As the countdown continues for the Heisman Trophy presentation on Dec. 12 in New York City, nothing has changed as far as the favorites go.It's still a two-person race between Alabama running back Derrick Henry and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson. Unless any other potential finalist can have a game for the ages on Saturday, it's going to come down to those two, according to the books.Here are the latest odds, courtesy of Oddsshark, of how the Heisman race is shaping up heading into conference championship weekend.Derrick Henry Still the FavoriteUntil Watson loses a game there's reason to believe he should be the favorite to win the Heisman. If he wins the ACC Championship game, he should win the Heisman.That's not to say Henry hasn't built a strong case for why he should win college football's most prestigious award. It starts with this stat, courtesy of SportsCenter:The SEC is not as deep as it has been the last few years. The cream of the crop is Alabama, and then the other teams beneath it. For a program known for producing great running backs, Henry now sits alone for most rushing yards in program history. He's averaged an outstanding 6.8 yards per carry in his last six games.There's also the fact that Henry has carried Alabama's offense this year. He's averaged 29.2 carries per game in the last month-and-a-half, and ran for over 100 yards six times in the last eight games since the loss to the Ole Miss Rebels on Sept. 19. Kyle Koster of The Big Lead goes into more detail about why Henry has been so important:This year Alabama is 34th, averaging 34.5. In 2009 with Ingram, the Tide finished 22nd (32.1). Since 2004, the next fewest per contest with a Heisman winner on offense was 34.1 by Troy Smith-led Ohio State in 2006.Despite Lane Kiffins innovations, no one is accusing of Nick Sabans club of playing uptempo basketball on grass. And its logical that premier offensive players aide in overall scoring.Henry may very well win the Heisman, and he is a deserving winner should that be the case. It just doesn't make sense to snub a quarterback who led his team to an undefeated season, rather than a running back that has long been a college football powerhouse and also lost a game this year.Baker Mayfield Is the Dark HorseIf a player in the Big 12 is going to win the Heisman, the numbers need to be there. As does a possible perfect record.The Oklahoma Sooners' sophomore quarterback has only one blemish on his record this year. The loss to the Texas Longhorns on Oct. 10. hurt his chances despite completing 71 percent of his passes and throwing for a touchdown in that game.Since that game, Mayfield has thrown for an average of 256.6 yards per game and tossed 21 touchdowns to only two interceptions. If Henry is getting consideration for how he closed the year, Mayfield is sure to get a lot of votes his way. One of those games, against TCU on Nov. 21, he was knocked out of the game but threw for 127 yards and two touchdowns.With the exception of that game, Mayfield has been a huge success story, which could go a long way for voters looking for an angle, as John E. Hoover of theTulsa World noted:Mayfield has been efficient, as well as mistake free. His 68.6 completion percentage is good for eighth in the country, only five spots behind Watson, but he has also thrown only five interceptions in 2015. The most he's thrown in a game was two against the Tennessee Volunteers on Sept. 12. It's because of that play that guys like Dennis Dodd from CBS Sports think Mayfield should be invited to New York:Moxie Mayfield, as nicknamed by CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli, has defied the odds (he's a former walk-on) and a concussion to become the most exciting quarterback in the game. Just when you thought Bob Stoops' pipeline of quarterbacks had dried up, in comes Mayfield from Texas Tech to throw for 3,400 yards and 35 touchdowns.It's almost certain to predict who will be No. 1 and No. 2, but the leaderboard after that is intriguing. Mayfield, LSU running back Leonard Fournette and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey are going to fight for third, maybe second. Mayfield, though, could surprise a lot of people when voting concludes.
Click here to read full news..
