University of Kentucky’s starting quarterback, Lynn Bowden, is not receiving any Heisman Trophy buzz. Bowden, who at one time was their star for almost every position besides quarterback, is now their quarterback. I find this comical. If you have watched any Kentucky games this year, you have seen how everything runs through Bowden. He makes every decision on every offensive snap and has put up ridiculous numbers.
Since Kentucky has been without their starting quarterback (Terry Wilson) since week three and then lost their backup quarterback (Sawyer Smith) in week six, Bowden has gone 5-2 since being starting quarterback. 5-2 as a starting quarterback is pretty good (3-2 in the SEC). Being 5-2 as a wide receiver turned quarterback — who had no intentions of playing quarterback all offseason — is more than pretty good and that’s actually quite impressive.
Bowden broke the SEC record for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in one game (284) against Louisville. He made Louisville look foolish and I question if they have ever seen a read-option before. Bowden has also been named Manning Award Quarterback of the Week twice this season. He is currently 20th in the nation in total rushing yards (1,235) and 8th in the nation in yards from scrimmage (1,583). He will win the Paul Hornung Award which is given to the most versatile player in all of college football (if he doesn’t win this then they might as well get rid of the award).
The reason why Bowden will ultimately receive no Heisman buzz is because of Kentucky’s 7-5 record. If you have watched any college football this season, you have seen that you can’t keep your eyes off Bowden. He’s also the most valuable player to their respective team. If Bowden was taken off this year’s Kentucky team, Kentucky wouldn’t be bowl eligible. They would also probably lose the majority of their 24th ranked recruiting class (24th ranked class is unheard of for Kentucky, shoutout to Mark Stoops).
If you take Chase Young off of Ohio State, they still have Justin Fields (ever heard of him?). You take Joe Burrow off of LSU, they replace him with the #4 quarterback in the 2017 class, Myles Brennan. What Lynn Bowden has done this season is remarkable. If I had a Heisman vote (I wonder how I can get one of those?) I would without a doubt put Lynn Bowden #1 and wouldn’t even care to fill out the rest of it.
