Saquon Barkley's Rose Bowl run kicked off the 2017 Heisman race

Not sure of the exact Pacific Standard Time but it is possible to pinpoint when the 2017 Heisman race began. By the time Penn State's Saquon Barkley got done running there were 13 minutes and five seconds left in the third quarter of the Rose Bowl. The end of the run marks the start of the Heisman race.

Official box score line: "(13:05 – 3rd) Saquon Barkley run for 79 yds for a TD, (Tyler Davis kick)."

Up in the press box in Pasadena, you kept hearing numbers being shouted out. Reporters were watching replays, counting the USC defenders Barkley had just run by, each replay adding to the astonishment of what everyone had just seen right in front of them. The number of defenders kept exploding up. (I stopped listening when it got to 12.)

You didn't think about the Heisman at the time. If you didn't have any allegiance you just thought you were watching something special. It turned out to be one of the more entertaining college football bowl games in history.

Barkley's run was one of those moments that boiled sports down to its essence. Forget the helmets and pads, the blocking schemes and defensive alignments. His run transcended his sport. This was soccer immortal Maradona going through practically an entire team with the ball at his feet, LeBron on a runaway train fastbreak.

The craziest part? By the end of that night, a guy on the other team would emerge as the 2017 Heisman favorite. USC quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 453 yards and five touchdowns. His Trojans scored last and got to celebrate. He was truly special that night. Vegas has him as the preseason betting favorite to win the Heisman, with Barkley second.

An initial thought is that last season shouldn't have anything to do with this season. Let Heisman voters figure out the best player in the season that's about to start. Forget the watch lists that restrict the pool. If a freshman emerges as the best, acknowledge it.

Human nature doesn't work that way, though. Voters have traditionally been a step slow. One of the finest individual college football seasons I can remember paying attention to was Herschel Walker as a Georgia freshman in 1980. Herschel came in third for the Heisman, behind George Rogers and Hugh Green.

Both those guys were terrific, and the Rogers vote held up statistically, but Herschel '80 was a force of nature.

As it happens, Walker, not quite as strong as a sophomore, finished second for the Heisman behind Marcus Allen. Walker's junior year, he couldn't be denied, winning the 1982 Heisman over seniors John Elway and Eric Dickerson. Didn't matter that Walker's yards-per-rush wasn't up to his freshman average. He'd been knocking on that door.

You could make an argument that last season's Rose Bowl should count, not just because it was actually in 2017, but because it has to count for something. The Heisman is another one of those awards that doesn't wait for the postseason, probably because it wouldn't get the same attention once the season is over.

Especially for this kind of award, the timing is routinely silly. The postseason determines the best teams, why not the best players?

Since that won't change, let's allow that you may as well look at how everyone finished out last season and factor it in a bit. (That's not true for teams. Preseason polls shouldn't happen. Teams get a leg up solely because they are supposed to be good.)

Now Barkley's Rose Bowl run will live on regardless of Heisman impact. Start typing his name into Google and you'll get Saquon Barkley Rose Bowl run as an option by the time you type in SAQ. I'll never see a better run live. I'll count eight Trojans defenders as having a shot at getting him, including the guy who skidded past without touching him. (Great play call by ESPN's Chris Fowler, who picked up early that something special was unfolding.)

Barkley had proven he was special long before that run, but moments matter in sports. Wherever his career takes him, Barkley has one. If he also wins the Heisman, just remember the run that did a lot of the heavy lifting. It's not like you can forget.