Forget Nick Marshall, Cameron Artis-Payne Should Be in the Heisman Race

Different verse, same as the first.

For the second straight season, Auburn is making noise in November with Nick Marshall at the helm as the quarterback of the No. 3-ranked Tigers. 

The senior signal-caller for head coach Gus Malzahn's crew has passed for 1,357 yards and 13 touchdowns, rushed for 631 yards and nine touchdowns, and, as my B/R colleague Brian Leigh pointed out Sunday, moved into dark-horse consideration for the Heisman Trophy due to his clutch factor.

Over the last two seasons, Marshall has led his team to a remarkable record in one-score games, according to Dave Miller of the National Football Post:

Marshall should be in consideration, but there's another Tiger who should join him on the path to New York City.

Running back Cameron Artis-Payne.

The senior rushed 27 times for 143 yards and a touchdown in the road win over then-No. 4 Ole Miss on Saturday night, showing off durability between the tackles, quickness to be dangerous in space and speed to turn short gains into long gains.

Through eight games, he's ahead of the pace of Heisman finalist Tre Mason from a year ago.

Player	Car.	Yds.	TDs	YPC
Cameron Artis-Payne	178	974	7	5.47
Tre Mason	129	753	9	5.84

That's pretty strong.

Sure, Mason had a 304-yard performance against Missouri in the SEC Championship Game that punched his ticket to New York last year. At this rate, though, that statistical haymaker might only draw Mason even with Artis-Payne.

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Artis-Payne, a 5'11" 210-pounder from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, transferred to Auburn prior to the 2013 season from Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California. He split carries with Mason early last season before Mason took off, and he worked hard to get in true game shape last offseason.

Head coach Gus Malzahn told Alex Byington of the Opelika-Auburn News in September that Artis-Payne had lost some weight and picked up some speed, which is a big reason why he's blossomed into a true every-down back in the SEC.

"He has a lot of yards after contact, which is very important," Malzahn said in September during the Week 3 coaches teleconference. "He's the type of runner who, I believe, gets stronger as the game goes on."

Quarter	Yds.	YPC	Runs of 10+ Yds.
1st	236	4.92	5
2nd	222	5.05	6
3rd	242	5.26	7
4th	274	6.85	10

That's not hyperbole. It's accurate.

Artis-Payne's yards-per-carry average has gone up in every quarter this season, and he gets more explosive as the game goes on.

Is he a system running back? Yes and no.

Malzahn's system is built to produce video game statistics on the ground. In eight previous seasons as a college head coach or an assistant coach, Malzahn's offense has produced 11 1,000-yard rushers—including two last year, Mason (1,816) and Marshall (1,068).

The offensive system shouldn't be used against him, though. Like Mason, Artis-Payne is a great back in a great system, and that system is producing results at the highest level yet again.

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The same rules that applied to Georgia running back Todd Gurley earlier this season apply to Artis-Payne.

With only two non-quarterbacks winning the Heisman since 2000 (one of which—Reggie Bush in 2005—was returned)—the Heisman Trophy is a quarterback-driven award, and any running back who becomes a contender will be fighting an uphill battle. That is especially true for Artis-Payne, who has a Heisman Trophy contender at quarterback on his own team.

That shouldn't remove him from consideration, though.

Artis-Payne lit up the Ole Miss defense, has two soft run defenses coming up in Texas A&M and Georgia, and then closes out the season on the road against Alabama. 

Don't discount the possibility of Artis-Payne following in Mason's footsteps all the way to New York City.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.