to not make a conference championship. Thus, he will have one less opportunity to impress the Heisman voters than the rest of the guys on this list.

Chase Young, DE, Ohio State

Last week at (13) Michigan: 0 solo| 0 ast.| 0 TT

Season Stats: 27 solo| 11 ast.| 38 TT| 19.5 TFL| 16.5 sacks| 1 PD| 7 FF

Chase Young finally came back down to earth a little bit against Michigan after having an unbelievable stretch of games. And while he didn’t record any stats in the box score against the Wolverines, anyone watching the game will still tell you he dramatically affected the game with consistent pressure and forcing Michigan to gameplan for him every single play.

Even with the fact that Young didn’t record a stat vs. Michigan and was suspended for two games in the middle of the year, he had a dominant season. So much so that even through that adversity, he has still already broken the single-season record for sacks at Ohio State with 16.5. It helps that he had four games this year where he was able to record two or more sacks.

Even as a defensive player, Young has been so dominant that he should at least be invited to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He will get one more chance to impress the voters in the Big Ten Championship versus 12th-ranked Wisconsin. He recorded an incredible four sacks against the Badgers earlier in the year.

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