How Canceled Week 1 Game Could Impact Leonard Fournette's Heisman Hopes

As LSU running back Leonard Fournette was in the process of recording his third straight 200-yard performance Saturday night, inclement weather was impacting the play of several games across the country.

While this weekend's storms didn't force the cancellation of any games, LSU didn't get that luxury in Week 1, when its season opener against McNeese State was called off.

That Week 1 "bye" has become a talking point in the midst of Fournette's early push for the Heisman Trophy.

According to Chase Goodbread of NFL.com, the cancellation against McNeese State represented a missed opportunity for Fournette to pad what have become some incredible stats:

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Nothing drives Heisman votes quite like numbers. Fournette is already behind in that regard, because weather conditions forced LSU to cancel its opener against McNeese State. He'll play 11 regular-season games, and everyone else will play 12. That might not be fair, either, but the 200-plus yards he could have had in that game could ultimately be the difference between reaching and not reaching the 2,000-yard milestone that will matter to less discerning Heisman voters. 

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But will the lightning-canceled season opener against an FCS opponent have that much of an impact on Fournette's race to become the first Heisman-winning running back since former Alabama star Mark Ingram?

The early returns say a resounding "no."

If Heisman voters decide to focus their scope just on the number of rushing yards Fournette has at the end of the season, then there's a chance he might lose momentum. 

But that statistic is just a small piece of his dominance so far in 2015.

With his three-score performance against lowly Eastern Michigan on Saturday night, Fournette now leads the entire country in rushing touchdowns with 11.

His ridiculous 8.73 yards per carry mark is the 13th-best among all rushers in college football—a category dominated by the big-play "scat backs"—and it's by far the best for running backs who average at least 20 carries per game. 

Take a look at rushing yards per game, and he leads San Jose State's Tyler Ervin by an astonishing 54 yards in that category. (Ervin, by the way, had a 300-yard game in Week 4 to get to that mark.)

And Fournette now has the lead on total rushing yards in college football after Week 5. Even though he's played one fewer game than the No. 2 through No. 14 rushers on the list, Fournette is ahead of everyone thanks to his latest rampage against the nation's worst rushing defense.

If Fournette maintains his pace—a tough task, even for a superhuman running back like himself—he'll run for 2,376 yards in just 11 regular-season games.

That would be good enough for the fifth-best rushing season in college football history, and there's a chance the Tigers could play in two more postseason games.

It's also worth noting Fournette was the heavy favorite to win the Heisman, even before the big night against Eastern Michigan that pushed him into the national lead in both rushing yards and touchdowns.

According to Odds Shark, Fournette entered the Week 5 slate with 3-2 odds, and the next closest players to him were TCU's Trevone Boykin and Georgia's Nick Chubb at 7-1.

Fournette has put himself in a position that makes the Heisman his to lose after five weeks.

"Fournette seems ahead even if he would be further ahead had lightning not cancelled LSU’s opening game against McNeese State," Chuck Culpepper of the Washington Post wrote. "That act of the sky means he’s going to operate all year at a slight handicap, yet he does seem capable."

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The Tigers will need to keep winning games and staying in championship contention, but Fournette's absurd start to 2015 has given him the lead in the biggest statistical categories for a running back with one fewer game played.

Yes, with the way Fournette has played so far this year, he could've easily had more than 200 yards against McNeese State.

But how much stock would a Heisman voter put in a big day against an FCS team? Heisman winners need to have big games against big competition, and Fournette built his buzz against Power Five schools—not overmatched opponents from the lower levels of college football.

If Fournette's yardage pace eventually slows down and he falls behind a player such as Chubb or Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott, some voters might do the wrong thing and bump the LSU star down.

But that would be a microscopic view of Fournette's massive Heisman resume, and it would penalize him for something he couldn't control.

In terms of yards per game, it would take some underwhelming performances for Fournette and some big days for others in order to lose his lead. In yards per carry, no other running back with Fournette's workload even comes close.

One past storm won't cloud Fournette's bright Heisman future.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. 

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.