Is LSU RB Leonard Fournette's Heisman Bid Really Over?

An unstoppable force arrived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Saturday night and discovered several immovable objects.

Those objects—the members of Alabama's defensive front—won in a big way over LSU running back Leonard Fournette, the runaway Heisman Trophy favorite that looked human inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Fournette and his formerly unstoppable Heisman campaign hit a massive wall in LSU's 30-16 loss at Alabama. After rushing for at least 150 yards in each of his first seven games of the season, Fournette finished with 31 yards on 19 carries against the Tide.

His lone touchdown from one yard out midway through the fourth quarter, came when the game already looked out of reach for his Tigers.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The superstar sophomore entered Saturday night's massive collision with Alabama with a Heisman-winning opportunity as golden as LSU's famous football pants.

"[Fournette's] nearest competitor—TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin—had just thrown four picks in a loss to Oklahoma State, and another 100-plus yards against the stout Alabama Crimson Tide front seven on national TV in a battle of two top-four teams would distance himself from the pack," Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee wrote.

Fournette, however, came nowhere near that mark when he faced the likes of Alabama defensive linemen A'Shawn Robinson, Jonathan Allen and Jarran Reed, who obliterated the LSU offensive line.

In the aftermath of Fournette's 31-yard performance—and Alabama running back Derrick Henry's 210-yard, three-touchdown evening—the LSU star's Heisman hype train lost a lot of admiring passengers.

But is it completely off the tracks at this point? 

Fournette's rushing numbers were other-worldly heading into Week 10, and one poor game didn't demolish them.

"Fournette was so far ahead of the pack coming into Saturday that even after a 31-yard output against Alabama, he’ll remain the national rushing leader (172.9) by a significant margin," Stewart Mandel of FOX Sports wrote.

While many analysts pushed him down their watch lists, the odds-making experts out in Las Vegas still view Fournette as a top contender who is close behind Henry, the new favorite.

And compared to Henry, Fournette has every major statistical advantage except for rushing touchdowns—and he has played in one fewer game than the Alabama star.

Statistic	Fournette	Henry
Games Played	8	9
Attempts	195	218
Yards per Game	172.88	139.33
Yards per Carry	7.09	5.75
Rushing Touchdowns	16	17

Although season stats and a player's entire body of work play huge roles in determining the Heisman winner, the award is heavily narrative-driven.

Putting up a woeful stat line in the biggest game of the regular season tanks that narrative, no matter what the numbers looked like for the rest of the year. Fair or unfair, that's how the Heisman voting process usually works.

That's not to say Heisman winners had nothing but excellent performances, though, within the last decade.

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel shook off a three-interception loss to LSU in his 2012 campaign. Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes for 115 and 108 yards, respectively, in games against Penn State and Illinois in 2006.

In an example that relates more to Fournette, 2009 winner Mark Ingram only rushed for 30 yards in Alabama's matchup at Auburn.

According to Ross Dellenger of the Advocate, Ingram's Iron Bowl rushing performance is one of only two Heisman-winning running backs who had season-lows worse than what Fournette put up against Alabama last Saturday:

But Fournette hit the double-whammy Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium. He lost the momentum of the Heisman narrative to Henry, and the Tigers lost the game against the Crimson Tide.

The latter might be the most damaging to Fournette's chances.

After Ingram seemingly lost the Heisman race against Auburn in 2009, he rebounded with a three-touchdown game against undefeated Florida in the SEC Championship Game.

He then won the award over Stanford's Toby Gerhart, who had better rushing numbers but did not play on a team that was going to the National Championship game.

With the loss to Alabama on Saturday night, LSU is no longer in control of its own playoff hopes. In the case of the Heisman race, Fournette is now in a crowded field with contenders who play on teams that now have better chances than the Tigers at reaching the final four.

In addition to Henry, Clemson's Deshaun Watson is heavily in the mix as the start of the nation's No. 1 team. Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman possibly has a better numbers advantage than Fournette with his record-breaking touchdown pace. Ohio State has the consistent Ezekiel Elliott, and Stanford's Christian McCaffrey is a do-it-all yardage machine.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Fournette's shot at pulling ahead again in the Heisman race is two-fold.

First, he must return to posting ridiculous rushing numbers, and he'll have a chance to do that against Arkansas, Ole Miss and Texas A&M. 

Second, he could use some help. LSU would go to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game against Florida—another big chance for Fournette to boost his numbers—if it won out and Alabama lost either to Mississippi State or Auburn.

Neither result looks likely, but much stranger things have happened.

The same goes for Clemson, Baylor, Ohio State, Stanford and their respective Heisman hopefuls. Fournette's campaign looks a lot better if other top-tier players also have bad games, preferably in losses.

Fournette's performance against Alabama was about as ugly as it could possibly get for a Heisman contender, but it shouldn't have completely ruined his chances at the famous stiff-arming trophy.

After all, hasn't this college football season shown that no one should be counted out until the clock has completely expired?

While the odds are now against him, the nation's best statistical running back still has time on his side in the race for the Heisman Trophy.

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.