Stats Corner: 10ve for Heisman, what is it going to take?

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports Utah State opened the season with a 10ve for Heisman campaign, which is good for both Love and the Aggies. As much as I would love (sorry, had to do that once) to see a Mountain West Conference athlete earn the highest collegiate award, it is unlikely to happen. If Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray had placed on played on any Mountain West team with the same numbers, they would not have won. Case in point, before he coached at Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley was the offensive coordinator at East Carolina University. While he was there he coached Shane Carden at quarterback who in 2013 completed 387-of-549 passes for 4,139 yards and 33 touchdowns. Carden was ranked second nationally in completion percentage (70.5%), fifth in the nation for completions per game and points responsible for per game, seventh overall in passing yards at 4139 yard (he would pass for 4736 yard as a senior), eighth in passing yards per game, ninth in touchdown passes, and generated no Heisman buzz. Carden also had the all-time NCAA reception leader Justin Hardy (387 receptions) and the guy who would break that record Zay Jones (399 receptions) to throw to. When Riley coached them at Oklahoma Mayfield went 285-404 (70.5%) and 4627 yards in one more game, and Murray went 260-377 (69.0%) and 4361 yards. In 2013, Jameis Winston won the Heisman with a lower percentage (66.9%), less yards (4057) and the same number of interceptions (10) than Carden. The numbers are comparable, but because one quarterback was not at a Power 5 school, there was no Heisman talk. But this week on Stats Corner we are going to look at what it will take for Love to do the unlikely.

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