Choosing the Heisman Trophy winner is a lot like choosing the four playoff teams. Bad games aren’t good and good games against quality competition mean a lot. And, of course, the all-important head-to-head meetings really mean a lot.

Plus, don’t kid yourself. “What have you done for me lately ?” also plays a huge role.

Derrick Henry caught and passed Leonard Fournette in the race for the Heisman with the intangible eye-ball test when the two met in early November. Since then, Henry has also passed Fournette in total yards for the season. Henry completed the regular season as the top running back in the country, rushing for 1,797 yards. Fournette is second with 1,741.

There’s no disputing that Henry is on the better team. Alabama is getting all the headlines and are still very much in contention for a national championship.  The Heisman race is over, right?

But hold on for just a moment. Henry played in one more game than Fournette, which skews the totals. LSU’s season opener with McNeese State was cancelled because of weather. Plus he’ll likely pad that lead on Saturday when Alabama plays Florida in Atlanta for the SEC Championship.

But does Fournette still have an argument to wrestle the Heisman away from Henry? There are numbers to consider that still favor Fournette.

Fournette averages 6.4 yards per carry to Henry’s 6.1. His per game average (158.3 to 149.8) is also higher. And even though everyone jumped off the Fournette bandwagon during LSU’s three-game losing streak, it was really only the Alabama game where he was no factor, rushing for only 31 yards on 19 carries. He still rushed for 91 against Arkansas and 108 against Ole Miss. Those aren’t terrible numbers.

The first two were the only games in which Fournette has not rushed for at least 100 yards this season. Henry, on the other hand, has had four games where he failed to break 100. Henry rushed for 52 yards (UL-Monroe), 68 yards (Charleston Southern), 95 yards (Arkansas) and 96 yards (Middle Tennessee State) in those four games.

True, Fournette picked a bad time to play his worst game, and Henry picked a good time to have his third-most productive game of the season (210 yards). Only a 271-yard effort against Auburn and a 236-yard romp over Texas A&M were better.

Fournette’s 200-yard games have come against Syracuse (244), Eastern Michigan (233) and Auburn (228).

Also remember that Fournette rushed for 180 yards against Florida, which has a very good run defense. Let’s see how Henry compares on Saturday. That what-have-you-done-for-me-lately mantra just might end up biting Henry on the backside if he doesn’t have a big game.