8. OKLAHOMA RB SAMAJE PERINE
After a slow start, Samaje Perine quietly picked up momentum midway through the season. Fittingly, he’s done so with all the force of a runaway locomotive.
Perine’s play isn’t so quiet anymore. In back-to-back matchups with nationally ranked opponents, he gained a combined 354 yards and scored three touchdowns. One was a career-long.
AND THERE HE GOES!! Touchdown @OU_Football, and a career long rush for Samaje Perine! https://t.co/n4iCBsBbp6
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) November 22, 2015
The Sooners’ pursuit of a College Football Playoff bid puts Perine in the spotlight. With fellow Heisman contender Baker Mayfield knocked out of Saturday’s win over TCU, Perine could be the offensive hero of Oklahoma’s conference championship push.
7. MISSISSIPPI STATE QB DAK PRESCOTT
The stellar Alabama defense stifled Dak Prescott’s Heisman ascent just as it was beginning, but credit the senior for bouncing back.
Prescott rebounded from a trying outing against the Crimson Tide last week to carve up some Hog in Week 12. He threw five touchdown passes and rushed for another two in the Bulldogs’ wild, 51-50 defeat of surging Arkansas.
Prescott’s now in some elite company with another Dan Mullen-coached playmaker.
Dak Prescott joins Tim Tebow as the only SEC quarterbacks with 40 Pass TD and 40 Rush TD in a career pic.twitter.com/Qna6zp1orx
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 22, 2015
Tebow was a three-time Heisman finalist and the award’s 2007 winner.