Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (duplicate jerseys sold separately at USC, where they’re cheating on fake punts and getting away with it). First Quarter: Does the College Football Playoff Really Need More Teams? Third Quarter: Finding a Way Back From the Wilderness. Fourth Quarter: Old Guard vs. Newbies in Major Showdowns.
Second Quarter: More Heisman Candidates, Not Less
Public consensus tends to narrow the list of contenders for the Heisman Trophy at this point in the season, but The Dash takes the opposite approach. Instead of reducing it to quarterbacks from the top two teams in the country, consider more players. Keep your minds open down the stretch, because things can change.
So let The Dash turn the Heisman short list into a long list, which is pretty much in order of how I would rank the top 10 contenders:
Fernando Mendoza (11), Indiana quarterback
The stats: Mendoza is second nationally in pass efficiency with a rating of 178.55. Notably, that number soars to 226.57 on third-and-long plays (seven yards or farther). He’s tied for the national lead in touchdown passes with 26, and leads outright in total touchdowns with 31 running and passing.
In three close Big Ten road games, Mendoza threw a fourth-quarter interception—against Iowa, Oregon and Penn State. In each of those cases, he bounced back to throw a touchdown pass that put the Hoosiers ahead for good. He was at his very best in leading the 80-yard TD drive against the Nittany Lions, completing five passes to all parts of the field—including the last one, which looked like it might land in the stands until Omar Cooper Jr. soared for the Catch of the Year.
Team success: Indiana is 10–0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation, the highest ranking in school history.
The drawback: Mendoza’s putative Heisman moment in State College, Pa., would not have been possible without Cooper making one of the greatest catches anyone has ever seen.
Julian Sayin (12), Ohio State quarterback
The stats: In his first season of serious college action, the sophomore leads the nation in efficiency by 14 points over runner-up Mendoza at 192.60, and leads the nation in total offense yards per play (9.10). His 80.9% completion rate is on pace to break the NCAA record of 77.4% set by Mac Jones in 2020. That percentage rises to 81.7 in Big Ten play.
Prior to a second-half interception against Purdue on Saturday, Sayin had thrown 181 career Big Ten passes without a pick. He’s working on a streak of three straight games with more than 300 yards passing and better than 80% accuracy.
Team success: Ohio State is 9–0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation, having never trailed in the second half.
The drawback: Sayin is arguably not the best player on his own team, or even on the offense. You cannot overlook wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who is sixth nationally in receptions, fifth in receiving yards per game and tied for second in touchdown catches. Ohio State, understandably and justifiably, has mounted a Heisman campaign for the nation’s best wideout, too. Additionally, the Buckeyes have the nation’s best defense, which has kept Sayin from having to perform any of the dramatics that Mendoza has.
Diego Pavia (13), Vanderbilt quarterback
The stats: Nobody is carrying his team more—Pavia’s combined 390 runs and passes are the third-most among power-conference quarterbacks, and the most for any player averaging more than seven yards per play. He’s accounted for 54.9% of Vandy’s total touchdowns and 40.9% of its total yardage.
Pavia is fourth nationally in pass efficiency at 166.76, with successive career highs in passing yards (365 against Texas, 377 against Auburn) and total offense (408 yards against the Longhorns, 489 against the Tigers).
Team success: This is where Pavia’s impact is greatest, especially compared to most of his competition. Vanderbilt is 8–2 this season and 15–8 with him as its starting quarterback; it was 6–17 in the last 23 games before he arrived.
The drawback: Most of the others on this list are on higher-ranked teams. If the Commodores lose either or both of their last two games, which is possible, Pavia could slip out of the spotlight.
Jacob Rodriguez (14), Texas Tech linebacker
The stats: Leads the nation in forced fumbles with seven, on a defense that is third nationally in takeaways with 23. Rodriguez also has three of Tech’s 11 interceptions, including one in the rout of BYU on Saturday. He scored a touchdown on a 69-yard fumble return against Oklahoma State. For good measure, he’s tied for eighth nationally in solo tackles with 49.
While the Red Raiders imported a high-priced defensive line, Rodriguez is in his third year with the program after starting his college career as a walk-on quarterback at Virginia. He wound up playing one year for the Cavaliers in a multipurpose role, with 121 yards rushing and receiving.
Team success: Texas Tech is 9–1 and ranked No. 8, its highest ranking in 17 years. The Red Raiders are in prime position for their first College Football Playoff berth.
The drawback: Can a linebacker win the Heisman? It’s never happened. Also, like Sayin, Rodriguez might have a teammate on the same side of the ball who is even better—edge rusher David Bailey, who leads the nation in sacks with 11.5.
Jeremiyah Love (15), Notre Dame running back
The stats: Tied for the national lead in touchdowns with 16 in nine games, 13 rushing and three receiving. He’s also third nationally in yards from scrimmage per game (138), and he’s the only player with 150 or more runs and receptions to average seven yards per touch.
Love is the biggest home run hitter in college football, with a 94-yard touchdown sprint this season and a 98-yarder last year—the first player in Notre Dame history with two TD runs of longer than 90 yards.
Team success: Notre Dame is 7–2 and ranked No. 9 nationally.
The drawback: It’s hard for a running back to win the Heisman in modern times—last one to do so was Derrick Henry in 2015. Love also shares the position with Jadarian Price, which is why he’s had fewer than 20 touches from scrimmage in six out of nine games. The Fighting Irish also wrap their season Nov. 29, which will give many of his competitors another game in which to leave a lasting impression on voters.
Haynes King (16), Georgia Tech quarterback
The stats: He’s third nationally in total offense at 330.3 yards per game. His 754 rushing yards are the most for any non-service academy quarterback (despite missing a game for injury), and his 14 rushing touchdowns are second-most for any player. King has converted 41 third downs into first downs with runs or passes this season, a personal 50.6% conversion rate.
Team success: The Yellow Jackets are 8–1 and ranked No. 14. Earlier this season they were No. 7, their highest ranking since 2009. Georgia Tech remains in the thick of the race for the ACC championship game.
The drawback: King is not a great passer, which leaves him statistically in arrears to many of the other QBs on this list. Also, Tech is another loss or two away from slipping off radar, and it has two losable games remaining—Pittsburgh on Nov. 22 and Georgia on Nov. 29. (On the flip side, if King plays well in those games it vaults his Heisman candidacy forward.)
Ty Simpson (17), Alabama quarterback
The stats: Simpson has the lowest interception rate of any power-conference QB with at least 200 pass attempts, having thrown just one in 296 passes. (And the one he threw was on a fourth down against Vanderbilt, serving as an effective punt.) He’s third in the SEC in pass efficiency while leading a team that is tied for third nationally in fewest turnovers (six).
Team success: Alabama is 8–1 and ranked No. 4 in the nation, very much on track to play in the SEC championship game and make the playoff.
The drawback: The bar is set very high for an Alabama quarterback, with every starter from 2018 to ’23 recording an efficiency rating of at least 163. Simpson’s is currently 159, after a couple of pretty pedestrian games against South Carolina and LSU. As the season has progressed, the Crimson Tide defense has overshadowed its offense.
Dante Moore (18), Oregon quarterback
The stats: He’s seventh nationally in efficiency at 164.72, ninth in completion percentage at 70.5 and 20th in total offense yards per play at 7.69. As a unit, the Ducks are sixth in yards per play at 7.28.
Moore hadn’t played well the last two games—until he absolutely, positively had to at Iowa on Saturday. Trailing 16–15, he guided the Ducks on a 54-yard drive in a cold rain for the winning field goal. Moore completed 5 of 7 passes on the drive, including an impeccably placed shot down the sideline to Malik Benson for 24 yards.
Team success: Oregon is 8–1 and ranked No. 7, firmly in the playoff mix and angling for a potential first-round home game.
The drawback: Moore’s numbers don’t pop like Sayin’s and he was outplayed by Mendoza in Eugene, Ore., in October. He also isn’t the runner that Pavia or King are.
Byrum Brown (19), South Florida quarterback
The stats: Fifth nationally in total offense at 323.1 yards per game, and right behind King in rushing yards for a QB at 705. He’s on a five-game streak with at least 325 yards total offense and six-game streak with at least three total touchdowns running and passing.
Team success: South Florida is 8–2 and ranked No. 25, in the hunt for the American Conference title and CFP bid, enjoying its best season since 2017 at least.
The drawback: Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty gave it a good run last year, but nobody from outside the power-conference cabal has won the Heisman since Ty Detmer of BYU in 1990 (BYU was in the WAC at the time).
Emmett Johnson (20), Nebraska running back
The stats: Johnson is the only power-conference running back producing more yards from scrimmage than Love, averaging 143.1 per game. He had a 232-yard, three-touchdown tour de force Saturday night against UCLA, delivering one big play after another for an offense that was without standout quarterback Dylan Raiola. Johnson is old-school durable, averaging 23.9 touches from scrimmage per game.
Team success: Nebraska is 7–3, its highest regular-season victory total since 2016.
The drawback: Also-ran status in the playoff race doesn’t help, nor does being a running back. It will be hard to push his way up the contender list with just two games remaining.
Others who could crash the list in the closing weeks: Texas A&M edge rusher Cashius Howell; Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss; USC receiver Makai Lemon (or quarterback Jayden Maiava); Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton; Michigan running back Justice Haynes.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Forde-Yard Dash: Ranking Every Player Still in the Hunt for the Heisman Trophy.
