Heisman Watch 2020: Highlighting Race's Front-Runners After Week 12

The inactivity among three of the top four FBS teams Saturday allowed Kyle Trask to reinforce his Heisman Trophy candidacy.

The Florida Gators quarterback torched the Arkansas Razorbacks defense in a 63-35 victory to boost his stock while Mac Jones, Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence were not on the college gridiron in Week 11.

Trask still has a long way to go to become the Heisman front-runner, but he does deserve to be a finalist alongside the other three quarterbacks.

Jones, Fields and Lawrence should be back in action in Week 12. Of the three, Fields faces the most difficult challenge in a Big Ten East showdown with the Indiana Hoosiers.

The margins between Fields, Jones, Lawrence and Trask could be small when the final Heisman vote is tallied.

Unfortunately for the Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback, he lost a game to impress Heisman voters. Ohio State's Week 11 clash with the Maryland Terrapins was cancelled.

The good news for Fields is he has a marquee matchup in Week 12 in which he can solidify a spot at the top of the Heisman leaderboard.

In his first three games, Fields went 72-of-83 with 908 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also ran for 57 yards and a pair of scores.

Fields' four-score outing versus the Penn State Nittany Lions carries less weight because James Franklin's side is still without a win, but he still deserves some credit for thriving on the road against a Top 25 team.

Saturday's clash with Indiana is crucial for Fields' Heisman campaign since the Hoosiers are the only ranked team remaining on Ohio State's regular-season schedule. If Fields achieves success against Tom Allen's squad, he could cruise through the Illinois Fighting Illini, Michigan State Spartans and Michigan Wolverines.

If that is the case, Fields could go into the Big Ten Championship Game with the Heisman and a College Football Playoff spot on the line.

An argument can be made that Jones is the clear-cut Heisman front-runner because of his six performances in SEC play.

Jones put up more than 400 passing yards against his two Top 25 opponents and has a trio of four-score outings.

The Alabama signal-caller lost a chance to pad his numbers against the LSU Tigers defense in Week 11 and consequently has three more regular-season opportunities to impress Heisman voters.

If certain voters base their decisions off the highest numbers and the most games played, Jones and Trask will go head-to-head. But if the voters consider the factors surrounding the uniqueness of the season, Jones' performance could be judged in comparison to those of Fields, Lawrence and Trask over the next few weeks.

Jones has one more chance to beat a ranked team in the Iron Bowl on November 28. He also has the Kentucky Wildcats and Arkansas left on the schedule before the SEC Championship Game.

If Jones continues at his current pace, which produced 2,196 passing yards and 16 touchdowns, he could go head-to-head with Trask in the SEC Championship Game for the conference title and first-place Heisman votes.

Lawrence may have the most difficult Heisman evaluation.

The Clemson Tigers quarterback missed the past two games because of a positive COVID-19 test. The second of those games was a top-five showdown with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Before his absence, Lawrence put up 1,833 passing yards and 17 passing touchdowns. He could head into the ACC Championship Game with one start against a Top 25 team since the conference began play in September. In that same span, Jones and Trask would have taken on multiple Top 25 opponents.

The junior signal-caller still has a path to the Heisman if the turns in three dominant outings against the Florida State Seminoles, Pittsburgh Panthers and Virginia Tech Hokies.

If he pads his totals, Lawrence could enter Clemson's potential rematch with Notre Dame with a chance to put up an impressive performance that could earn him first-place votes.

If Notre Dame wins out, Lawrence would have the second-toughest remaining opponent on his schedule. The first would be Trask against top-ranked Alabama.

Trask's Heisman candidacy is growing by the week.

The Florida quarterback has at least four touchdown passes in each of his six starts this year, and two of those performances occurred against the Texas A&M Aggies and Georgia Bulldogs.

Trask's six-score outing in Week 11 was the perfect showcase on a Saturday when the three top Heisman candidates were not in action. If Trask plays at this high rate in the next four games, he could have the best passing yard and touchdown totals of the four Heisman contenders.

Florida's next four opponents: the Vanderbilt Commodores, Kentucky Wildcats, Tennessee Volunteers and LSU have a combined 7-17 record.

If Trask dominates each of those four defenses and goes head-to-head with Jones in the SEC Championship Game, he could garner a large total of votes. And if the Gators take down the top-ranked team in the country, he should have a larger case to land a healthy amount of first-place votes.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.