The college football community is reeling in the decision to keep the nation’s best linebacker, Jacob Rodriguez, out of Heisman trophy contention. Instead, it is quarterbacks Francisco Mendoza, Julian Sayin, and Diego Pavia, who are joined by running back Jeremiyah Love in New York for Saturday’s Heisman trophy presentation.
So who could we have pushed out to make room for Rodriguez?
The answer is unquestionably Jeremiyah Love.
Love is the best running back in college football, there’s no question about it. He will be the first RB off the board when (and if) he does declare for the NFL Draft, and his streak of 11 straight games with a rushing touchdown to end the season stands out among the field.
But with only 1,372 rushing yards on the season, Love has the least amount of yards of any Heisman finalist running back since 1974, when runner-up Anthony Davis rushed 1,354 yards and 13 touchdowns.
When you compare Love’s stats with the last running back who took that stage, you begin to understand why the decision to make the Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back a finalist is so head-scratching.
Ashton Jeanty conjured up 2,601 rushing yards, nearly twice as many as Love, and 29 rushing touchdowns, dwarfing Love’s 18.
Jeanty’s nearly 3,000 yards from scrimmage weren’t enough to win him the award, but his campaign showcased how much the game has changed in the 50+ years since a finalist last posted stats similar to those of Love’s.
With just 66 rushing yards in Notre Dame’s final game of the season against 4-8 Stanford, college football fans are left wondering why the fan-favorite RB got the nod.
Jacob Rodriguez Heisman Case
Jacob Rodriguez is the middle linebacker for the Big 12 champion Texas Tech Red Raiders. His Red Raiders earned a bye in the college football playoff after finishing the season 12-1.
Rodriguez finished the season with  117 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, and 7 forced fumbles.
No single player in America was responsible for more turnovers than Rodriguez.
Factor this into the fact that he was the cog that made the wheel turn on the fifth-ranked defense in the entire nation, and Rodriguez’s case gets stronger.
Texas Tech’s defense only allowed 17 touchdowns this season despite being on the field for 836 plays, the fifth-highest mark in the nation.
His Heisman run was so undervalued that the Texas Tech head coach, Joey McGuire, started playing Rodriguez on offense to get the nation’s voters’ attention.
Rodriguez received two carries this season and took both for touchdowns, bringing his total number of scores to three on the season.
Compare his season to the last linebacker to make the final consideration, Manti Te’o.
Te’o recorded just 113 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss, but outpaced Rodriguez with seven interceptions.
Te’o was the runner-up, whereas Rodriguez didn’t even make the stage in what is considered one of the weakest Heisman races in recent memory.
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