Heisman Stock Watch 2014: Who's Rising and Falling Post-Week 14?

The Heisman Trophy starts out like a charity 5K fun run but ends up like the final stretch of a Triple Crown horse race. Anyone and everyone seemed to be a contender when the season began, yet heading into the final week of play before ballots are due, there's only a small field left on the course.

And not all of them are heading in the right direction.

Heisman voters must submit their ballots by Monday, Dec. 8, which only leaves this weekend's limited slate of games to sway those who are still undecided. Not everyone still considered a viable contender will be in action, yet the final performance from those who suit up Friday or Saturday will no doubt factor heavily in voters' decisions.

Who's rising and who's falling as the 2014 regular season winds down? Check out status updates on the top Heisman contenders.

Amari Cooper, Alabama

Rising

It's been 23 years since a full-time wide receiver won the Heisman, when Michigan's Desmond Howard claimed the award during a Rose Bowl season. There have been some close calls since then, but no other pass-catcher has had as strong a case to win the trophy as Amari Cooper has built this season.

Cooper sits third in CBS Sports' latest Heisman rankings, getting no worse than third place on each of the six writers' ballots. This has been due to his massively impressive performance for top-ranked Alabama, where his 103 receptions for 1,573 yards and 14 touchdowns account for 42, 46 and 50 percent (respectively) of the Crimson Tide's production in each category.

The junior is coming off his best game yet, 13 catches for 224 yards and three TDs, and the fact it came in the high-profile Iron Bowl only makes Cooper's stock hotter. While Auburn tried to treat Cooper like "any other player," as Tigers safety Johnathan Ford said, he's simply not someone who can be covered by base defenses.

What Howard and fellow Michigan Heisman winner Charles Woodson (who was primarily a cornerback) had going for them was being more than just a wide receiver. Cooper only does that one thing, but he does it better than anyone else right now and could ride that mastery of his trade to no worse than a top-four Heisman finish.

J.T. Barrett, Ohio State

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Falling

When J.T. Barrett went down with a broken ankle late in Ohio State's win over Michigan last week, it did more than jeopardize his team's chances to not only win a national championship, but even get into the playoff. It also effectively ended Barrett's Heisman campaign.

"We lost a Heisman candidate today," OSU coach Urban Meyer told reporters after the game. "We're going to find out if we earn our coaching stripes now. We lost two quarterbacks."

That last piece of Meyer's statement is what will keep Barrett from winning, more so than the fact he won't get the Big Ten title game against Wisconsin as one last push for the award. What the redshirt freshman did this season—accounting for 3,772 yards and 45 touchdowns—was as a replacement for Braxton Miller after he injured his shoulder in training camp. Miller himself was considered a Heisman candidate entering the season.

And while third-stringer Cardale Jones might not be able to perform as well as Miller or Barrett, if he's able to keep the Buckeyes moving forward and win Saturday's game impressively, it could end up making Barrett look more like a product of OSU's system than an individual talent. System guys haven't tended to fare as well in Heisman voting.

Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin

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Rising

Melvin Gordon has a legitimate chance to produce the most prolific rushing season in FBS history, provided he can have his way with Ohio State and whomever Wisconsin ends up playing in a bowl game. He's done so against pretty much every other defense he's faced this season, as he's rushed for 2,260 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Barry Sanders holds the record, going for 2,628 yards in 1988, blowing away the field in the Heisman race for a 10-win Oklahoma State team that was good but wasn't a playoff contender. Wisconsin has an outside shot to be one, which makes what Gordon does in the Big Ten title game Saturday a performance that most Heisman voters will be watching closely.

Gordon made his biggest jump in stock value after rushing for 408 yards against Nebraska, which broke a 15-year-old FBS single-game record (that Oklahoma's Samaje Perine surpassed a week later). But since then, he's continued to climb, despite efforts in the next two games that statistically didn't match what he did in that single contest.

Instead, what Gordon did to help Wisconsin win at Iowa and come back at home against Minnesota, thus locking up the Big Ten West, was just as impressive as a big yardage day.

Trevone Boykin, TCU

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Falling

TCU may keep winning, but of late it hasn't been as much because of Trevone Boykin as in the past. While that's great for the Horned Frogs as a team, it doesn't bode well for Boykin's chances to win the Heisman.

Boykin has thrown for 3,254 yards and 26 touchdowns with only six interceptions—while running for 598 yards and eight scores—but his 59.3 completion percentage is tied for 57th in FBS. He's tied with Baylor's Bryce Petty, a strange coincidence considering Boykin's Horned Frogs and Petty's Bears are essentially battling for the same playoff spot.

TCU's most recent wins haven't been because of Boykin; they've come as a result of an improving defense that asserted its will at Texas and one that forced the issue to spark a comeback at Kansas the game before. Those outcomes have taken some of the luster off Boykin's candidacy, though he's had a masterful season and would be the front-runner if there were a Most Improved Player award.

Further hurting Boykin's chances, of all the Heisman candidates playing this weekend, he has the least beneficial matchup to help his cause. Dominating a two-win Iowa State team isn't likely to sway any voters still on the fence.

Marcus Mariota, Oregon

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Rising

Unlike past winners and hopefuls who did so on purpose, often away from live action, the Oregon quarterback's recent Heisman pose was as much about avoiding injury as trying to flaunt his very likely anointing as the next trophy winner.

"I never like to see him in harm's way," Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost told Ryan Thorburn of The (Eugene) Register-Guard, referring to a move by Mariota to elude an Oregon State defender Saturday that looked eerily similar to the Heisman Trophy pose. "But he's smart and athletic, and he knows how to handle himself."

Even without the pose, Mariota would be the stock everyone wishes he'd bought long ago, but now it seems far too expensive after the junior has thrown for 3,470 yards with 36 touchdowns (and only two interceptions) along with 11 rushing TDs and even a receiving score. There have been no bad games this season, not even an average one—the closest being when he was sacked seven times and stripped late in the Ducks' lone loss, to Arizona, but he still had a huge night.

The award is Mariota's to lose, which is still possible if he struggles against Arizona in Friday's Pac-12 title game. Several other contenders are on teams that could make the playoff, and if the Ducks end up not being a part of that, it could be the only thing that keeps Mariota from winning.

Tevin Coleman, Indiana

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Falling

Last season, Boston College's Andre Williams ran for more than 2,177 yards, fifth-most in FBS history and the most since 2007. Yet the running back finished fourth in the Heisman voting, likely because his team only had seven wins.

In 2012, USC wide receiver Marqise Lee had a pair of 400-yard all-purpose games, including a 345-yard receiving effort against Arizona, totaling more than 1,700 receiving yards and close to 2,700 all-purpose yards for the season. Lee also finished fourth in the Heisman race, as the Trojans finished 7-6.

Tevin Coleman ran for 2,036 yards this season, but Indiana only won four games. Even though that includes a victory over SEC East Division champ Missouri, nothing short of breaking a longstanding season record would get Coleman into serious Heisman contention.

The junior could be a serious player next season, assuming the Hoosiers can improve (and he doesn't opt to go pro early), but in 2014 Coleman likely won't even get an invite to the awards ceremony in New York.

Scooby Wright, Arizona

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Rising

Defensive players are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to the Heisman race, as past results have shown. Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o's second-place finish in 2012 was as much about who he played for—as well as the fascinating yet made-up personal story that captivated the national media—as what he did on the field. In most years, defenders only end up getting token consideration for the award.

Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright's "story" isn't as sexy, because he's not the first unheralded recruit to rise to greatness, but his on-field effort more than makes up for his lack of a Hollywood-level backstory.

The national leader in tackles for loss (28) and forced fumbles (six), to go with 140 tackles and 14 sacks, Wright has elevated himself to the level of the best defensive player in the country. This has coincided with the Wildcats rising into serious playoff contention, winning the Pac-12 South title and moving up to seventh in the latest rankings.

If Arizona beats Oregon on Friday, the Wildcats may very well make the semifinals. And Wright may parlay that into an invite to New York City, something standout Arizona running back Ka'Deem Carey didn't manage last season.

Dak Prescott, Mississippi State

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Falling

Dak Prescott is sixth in the country in total offense at 327.9 yards per game, and he's far and away the No. 1 reason that Mississippi State spent so much time this season as a national championship contender. But now that the Bulldogs are out of the title picture, having lost two of their last three games, Prescott's inclusion in the Heisman discussion has similarly tailed off.

Simply put, voters like winners, and if Prescott wasn't able to get MSU past Alabama and Ole Miss, he's likely not deemed fit to be considered the best player in the country.

The junior quarterback's numbers in those losses weren't necessarily poor, as his 372 yards of total offense against Alabama were his third-most in any game this season. But his yardage came on 70 touches, 15 more than in any previous contest, and then he ran or threw it 61 times against Ole Miss.

That means Prescott had to try to do more to get his team back into the game after falling behind early, but he wasn't able to do so. Had MSU lost those games in spite of Prescott's performance, it would be one thing, but he had three interceptions against Alabama and averaged only two yards per carry against Ole Miss.

Like the Bulldogs' success, the run Prescott had for most of this season was fun to watch. But just as it is for his team, it's over for the quarterback in terms of the Heisman.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.