Benny Snell For The Heisman? I'm Not The Only One Who Thinks So
Listen, this is a Kentucky football blog now. I’ve given up on basketball and I’m going to be all the way here as the Kentucky football blogger until they get the respect they deserve. I’m looking at you JackMac and you ranking them sub-50, 20 spots behind Florida in your rankings.
Anywho, in the season preview I spent a good amount of time talking about Benny Snell and for good reason. He’s been one of the, if not the, most productive back in the SEC during his two seasons in Lexington. He’s going to break records set by Herschel Walker, who is an all-time great running back. With Stephen Johnson graduating and a new QB stepping in, the offense was going to go through Benny Snell.
He’s now being rewarded for such.
Now, do I think he’s going to win the Heisman or even be a finalist? No. But, this is important for Snell. The only chance he has to get there is if people are talking about him early on. If you’re coming from a non-football school such as Kentucky, you have to be talked about early in the season so people know who you are come late in the year.
That’s step 1. Step 2 for Kentucky is to somehow win 9-10 games. Is it possible? Yes. The remaining schedule is home: Murray State, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Middle Tennessee. Away: Missouri, Texas A&M, Louisville, Tennessee.
There are seven wins there. Kentucky should beat Murray State and Middle Tennessee. That’s 4. Then they’ve consistently beaten South Carolina over the last 5 years. They are better than Vanderbilt, Louisville and Tennessee. Win those and you’re at 7. From there you have to steal two from Missouri (a team they’ve consistently beaten), A&M, Mississippi State and Georgia. It’s possible. But, you have to get to 9 games in order to give Snell an outside chance. Lamar Jackson won the Heisman with 9 wins and you saw the numbers he put up. That’s what Snell will have to do from a running back standpoint.
Snell currently has 300 yards and 2 touchdowns on 47 carries through the first two games. If he runs for another 1,162 yards he’ll break the Kentucky rushing record as a junior. It’s possible as Snell 1,333 yards last year, despite getting just 13 carries in two combined games for various reasons.
Will this be the peak of the Kentucky season? Perhaps. But, I don’t care. Benny Snell is finally getting some love on the national level and deservedly so. Bring on Murray State.