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Heisman Trophy 2016: Top 5 Candidates Following Week 12 Of College Football Season

By Jason Fletcher
Published on: 11:59 PST, Nov 20, 2016

Week 12 of the 2016 College Football Season wasn’t filled with all the upsets that were featured in Week 11, but it also didn’t make the Heisman Trophy picture any clearer. Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson was the leader heading into Week 12, but he was sacked 11 times in a 36-10 stomping at the hands of the Houston Cougars on Thursday night.

Oklahoma wide receiver Dede Westbrook only had two catches on Saturday night in a 56-28 victory against West Virginia, although one of those catches went for 75 yards and a touchdown. San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey was also held in check by a stout Wyoming defense and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was solid, yet unspectacular in a 35-13 victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

With only one week remaining in the regular season for most teams, Week 13 will be the final chance for most of these guys to make an impression on the Heisman voters before the announcement on Saturday, December 10 at 8 p.m.

Let’s take a look at the top-five Heisman Trophy candidates following Week 12.

5. RB D’Onta Foreman, Texas – The Longhorns suffered a 24-21 loss at the hands of the Kansas Jayhawks which all but seals Charlie Strong’s fate. With his back against the wall, Strong chose to lean on Foreman against Kansas as he carried the ball 51 times for 250 yards and two touchdowns. While he did have a costly fumble, Foreman now leads the nation with 1,863 yards rushing to go with 15 touchdowns. The Longhorns have one game remaining in the regular season as a victory over TCU on Friday would make the Longhorns bowl-eligible.

4. QB Jalen Hurts, Alabama – The Crimson Tide struggled mightily against the Chattanooga Mocs on Saturday night. Hurts ended up completing 15-of-21 passes for 136 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 68 yards on 16 carries. Not terrible numbers, but when considering the opponent that the Crimson Tide were playing, one would expect more success. Hurts has now completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 2,168 yards with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions while adding 803 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. Alabama has a rivalry game against Auburn next weekend before the SEC Championship Game.

3. WR Dede Westbrook, Oklahoma – As mentioned above, Westbrook only hauled in two catches against the Mountaineers as the Sooners turned to the running game in snowy Morgantown, WV. He ended up totaling 100 yards on those two catches and now has 70 catches for 1,354 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. Oklahoma will play Oklahoma State next week in a de facto Big 12 Championship Game.

2. RB Donnel Pumphrey, San Diego State – Pumphrey had his worst game of the season on Saturday as the Cowboys’ defense held him to 76 yards rushing on 17 carries. Donnel did add five catches for 52 yards against Wyoming and now has carried the ball 287 times for 1,855 yards and scored 14 touchdowns while adding 25 catches for 197 yards through the air. San Diego State has a home tilt with Colorado State before an appearance in the Mountain West Championship Game remaining.

1. QB Lamar Jackson, Louisville – Jackson benefits from everyone else having a down week. He finished 20-of-43 for 211 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions against the Cougars while adding 25 carries for 33 yards with a fumble on the ground. For the season, Jackson has completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 3,109 yards with 28 touchdowns and only six interceptions while adding 1,367 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground. The Cardinals have a home game against Kentucky remaining next Saturday.

[Featured Image by Andy Lyons/Getty Images]

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