North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, who leads the nation in total offense with 380.1 yards per game, made his team-first mentality clear this week when he was asked about his status as a Heisman Trophy candidate.
“I don’t know about all that,” Maye said. “(The Heisman) usually comes with winning.”
Maye probably hasn’t had time to tackle any deep-dive research on this topic, but he’s absolutely right. For example, 84 of the 87 all-time Heisman Trophy winners (almost 97 percent) played on teams that had three or fewer losses during the regular season, and 73 (almost 84 percent) played on teams that had two or fewer losses during the regular season.
It’s not mere coincidence that the two current frontrunners for this year’s Heisman, Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker and Ohio State QB CJ Stroud, have both sensational individual statistics and play for undefeated teams currently ranked #3 and and #2 in the nation, respectively. In a mock Heisman vote done by The Athletic this week, Hooker was first, Stroud was second, and together they received all 38 first-place votes.
Maye, a redshirt freshman who was eighth in The Athletic voting, certainly has Heisman-like individual numbers. Beyond leading the nation in total offense, he’s second to Stroud in touchdown passes (24), and he’s third — behind only Stroud and Hooker — in passing efficiency (184.84). Maye also is third nationally, behind two others, in passing yards per game (326.1).
The Tar Heels are 6-1 and ranked #21 nationally as they prepare to host Pittsburgh on Saturday (8 pm, ACC Network), with additional remaining games against Virginia, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and NC State.
The rest of the way, every Carolina win or loss will represent either a step toward or away from both a potential trip to the ACC Championship Game and one of the more intriguing Heisman candidacies in program history.
Featured image via Associated Press/Ben McKeown
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