September 18, 2021; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback CJ Stroud (7) passes the ball against the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes at Ohio Stadium in the first quarter. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA Today Sports

Ohio State University quarterback CJ Stroud and Michigan State University running back Kenneth Walker III met in Columbus. This conflict will play an important role in the end of the Heisman drought for the top ten teams.

You can defend a defensive player - look at Will Anderson in Alabama or Jordan Davis in Georgia - or poster boys from teams other than the top five trying to beat the gate and get into college football The playoffs-hello, Desmondrid of Cincinnati-but the reality of all this and the history of all this tells us that the number of Heisman trophy challengers has been reduced to four in three weeks.

Matt Corral of Ole Miss, CJ Stroud of Ohio State University, Kenneth Walker III of Michigan State University, or Bryce Young of Alabama. One of them will almost certainly raise the trophy on December 11th, but which one?

There is nothing more open than this. With less than a month to go before the game, the players are vying for positions. Everything is magnified. Any advantage, or an opportunity, is very prominent. For the Big Ten, there is no greater advantage than the showdown in Columbus on Saturday, when Stroud and the fifth-ranked Buckeyes faced Walker and the seventh-ranked Michigan State University.

In this process, we are watching the most unstable game since 2009. This year’s win gap was the smallest. At that time, Mark Ingram of Alabama defeated Stanford’s Toby Geha by 28 points. special. In that ballot, Ingram, Gerhart, Colt McCoy of Texas and Endamukon Sue of Nebraska scored 1-2-3-4 respectively. At the end, they all scored more than 815 points. This is the only time the votes were so scattered among the top four.

We may achieve similar results, but the highlight of this season—and this meeting between Stroud and Walker—is that this is a truly rare end-of-season contender meeting that may affect votes. Even decide the final place of residence for this year's awards, just like the previous few games.

Last season, we had DeVonta Smith and Mac Jones of Alabama and Kyle Trask of Florida on the same field in the SEC Championship. At that time, Trask had already won a real victory in his own way. In 2019, Ohio State University’s Justin Fields, Chase Young and JK Dobbins shared this field with Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor in the top ten finals, but Joe Burr of Louisiana State University Luo made sure that the game was over. In 2014, the same Big Ten teams had the same story, when Marcus Mariota of Oregon made Melvin Gordon of Wisconsin and JT Barrett of Ohio State no dispute.

In the aforementioned 2009 game, McCoy's Longhorns and Suh's Cornhuskers fought for the Big 12 champion the day before the voting deadline, but due to the glass ceiling of the defender, we can't really see the duel determine the winner. Back in 1984, Doug Flutie of Boston College and Bernie Kosar of Miami met on November 23. This game was remembered by Flutie's Hail Mary. What is not remembered is in those days after the voting deadline.

Even on November 23, 1972, when the ultimate champion Johnny Rogers and Nebraska faced Greg Pruitt of Oklahoma in the rematch of the Game of the Century on November 23, 1972 , The Big 8 running back conflict also did not materialize. Rogers had a total of 53 yards in that game; Pruitt was restricted to seven yards due to an ankle injury.

In 1967, Gary Beban of the University of California, Los Angeles and OJ Simpson of the University of Southern California met on November 18. The Trojans won the instability of the game and the showdown of the legitimate candidate Simpson with a score of 21-20. Beban threw a career-high 301 yards and two points. He defeated Simpson by 246 points to win the award.

But in Beban Simpson's season, the final vote included another player-Purdue's Leroy Keys-who scored more than 136 points. The depth of the current game is basically unprecedented. It is true that what happened in Columbus on Saturday is unlikely to be the decisive factor in the game-Crimson Tide quarterback Young is about to usher in his own large-scale showdown-but the stakes at Ohio Stadium are very high. It's hard to see the top ten challengers finally win Heisman without having the stage at the expense of each other-and for Walker, the future (and potential) seems to be even more magnified.

The Spartans faced the declining Pennsylvania State University at the end of the regular season, while Stroud and Ohio State still had the sixth-ranked Wolverines. The winner at Ohio Stadium on Saturday will have a date with Wisconsin No. 18, but given the remaining schedule, the dominant performance against the Buckeyes may resemble Walker's closing statement.

It is daunting to make it the number one person on his resume.

Since losing to Oregon on September 11, the Buckeyes' defense has only allowed 73.3 yards off the ground. In these eight games, no runners beat Maryland's Charlene Famato on October 9th against their 71 yards.

On the other hand, Ohio State University has not encountered any of the top nine rushers in the league, and the best guard I have seen so far, CJ Verdell, who was injured in Oregon, ran for 161 yards. They have yet to see an efficient base runner like Walker. He took the Wolverines' charge defense before the October 30 game, giving them a lead of 116.6 yards and pushing it to 197 yards and 5 points.

When Walker tried to enter the pole position of the Big Ten in this game, the task he faced was further complicated, and this game was more favorable to Stroud.

The Spartans ranked last in FBS's passing defense, giving up 329 yards per game, including 430 yards per game in the past three games, and Purdue University reaching 536 yards. They will have to try to slow down the Buckeyes quarterback, who has shot 3,306 yards for a total of 30 yards and 30 touchdowns. Since his absence against Akron on September 25, In one of the past six games, he has passed less than 305 yards in the air.

This is the biggest competitor-competitor left on the menu, but—that’s why Stroud and Walker’s focus on their meetings is crucial—it’s not waiting for Hayes. Mann’s best chance.

This number will be held in Atlanta on December 4th. Young and Crimson Tide will face the number one Georgia in the collision process. If a candidate in the Big Ten League hopes to beat anything Young can do to fight the best defense in the United States, or if the Alabama quarterback is swallowed by the Bulldogs, then leave a lasting impression on him, Stroud The confrontation with Walker will be the main part of this story.

All eyes will and should be on Columbus, because the ten giants have reason to end their 15-year Heisman drought and prevent the US Securities and Exchange Commission from winning three consecutive games.

It is true that it has encountered one of the worst passing defenses in the United States-125 yards, 291 yards per game, obviously-but Young still did well in the game against New Mexico. He set a record for the first 13 passes made, including 3 of his 5 touchdowns, and 21 of 23 passes for 270 yards were almost perfect without being intercepted. The sophomore hasn't voted for a draft pick since October 9th, and has a total of 166 attempts. None of the top five quarterbacks shoot more points at the age of 33. Among these players, Young’s passing efficiency (180.1) ranks second in Oklahoma’s Caleb Williams (187.7) and Georgia’s Stetson Bennett (184.5). )Later. He intends to conduct a more stringent test against Arkansas on the 25th this week. This is the 24th time he has played against a pass (195.7 points per game), although this is the same set of balls burned by Mississippi State for 417 yards and four touchdowns. team.

Corral's Rebels defeated Texas A&M University in 11th place, but his biggest victory so far is not an eye-opening and exciting performance. He was stable, throwing 247 yards and scoring touchdowns, but considering what Corral's resume lacks, stability is not good enough at this point. The difference between him and Stroud, Walker and Young is that Corral does not have a top-ranked opponent, and Tennessee State University and Mississippi State University will leave. So, what is his defining performance? It did not happen. Since September 18, he has only thrown more than 300 yards once, which is the last time Corral has thrown more than two touchdowns. He is still on the contender's shortlist, but for now, he is completely behind the other three.

Outside the top four, Pickett got the most attention. In Pete's 30-23 victory over North Carolina last weekend, he had 346 yards and 3 touchdowns. In the past three games, the fifth-year senior has pitched 1,281 yards and 9 shots. Touchdown. Since September 11, his passing distance has been less than 300 yards, and the number of touchdown passes reached 32 times, ranking fourth in the FBS and second only to Yang among the top five players. Although it is not as high as Stroud Walker, Pickett’s 21st-ranked Panthers will participate in the ACC Championship with 12th-ranked Wake Forest and another interesting second-tier candidate, Sam Hartman. . If the meeting is to get a player at the ceremony, then what happens in this potential matchup is likely to determine who he is.

The freshman is gaining momentum, but his campaign - and potential University of Oklahoma football playoff hopes - came abruptly in a 27-14 loss to No. 13 Baylor. Stop. Williams made 10 of 19 shots, passing 146 yards and two interceptions that day. After making two picks in 8 of his first 14 attempts, he was on the bench at the end of the second half, where he won. The working player Spencer Ratler replaced. Considering Williams’ regular performance, he averaged 328.5 yards after taking over the offense, which is shocking, and he played against Texas Tech last time. The game was 402 yards and 6 touchdowns. As a true freshman, the pair played against Williams, and his playing time was limited, but his frustration in Waco ended his chances.

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