Heisman Watch 2017: Highlighting Race's Front-Runners After Week 11

Baker Mayfield vaulted himself into the lead position for the Heisman Trophy with his strong Week 10 performance against Oklahoma State.

He put distance between himself and the rest of the field with another spectacular performance in Week 11 against TCU. Mayfield completed 18 of 27 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns against the Horned Frogs on Saturday.

While TCU had been solid defensively throughout the majority of the season, Mayfield attacked that defense with abandon and led Oklahoma to a 38-20 victory.

The Sooners have an excellent chance of getting themselves into a Top Four position next week, which would give them in prime position to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Chris Knight/Associated Press

Just a few weeks ago, Penn State's Saquon Barkley appeared to be the leading candidate for the Heisman. He had slowed down in the Nittany Lions' Week 10 loss at Michigan State, and it seemed like he would have a chance to rebound as Penn State faced an ordinary Rutgers team at Happy Valley.

Could Barkley run for 150, 175 or even 200 yards? That may have been the goal, but it was not to be as the running back was held to 35 yards on 14 carries. While he did get into the end zone twice, Barkley was not the impact player he had been earlier in the year.

It appears that Mayfield has lapped Barkley in the last two weeks and that the Penn State running back would need 200-yard rushing efforts in the final two regular-season games to even have a chance of getting back into the race.

Bryce Love of Stanford has put himself in an excellent position to make a run at the Heisman with his spectacular production.

The Cardinal running back was at his best in Stanford's 30-22 victory over Washington Friday night. He carried the ball 30 times for 166 yards and three touchdowns despite running on an injured ankle. 

Stanford head coach David Shaw gave Love his full endorsement after the victory. "He goes out there from start to finish and pours his heart out for his teammates," Shaw said, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). "I don't know if you could ask anything more of a football player. I don't know if you can find a better football player in America than Bryce Love."

Love had a long run of 35 yards against the Huskies, and that marked the first time this season that he did not have a run of at least 50 yards in any game this season.

While Love helped his case against Washington, Notre Dame's Josh Adams was dealt a painful blow in the Fighting Irish's blowout loss at Miami.

The Notre Dame running game was held in check by the Hurricanes, gaining just 40 yards on 16 carries.

Notre Dame had a lot of support prior to going to South Florida and playing the Hurricanes on their home field, but the Irish were beaten badly 41-8.

Not only does that doom their chances of getting into the College Football Playoff, it seems that Adams is now on the outside of the Heisman race looking in.

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph may be something of a long shot for the Heisman, but he helped his case in the Cowboys' come-from-behind 49-42 victory over Iowa State.

Iowa State had a 42-34 lead in the late stages of the fourth quarter, but Rudolph threw two TD passes in the final minutes to give his team a key road victory.

Rudolph completed 25 of 31 passes for 376 yards with three TDs and without an interception. 

The senior said that his team is not afraid when it finds itself trailing in a game. "We've been down so many times throughout my career. Down 14, down 21, down 17...it doesn't matter because we know we can bounce back real quick, get points on the board, get back into the game," Rudolph said, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com).

Rudolph has a 30-7 TD-to-interception ratio this season.