Feldman's Heisman Top 5: Who impressed while Henry ate cupcakes?
Ohio State’s loss to Michigan State was the big news of the weekend and within that Buckeye star Ezekiel Elliott also disappeared from the Heisman race. Elliott and Leonard Fournette’s disappearance from the Heisman radar benefits a couple of other talented backs, Christian McCaffrey and Dalvin Cook.
1. Derrick Henry, Alabama RB: The Tide had a cupcake game against Charleston Southern and had an easy blowout, winning 56-6. Henry saw little action, gaining 68 yards on just nine carries with two TDs. Also, he had 28 yards on one catch. He didn’t boost his cause, but didn’t really hurt it either.
2. Christian McCaffrey, Stanford RB/KR: Hopefully, Heisman voters stayed awake at least long enough to watch Stanford’s first half against Cal. By then, the Cardinal sophomore already had amassed 282 all-purpose yards.
3. Deshaun Watson, Clemson QB: Watson’s Tigers blew out hapless Wake Forest, 33-13, as he threw for 343 yards while running and passing for four TDs. He did have his third two-interception game of the season.
4. Dalvin Cook, Florida State RB: Like Henry, his team played a cupcake and throttled an FCS opponent 52-13. Cook went over 100 yards (106) with two TDs on 15 carries. On the season, Cook has almost 1,500 yards rushing while playing behind a young rebuilt O-line.
5. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma QB: Before being knocked out of the game for concussion-like symptoms against TCU, he was 9 of 20 for 127 yards and two TDs and also ran for 42 yards.
Bruce Feldman is a senior college football reporter and columnist for FOXSports.com and FS1. He is also a New York Times best-selling author. His new book, “The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks,” came out in October 2014. Follow him on Twitter @BruceFeldmanCFB and Facebook.