Ohio State football: Does Justin Fields have a chance at the Heisman trophy?

Justin Fields seemed to be a Heisman frontrunner going into the matchup against the Indiana Hoosiers. Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence had been sidelined for two weeks due to contracting COVID-19 and it gave Fields the perfect window to make up for weeks Ohio State did not play.

Going into the game, Fields had an incredible stat of having more passing touchdowns than incompletions. However, he had what could have been his worst game as an Ohio State Buckeye against the Hoosiers. He finished the game with 18 completions and 30 incompletions. On top of this, Fields threw more interceptions than touchdowns.

Part of this is because the offensive line greatly struggled in protecting Fields, however, he also forced a lot of passes. Despite this, he still did enough to get the Buckeyes the win against a top 10 opponent.

Although the Buckeyes still held on to their perfect record, Fields’ chances of winning the Heisman may have gone down the drain. Ohio State has missed yet another week due to COVID-19 and is nearing not being eligible to play in the Big 10 championship.

With each game Ohio State misses, the slimmer Fields’ odds of bringing home the Heisman are, especially with him coming off of such an out of character game for him. He would have to play near-perfect football to even have a chance to win the award.

Currently, Justin Fields has the fourth-highest odds to win the Heisman. His odds are +1000 according to actionnetwork.com. He is sitting behind Kyle Trask from Florida, Mac Jones from Alabama, and Trevor Lawrence from Clemson.

Justin Fields needs to put up stats for Ohio State in order to win the Heisman

To make a fair case for each candidate, considering cancelations due to schedules and personal injuries, each stat will be considered on a per-game basis.

Kyle Trask has played 8 games this season for the Florida Gators. Trask has a 71.4% completion percentage. He averages an astonishing 351.25 passing yards per game. Along with this, he averages 4.25 passing touchdowns and .375 interceptions per game. In terms of rushing, Trask averages 11 yards per game and zero touchdowns. Lastly, he has a passing efficiency rating of 196.8.

Mac Jones has played 8 games for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Jones has a 76.2% completion percentage. He averages 341 passing yards per game. Along with this, he averages 2.875 passing touchdowns and .375 interceptions per game. In terms of rushing, Jones averages -.375 rushing yards per game and .125 rushing touchdowns a game. Lastly, he has a passing efficiency rating of 208.0.

Trevor Lawrence has played 7 games for the Clemson Tigers. Lawrence has a 70.6% completion percentage. He averages 319.43 passing yards a game. Along with this, he averages 2.714 passing touchdowns and .286 interceptions per game. In terms of rushing, Lawrence averages 11.4 rushing yards per game and .571 rushing touchdowns a game. Lastly, he has a passing efficiency rating of 178.7.

Lastly, Justin Fields has played 4 games for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Fields has a 79.6% completion rating. He averages 302 passing yards a game. Along with this, he averages 3.25 passing touchdowns and .75 interceptions a game. In terms of rushing, Fields averages 33.75 rushing yards per game and .75 rushing touchdowns per game. Lastly, he has a passing efficiency rating of 202.1.

Doing the math of each of these statistical categories where first place will get four points etc. Kyle Trask finished with 18 points, Mac Jones finished with 16 points. Trevor Lawrence finished with 14 points. Lastly, Justin Fields finished with 20 points.

While this is a fair metric, it does not take into account that some stats are worth more than other and Heisman voters will likely not be looking at stats on a per-game basis.