Husker Football: Ameer Abdullah’s Heisman Race – Week Ten

When Husker football kicks off for the first time in the fall, the Big Red’s in the same position as every other Power Five conference team. Win out and be in the spotlight. There’s a bubble within the sport where that doesn’t mean squat: the race for the Heisman trophy.

Before his suspension, apparently Georgia running back Todd Gurley was the front-runner and as of last Saturday, Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott was/is. Who determines this? I have a bottle of water on my desk. Can I claim it’s the Heisman favorite?

Yes, the Bulldogs faced a tough Auburn Tigers squad, but won without Gurley. Meanwhile, Ameer Abdullah was busy smashing records and snapping ankles in Lincoln.

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Prescott has two major things going for him: He’s the starting quarterback and he’s leading the No. 1 team in the country.

Abdullah still has a chance to hold the bronze statue high and become the first running back to win the award since Alabama’s Mark Ingram in 2009.

However, the margin for error is as slim as an apple’s skin.

One thing that no one can replicate is Abdullah’s personality. During Nebraska’s game against Rutgers, announcer Joey Galloway continuously pointed out why Nebraska fans are proud of No. 8.

This included making sure a camerawoman was alright after a near-collision.

Compare that to last year’s winner, Jameis Winston. So much stink surrounds him that not only must it make it easy for voters to look elsewhere for a winner and a 2013 interview with the Dallas Morning News’ Kevin Sherrington reinforces that.

"As I’ve written, voters always look for reasons not to vote for a guy in the process of elimination."

Let’s get down to what Husker football fans really want to know. How can Abdullah win the Heisman?

First, Nebraska has to win the Big Ten championship. After falling to Michigan State, it appears that if the Huskers are the kings of the Big Ten West division, they’ll take on either the Ohio State Buckeyes or those same Spartans.

Look to the Nov. 8 match-up between those two as a de facto Big Ten East division championship game.

Regardless of who wins that tilt, Nebraska fans want to root for both teams to win as many games as possible. If the Huskers knock what’s perceived as the best the Big Ten has to offer (read: best team in the East) out on the canvas, it adds weight to Abdullah’s Heisman argument.

Second, let’s talk stats. Right now, there’s only one guy standing between Abdullah and the all-time career rushing record: Mike Rozier.

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Assuming Nebraska makes it to Indianapolis, No. 8 has five games to beat the best-dressed man at the Heisman ceremony’s eye-popping statistic.

He currently has 1,249 rushing yards yards on the year, averaging just under 156.1 per game and needing 556 to pass the 1983 trophy winner’s mark.

He may not need that many.

Three of the four remaining rushing defenses he’ll be facing during the rest of Nebraska’s regular season games aren’t exactly elite in Purdue (No. 81), Minnesota (No. 46) and Iowa (No. 41). The only crew that may give him a run for his money is Wisconsin, currently ranked No. 15

All Abdullah has to do is average 138.75 yards per game and he’ll have the most career rushing yards of anyone in the 125-year history of University of Nebraska football. Stop and think about that for a second. How many great running backs have come through this school?

He would best them all in production.

The cherry on top of this statistical sundae is that he scored 20 touchdowns total in his prior three years as a Cornhusker. He has 17 to his name so far this season.

If every Heisman voter told me they weren’t rooting for Abdullah and remaining totally unbiased until, say, the regular season was over, I wouldn’t believe them. Too many people have praised him, lavished him with love and applause.

He’s set the school record for all-purpose yards and may shatter both Rozier’s for both rushing yards and 200-yard games. All he has to do to seal the deal from there is help his program win its first conference title since the Y2K scare.

Piece of cake, right?