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Justin Fields passes Trevor Lawrence but still behind one QB in updated Heisman Trophy betting odds
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The 2020 season has grown late early as the Big Ten enters only its fourth week of play with just a month left to finish the campaign. The Heisman Trophy competition is hurtling along as well, with Michigan’s Joe Milton dropping out after a tough afternoon and Ohio State’s Justin Field’s holding serve and even climbing to +150 odds to win the trophy (up from +200 last week).
Clemson’s superstar quarterback Trevor Lawrence retreated from the top of the heap, moving from -150 last week to +300 this week, after testing positive for Covid-19 and being forced to miss at least two games. With Lawrence dropping, Fields’ odds appear even better, but the Buckeyes beast still trails a less flashy but steady leader down south in Alabama’s Mac Jones, who has been installed at a slightly higher +125 (up from +500 last week) after slicing and dicing Mississippi State last Saturday.
Jones, a junior, threw four touchdowns passes Saturday against a quality Bulldogs’ secondary and added to his superb season statistics for the 5-0 Crimson Tide. Jones is completing 78.5 percent of his throws at nearly 13-yards per attempt, and has collected 2,196 yards this fall, good for 439 per game, and 16 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He has been sensational for yet another dominant Alabama team.
Fields, also a junior, has been a torrid pace himself through only three games for the Buckeyes. He is completing a scintillating 87-percent of his throws and has tossed six touchdowns against no interceptions for the 3-0 Buckeyes.
Alabama continues their 2020 gauntlet next week at unranked, but always tough at home, LSU. If the Tigers defense continues the poor play and particularly poor pass defense they have displayed this season, Jones could have a big day. The Buckeyes play in Columbus against unranked Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are an improved team but Fields, too, could set down big numbers of his own to make the Heisman Trophy debate an interesting one.
Mark Schipper is a reporter, sportswriter, and aspiring novelist living in Chicago, Illinois.