Scott Keepfer

skeepfer@greenvillenews.com

ORLANDO, Fla. – Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson has been the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy since well, the first game of the season.

Jackson ran roughshod over a completely outmanned Charlotte team in Week 1, scoring eight touchdowns to take the early lead in the race.

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, who finished third in voting for the trophy last year and entered the season as a favorite for the award, trailed Jackson for the remainder of the season.

On Saturday night in the ACC Championship Game, Watson got his final opportunity to impress those remaining Heisman voters who wisely had decided not to submit their ballots until league title games had been completed.

Through the first quarter of play, it appeared Watson might not only re-enter the Heisman race, but actually move to the top of the list.

Watson began the game by completing his first 10 passes – the second-longest consecutive completions streak in ACC Championship Game history behind Watson’s 13 straight completions in 2015.

The 10-completion streak capped a school-record 19 consecutive completions for Watson dating back to the South Carolina game.

But there was an interception on a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage and Watson cooled off a bit. Yet when it counted most, Watson made the plays necessary to lift Clemson to a 42-35 victory that sealed the Tigers’ second ACC title in as many years.

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Watson was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for a second straight year as well, and his performance – three touchdown passes, two touchdowns rushing – should be enough to secure some last-minute momentum in the Heisman race.

Although it has been a foregone conclusion in many eyes that the Heisman was Jackson’s to lose, he certainly undermined his candidacy of late. The Cardinals lost their last two games and Jackson had three interceptions and a crucial fumble in a loss at Kentucky in the season finale.

With no ACC title game, his resume was complete more than a week ago.

Watson, meanwhile, has finished with a flourish. In romps against Wake Forest and South Carolina to end the season, Watson accounted for nine touchdowns with just one interception while completing 74 percent of his passes.

His numbers continued to be strong Saturday night – 23 of 34 for 288 yards through the air to accompany 85 yards rushing.

"This guy right here is the best player in the country and it's not close," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said, motioning toward Watson. "It was on display tonight."

Swinney's ringing endorsement is to be expected, but a compelling argument for Watson can be made. Consider:

• More than half of Jackson’s touchdown passes (16 of 30) came against three meager teams (Charlotte, Marshall and Virginia) with a combined 9-27 record. Watson wasn’t afforded the opportunity to pad his numbers against such low-level competition.

• Jackson’s best passing game (417 yards) came against the likes of Marshall, a team that capped a 3-9 season with a 60-6 home loss to Western Kentucky. Watson’s best game – an ACC-record 580 yards – came against Pittsburgh, an 8-4 team that beat Big Ten champion Penn State this season.

• Head to head? Jackson had 457 yards and three touchdowns. Watson had 397 yards and five touchdowns. And Clemson won.

• Sure Watson had 14 interceptions, but he also attempted 104 more passes than Jackson, and completed a far greater percentage of them – 67.3 percent to 57.6 percent. Jackson also fumbled seven times during the season, losing four. Watson lost one fumble.

• Jackson had 1,019 more rushing yards than Watson, but he had more than twice as many carries as did Watson.

• Watson is 30-3 as a starter in his career; Jackson also has lost three games as a starter -- since Oct. 1.

• The competition: Louisville beat four bowl-eligible teams; Clemson beat 10.

Enough said.

Jackson’s a great player who had a fantastic season, but it shouldn’t be a foregone conclusion that he’ll be carrying home a trophy from New York City next week.

Not with Watson in the same room.