The 2013 Heisman Race Already Underway

Some say the bowl season is over-saturated, that the non-championship BCS are snoozefests. But I thought the games were compelling every night this week.

The best unintended consequence was that one night after the next we saw next year's Heisman crop, and they all shined in big wins. Here are Backtime's favorites for next year:

1. Johnny Football

What a performance. If anyone thought Johnny Manziel would be off his game, basking in the glory of his well-earned Heisman and the banquet circuit that goes with it, we saw exactly what he brought us all year.

Johnny Football went video game all over Oklahoma for 287 passing and 229 rushing, a total of 4 TD as he led Texas A&M from a 14-13 halftime nail-biter to a 41-13 romp.

In fact, if the NFL video games are branded "Madden," the college ones should be labeled "Johnny Football." And instead of a turbo or beast mode, there should be a "run like hell" mode.

His chances to repeat are obviously excellent, except Texas A&M still plays in the SEC West. That's a recipe for the possibility of multiple losses which would dash his Heisman chances no matter how spectacular the numbers.

2. Teddy Bridgewater

Bridgewater had great moments all year, many of which were chronicled on this site. But his 2013 Heisman moment just happened on January 2nd, 2013, in the Sugar Bowl.

Bridgewater got off the mat (of course he did) and led Louisville to a stunner over #3 Florida. He is the ice to Johnny Manziel's fire, and just 26 days older. He will be back as will most everyone around him, and Louisville is certain to be ranked in the Top 10 preseason, a formula for an outsider's title run.

3. Tajh Boyd

This is the one uncertainty since Clemson's Boyd may declare for the NFL draft. If it was his final season in Orange and White, it was a keeper: 36 TD passes and 10 TD runs. And at a sturdy 225 he's as tough as they come.

In the Chick-fil-A Bowl he absorbed dozens of hits against a monster LSU defense, and made the big pass on 4th and 17 to set up the winning field goal. But he still had enough energy to lift the trophy after a classic finish.

4. Marcus Mariota

Mariota is the sleeper. Oregon QBs get about as much pub as a jockey on a champion racehorse. But it takes much more than skills. Mariota has to grasp the offense and execute it while on a treadmill.

And the freshman was the best quarterback on the field against senior Heisman finalist Collin Klein in the Fiesta Bowl.

If coach Chip Kelly goes to the NFL, as he's expected to, the system remains. Mariota will get a chance to be the posterboy when college football's most dominant offense returns to the field next year. And if his coach is gone, the spotlight on the QB gets bigger.

So, who emerges from Monday night's national championship game? Alabama QB AJ McCarron has a shot, but I expect the 2-headed tailback machine to dominate as they did in the SEC title game against a strong Georgia front seven. Notre Dame deserves to be in the game based on their body of work, but they don't belong on the same field. The Tide will roll.

Johnny Football: Alone on Heisman Island

The Johnny Football Show rolled on in the season finale at Texas A&M, but not without a brief detour. Late in the first quarter, our hero went down after a tackle and grabbed his knee, and 90,000 went silent and absolutely still.

And the producer of the national TV broadcast swallowed his headset mic wondering how he was going to fill the next 3 hours.

But alas it was just another plot point in Johnny Football, the movie. Manziel came back and did his usual thing: 439 total offense, 5 total TD. And despite the failed attempt for a TD reception, like the failed PAT attempt the week before, it appears that nobody's going to catch him for the Heisman.

It's not that Johnny Manziel doesn't have the Heisman numbers, he certainly does. He's the single biggest impact player on any team in college football. But Heisman voters have been cool to freshmen in the past. But in 2012, who could you vote over him?

Notre Dame's Manti Te'o? Maybe. He is the best player on a tough as nails, possible national champion defense. But he isn't the best defensive player in the country, not even the best LB. That would be the Dawgs' Jarvis Jones y'all.

Kansas State's Collin Klein finishes up with Texas. But the late-season debacle at Baylor (who were obviously protecting last year's trophy) will be stuck in the voters' heads. While Manziel's season only got better as the stakes got higher, beating Alabama on the road and taking the magic carpet ride from there. The night of The Home Depot College Football Awards is Manziel's 20th birthday. The Heisman is two days later.

The Aggies' regular season is over. Manziel can't lose ground on the Heisman. And it doesn't appear that anyone else can win it.