Were still several weeks away from the Heisman Watch taking off in earnest, but after the first week of NCAA action is a good t

Were still several weeks away from the Heisman Watch taking off in earnest, but after the first week of NCAA action is a good time to track some of the preseason favourites for college sports most prestigious individual award. Dennis Schroder Jersey . The schedule is usually lacking the first 3-4 weeks of the season until conference play begins, but the opening week offered a few intriguing matchups, the most of which was No. 8 Clemsons 38-35 win over No. 5 Georgia. With the biggest spotlight of the week shining on him, Clemsons senior quarterback Tajh Boyd delivered. The dual threat QB scored all five of the Tigers touchdowns (three through the air and two on the ground) in the win against a tough SEC opponent. For that, Boyd becomes the early season man to beat for the Heisman. The good news for Boyd, and Clemson, is the Tigers have a very easy schedule until their October 19th meeting with Florida State. With his statement game already out of the way, theres plenty of time for Boyd to pad his stats against lesser competition in September and early October. Despite playing just the second half against Rice, last years Heisman winner Johnny Manziel didnt let Boyd out of his sights in the early Heisman race. Manziel connected on six of eight passes and three touchdowns in Texas A&Ms season-opening win. Teddy Bridgewater, a prospective first overall pick come next spring, is one to watch as well. The Louisville junior had to wait until Sunday to rip up the Ohio Bobcats secondary, throwing for 355 yards and five touchdowns to one interception in the No. 9 Cardinals win. Ohio State junior Braxton Miller and Alabama senior AJ McCarron were also included in most preseason Heisman candidate lists but did little to impress in their first action of the 2013 season. Miller had a pedestrian 178 yards passing and two touchdowns to one interception, but added 77 yards on the ground in the Buckeyes somewhat disappointing win over Buffalo. McCarron meanwhile, was 10-23 for 110 yards, one touchdown and one interception and lost 23 yards to the pressure front of Virginia Tech. Jadeveon Clowneys campaign to become the first defensive player to win the Heisman since Charles Woodson pulled off the feat in 1998 got off to a slow start, literally. No. 6 South Carolina got by their rivals North Carolina but looked sluggish on defence. Clowney gets a pass as he was recovering from a stomach virus the week leading up to the game. Doc Rivers Jersey . LeBron James believes hes a major reason for their early failures. Theo Ratliff Jersey . Patton was placed on the restricted list testing positive for a banned amphetamine. Patton took Adderall, a drug commonly used to combat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, late in the 2013 season and then was given a random drug test. https://www.cheaphawks.com/674r-jeff-teague-jersey-hawks.html . The 6-foot-10 centre who won an NBA title with the Miami Heat was voted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday, adding that honour to becoming a board member at his alma mater.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - A late riser makes his debut in the Heisman Rankings this week after another record-breaking Saturday, but the favorites remain unchanged as we head towards the final full weekend of the regular season. 1. Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon (last week: No. 1) -- The Ducks quarterback held onto the top spot after yet another dominant performance in a 44-10 victory over Colorado. Mariota completed 24-of-32 passes for 323 yards - his fifth 300-yard passing performance of the season - with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. He was equally dynamic on the ground, turning eight carries into 73 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown run on a read-option play in the first quarter where he went into the end zone untouched after fooling the entire CU defense. Mariota, who has over 3,600 total yards, has not only been dominant, but remarkably consistent with at least 270 total yards and multiple touchdowns in every game, and his 42 touchdowns give him the Pac-12 record. Unless something catastrophic happens in the next two weeks, hes going to be the runaway winner. 2. Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin (last week: No. 2) -- Gordon probably wasnt pleased to see Samaje Perine break his single-game rushing record after only week, and if he and the Badgers had to do it over again he probably would have played some of the fourth quarter against Nebraska to pad that record a little more. Losing the record hasnt hurt Gordons Heisman chances, however, as he continued to rack up astounding numbers over the weekend. Wisconsin needed all of Gordons production to squeak out a 26-24 victory over Iowa, as he finished with 200 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries, while also tacking on solid receiving totals (four catches, 64 yards). Gordon (2,109 yards, 25 TDs) reached the 2,000-yard plateau faster than anyone in FBS history, doing so midway through the Iowa game on just his 242nd carry of campaign - meaning that Barry Sanders seemingly unbreakable single-season rushing record (2,628 yards) is very much in jeopardy. 3. J.T. Barrett, QB, Ohio State (last week: No. 4) -- At the start of Barretts reign as the Buckeyes quarterback, the Braxton Miller comparisons were inevitable. Hes not only broken free of Millers shadow, but is putting together perhaps the best season by a quarterback in program history. With another sterling performance in Ohio States 42-27 victory over Indiana (25- of-35 passing, 302 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions, 78 rushing yards), Barrett broke Millers school record for total yards in a season, as he now sits with 3,507 (2,658 passing, 849 rushing). That wasnt the only record to fall, as he also broke Troy Smiths mark for passing touchdowns in a season with 33 and counting (42 overall). Even if Ohio State beats Michigan this week and wins the Big Ten Championship Game, it still might not have a strong enough resume to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. However, that wont make the heights achieved by a freshman quarterback any less impressive. 4. Trevone Boykin, QB, TCU (last week: No. 3) -- The Horned Frogs bye week has Boykins stock holding steady for the most part. TCU is on the outside looking in for that coveted fourth spot in the College Football Playoff rankings, but it is still right in the mix at 9-1, and Boykin (3,021 passing yards, 548 rushing yards, 31 TDs, five interceptions) will have the opportunity help both his Heisman candidacy and his teams championship hopes as he closes out the regular season with matchups at Texas and versus Iowa State in the coming weeks. 5. Dak Prescott, QB, Mississippi State (last week: No. 7) -- The Bulldogs quarterback rightfully lost a lot of momentum after his teams loss to Alabama Nov. 15, but he went a long way in erasing that painful memory in the 51-0 shutout of Vanderbilt with a near-flawless performance. On 16-of-21 passing, he finished with 193 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions, while adding six rushes for 30 yards and a score in the easy victory to keep his teams hopes of an SEC title alive. Even if Mississippi State cant earn a spot in the College Football Playoff, its resume at the moment is still strong enough to get the attention of the selection committee with the No. 4 ranking, and that success is thanks in no small measure to Prescotts outstanding campaign (2,714 passing yards, 891 rushing yards, 36 TDs, 10 interceptions). 6. Brett Hundley, QB, UCLA (last week: No. 9) -- While Oregons fate as the Pac-12 North Diivision champion has been sealed, the battle for the South is coming down to the wire, and the Bruins went a long way in clearing their path to the crown over the weekend with a 38-20 victory over cross-town rival USC in perhaps the most important game of the college football weekend. Herm Gilliam Jersey. Hundley was predictably outstanding in the triumph. For the ninth time this season, he completed better than 70 percent of his passes (22-of-31), while throwing for 326 yards and accounting for four touchdowns, leaving him with 2,873 passing yards, 566 rushing yards and 28 scores this season, coupled with a mere five interceptions. UCLA will sew up the South Division on Friday if it can take care of Stanford, setting up a rematch with Oregon in the conference championship game where Hundley can potentially kill two birds with one stone in spoiling the Ducks season, and Mariotas Heisman chances. 7. Samaje Perine, RB, Oklahoma (last week: unranked) -- After LaDainian Tomlinsons rushing record stood for more than a decade, Perine erased Gordons mark just seven days after it was set. In Oklahomas 44-7 romp of Kansas, the freshman running back rewrote the FBS record book with a 427-yard performance, doing so on 34 carries while scoring five touchdowns. Although Perine put together some highlights early in the season - notably a 242-yard showing at West Virginia in September - he had been relegated to a part-time role in the offense until recently, and hes taken full advantage of his new- found opportunity by rushing for a whopping 640 yards and eight touchdowns in the last two weeks. The chance of him emerging so late in the season to become a Heisman finalist is slim, especially with Oklahoma now an afterthought in the Big 12, but the future is undoubtedly bright for the youngster. 8. Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama (last week: No. 5) -- Cooper was well on his way to another big game early in the Crimson Tides matchup with Western Carolina over the weekend, as he had three catches for 46 yards in the first quarter. But he had to leave the game with a bruised knee. Luckily, the injury doesnt appear to be serious, as coach Nick Saban revealed after the game that Cooper likely could have returned if needed, but the team opted to hold him out as a precaution in the convincing 48-14 victory. Having topped 100 yards receiving just twice in the last seven games, Coopers campaign has lost steam, but a receiver who ranks in the top-five nationally in receptions (90), yards (1,349) and touchdowns (11) on the No. 2 team in the land still deserves plenty of recognition. 9. Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia (last week: No. 10) -- Chubbs services werent needed very often in the Bulldogs 55-9 blowout of Charleston Southern, but he nonetheless cashed in on his limited opportunities by turning a mere nine carries into 113 yards and two touchdowns for his sixth straight 100-yard outing. Todd Gurley is certainly an irreplaceable piece, but theres no denying Chubbs elite production in his stead this season, as he sits with 1,152 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on just 161 carries, to go with solid receiving totals (15 receptions, 177 yards, two TDs). With Georgias SEC slate closed, it will need to wait to have its fate in the Eastern Division decided when Missouri plays Arkansas on Friday. If the Tigers fall, an entirely possible outcome considering Arkansas recent surge, then Chubb and the Bulldogs will get an opportunity to improve their stock in the SEC Championship Game, but not before a clash with rival Georgia Tech this Saturday. 10. Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State (last week: No. 6) -- Although the Seminoles remained unbeaten over the weekend, they continued to do so while looking anything but the nations No. 1 team. In a home game against a mediocre Boston College squad, FSU needed a game-winning field goal by Roberto Aguayo with three seconds remaining to squeak by with a 20-17 victory. Winston, despite competing nearly 69 percent of his passes, was far from great, as he threw for 281 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The reigning Heisman winner is falling well short of the pace he set last season with 3,125 passing yards, 22 total touchdowns and 13 interceptions. At this point, the only thing keeping Winston alive in the Heisman race is his teams uncanny ability to stay out of the loss column. Dropped Out: Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska Honorable Mention: Bryce Petty, QB, Baylor; Tevin Coleman, RB, Indiana; Gerod Holliman; RB, Louisville. ' ' '