Take Two: Is Bryce Love a legitimate favorite for Heisman?

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

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Bryce Love is the early favorite to win the Heisman Trophy next season. But is that even possible, given that former Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey set the NCAA record for all-purpose yards in a season and didn’t earn the award?

Love is coming off a phenomenal season during which he rushed for 2,118 yards and 19 touchdowns and averaged more than 8 yards per touch. He finished second in the Heisman voting to Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. That was certainly not a controversial finish, since Mayfield had such an impressive campaign and led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff.

Can Love repeat - or beat - his numbers next season? With Stanford having some questions on defense, could a few losses derail Love’s bid for the Heisman Trophy? If McCaffrey couldn’t win it at Stanford, could Love?

As the odds stand now, Love is a 7/1 favorite, followed by Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor (8/1), Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate (9/1) and Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa (10/1). Ohio State RB J.K. Dobbins, Georgia QB Jake Fromm, Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham and West Virginia QB Will Grier all sit at 12/1.

Only once since 2010 has a running back won the Heisman, Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015. Could that hurt Love’s chances as well?

“History is against Bryce Love. There is Stanford's recent run of Heisman runner-up finishes, and also the fact that it's very difficult to impress with an encore performance that follows a spectacular season. Love has the ability to break 2,000 yards rushing again, and there's a chance he benefits from better line play, but there also is a team element to the Heisman. Given that Stanford faces a challenging 2018 schedule with a weakened defense, it could be tough for people to see Love's worthiness for the award if losses pile up.”

“Now it can be done. This year he was a finalist, and a lot of voters had McCaffrey in their head still. You remove him two years from McCaffrey and it’s not a stellar pool of Heisman candidates early.

“You have to assume a quarterback is going to take the lead, but it’s not a great year for leading candidates. Love and Jonathan Taylor and some of the other running backs have a good chance. He doesn’t have to break McCaffrey’s records or have that crazy season. With another 2,000-yard season he can win it.”