ATHENS, Ga. — Once again, college football fans witnessed a crazy Saturday that saw a top 10 team lose to an unranked team while other top teams struggled their way to victory.
One week after a marquee victory over in-state rival Michigan, Michigan State lost its first game of the year against Purdue. Wake Forest also saw their undefeated record slip away to in-state rival North Carolina.
Alabama ended its 34-game streak of scoring 30 or more points in a 20-14 victory over LSU. Ohio State, Cincinnati and Oregon also narrowly avoided upsets against unranked opponents.
In a season of chaos, there has been one constant: Georgia. And in a year with no real Heisman frontrunner, it might be time to consider handing the trophy to the best player in college football rather than the best running back or quarterback on a championship team.
The two Heisman frontrunners coming into this week's games, Alabama's Bryce Young and Michigan State's Kenneth Walker III, did nothing to separate themselves on Saturday.
But what about Georgia's monster defensive lineman Jordan Davis?
More than two-thirds into the season, Davis has been a wrecking ball for every offense he has faced.
Now, unlike Young, Walker and many other Heisman favorites, Davis does not have a state sheet that jumps off the paper. In fact, his stats are not as impressive as the many others on the historically great Bulldog defense.
Twelve players have more tackles, four players have more sacks, and he doesn't have a forced fumble. Though he is not credited for safety, he is most certainly responsible for it. For those who watch the tape, the lack of statistics is more than made up for by his impact on the field.
In football, a longtime cliche is the "Immovable object vs. Irresistible Force." Jordan Davis is the unlikely combination of both working together.
As an immovable object, rarely does a season has an offensive lineman been able to gain any push on him. Rather, Davis seems to move opposing linemen away like a freight train pushing a sedan off the track in front of it. Thanks in large part to his constant pressure, the Georgia defense has allowed 726 yards rushing on the season and 2.6 yards a carry.
However, his role as the irresistible force is just as impressive. As an interior lineman, his role is not contained merely in the interior of the defense. Davis has consistently made plays on the outside. Even at 340 lbs, his speed is one of his great assets, shedding a block then making a play on the pursuit.
He was once clocked at nearly 20 mph. At his size, nothing more needs to be said about his speed.
The Heisman no longer goes to the best player in football. It goes to the quarterback on the championship team to the quarterback with gaudy stats. Every now and again, it'll go to a running back who is unstoppable enough to overtake the nation's best quarterback.
But with a year as crazy as this one, and without a quarterback or running back separating themselves as the season enters its final stretch, let's go back to the spirit of the award. Let's give it to the best player in college football. That player is Jordan Davis.
