Most college football watchers expected big things from Justin Fields in his long-awaited season debut for Ohio State. Even so, his nearly flawless outing managed to exceed those lofty expectations. Fields quickly moved into third place in the USA TODAY Network weekly Heisman survey, trailing Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Alabama’s Mac Jones.
In the Buckeyes’ opener against Nebraska, Fields threw more touchdown passes, two, than incompletions, one, on his 21 pass attempts. He accumulated 276 yards through the air, with an additional 54 yards and a TD on the ground. He received 16 points in the survey but was not listed first by any of the 22 official Heisman electors who work for USA TODAY Network properties.