Heisman Watch 2020: Odds for Top Race Candidates Before Championship Games

The Heisman Trophy appears to be headed to Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Mac Jones and DeVonta Smith are viewed as the favorites to capture the most prestigious individual honor in college football.

The quarterback-wide receiver combination for the Alabama Crimson Tide has shone all season and could use Saturday's SEC Championship Game to polish their respective resumes. Jones is listed as the favorite to win the award, but a strong case can be made for Smith, who has enjoyed one of the best individual seasons in 2020.

Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask was in the driver's seat for a few weeks, but his Heisman campaign fell off after Week 15's loss to the LSU Tigers. He needs a massive performance in an upset victory over Alabama in the SEC Championship Game to earn more first-place votes.

Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence is the main outlier in the Heisman race. He is viewed as the top NFL draft prospect in college football, but he may leave this level without the top individual honor unless he outplays the trio of SEC stars by a wide margin Saturday.

Jones could be the first Alabama quarterback to claim the Heisman.

In 2018, Tua Tagovailoa was in the mix for the award, but he was beaten out by Kyler Murray in the final few weeks of the season.

Jones has been consistent as the engineer of the Alabama offense. He has 27 touchdown passes and three interceptions. He pulled ahead of Smith and Trask during a two-game stretch against the Auburn Tigers and LSU in which he produced nine passing touchdowns.

Jones did not record a score through the air against the Arkansas Razorbacks in Week 15, but he still threw for 208 yards and completed 24 of his 29 passes.

If Jones puts up decent totals and wins Saturday, he will eliminate Trask from the competition and make the voters choose between him and Smith. If Smith turns in a massive performance, like he did against LSU, he may steal some first-place votes, which could lead to a slim margin of victory.

No player has experienced a more meteoric rise up the Heisman odds chart in the past month than Smith.

The Alabama wideout moved ahead of Trask and Lawrence through his 200-yard first half against LSU and punt return touchdown against Arkansas.

An argument can already be made by some observers that Smith is the best player on the Alabama roster and is the main reason why Jones' stats look so good.

Smith has 1,327 receiving yards and 15 touchdown catches. In the four games prior to the win over Arkansas, he had 11 receiving touchdowns.

If Smith lights up Florida's secondary and makes a few key special teams plays, he could strengthen his case for first-place votes.

The problem he faces is the bias Heisman voters have shown toward quarterbacks in the past decade. Derrick Henry in 2015 was the only non-quarterback to win the award in the 2010s.

Trask needs to beat Alabama to have a shot at the Heisman.

That may have been the case before losing to LSU as well, but it is the only way he can steal the award from under the Alabama duo's noses.

Trask's case diminished in the LSU defeat because it took away the potential of him leading the Gators to the College Football Playoff.

The senior quarterback leads the FBS with 3,717 passing yards and 40 touchdown passes, but some voters could hold his inability to fend off a challenge from a weakened LSU side against him. Trask can erase that poor performance by being the first quarterback to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship Game since Tim Tebow in 2008.

Trask threw for four touchdowns in each of his matchups with top-10 teams, and if replicates those performances Saturday, he could regain more first-place votes and make the Heisman conversation compelling.

Lawrence needs a handful of things to go his way Saturday to even have a chance at garnering first-place votes.

First, he needs to lead the Clemson Tigers to an ACC Championship Game victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Lawrence missed the first meeting with the Irish because of a positive COVID-19 test. Those absences and the layoff Clemson experienced in November cost Lawrence the chance to play in the same amount of games as Jones, Smith and Trask.

The Clemson junior ranks 14th in the FBS in passing yards and touchdown passes. He needs around 300 yards and multiple scoring passes to put his name back into consideration.

The other thing Lawrence needs is a low-scoring SEC Championship Game. If Alabama and Florida's offensive totals are stymied, he can make the case that he shined brightest on championship weekend.

Lawrence's overall totals may not be good enough to win the Heisman, but he has one final shot to claim the award before he potentially leads Clemson in the College Football Playoff and leaves to be the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in April.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from ESPN.com. Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

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