Heisman Rankings: Boise State’s Jeanty Challenging for Top Spot
By Dan Lyons,
16 hours ago
Chaos reigned in college football during Week 6, with five of the top 11 programs in the AP Top 25 falling on Saturday. The wild weekend of football impacted the Heisman race as well.
A week after Alabama’s Jalen Milroe became the odds-on favorite to win the award with an impressive win over Georgia, the Crimson Tide suffered one of the biggest losses in recent program history at Vanderbilt. Milroe is still very much alive for the award, but he’s been supplanted from the top of the odds and has tumbled a bit in Athlon’s Heisman ladder.
Nearly halfway through the season, two distinct Heisman candidates are starting to separate themselves from the pack. One is a groundbreaking two-way player for unranked Colorado. The other is a running back at a Group of 5 program looking to crack the College Football Playoff field.
Our Heisman rankings heading into Week 7 are below:
Disagree with our Heisman Trophy rankings, or did we nail it? Sound off in the comments below.
1. Travis Hunter — WR/CB, Colorado (Last week: 1)
Travis Hunter and Colorado are off to a surprising 2-0 start in Big 12 play with wins over Baylor and UCF.
Hunter remains in the No. 1 spot in our rankings for his truly unprecedented performance this season. He’s on pace for more than 1,300 receiving yards and a touchdown per game, while playing lights-out defense on the perimeter. There are arguments to be made that he could play either position at the next level . Before the Week 6 bye, Colorado beat Baylor and blew out UCF in the best all-around performance of the Deion Sanders era. Things ramp up with a Week 7 game against Kansas State, one of the favorites in the Big 12. A big performance in a win against the Wildcats would be another significant feather in his cap.
2. Ashton Jeanty — RB, Boise State (Last week: 4)
Week 6 stats (62-30 W vs. Utah State): 13 carries, 186 yards, 3 TD Season stats (4-1): 95 carries, 1,031 yards (10.9 YPA), 16 TD; 6 receptions, 19 yards
Jeanty is making these gaudy stat lines look routine, even though Boise State rested its star rusher in the second half. He boasts more rushing yards than 102 FBS programs, despite being rested for two full halves, and Boise State only playing five games while many teams have played six. He now has the best odds to win the award , although he still faces an uphill battle given his position and status as a Group of 5 player. Even so, it will be hard to deny him if he continues at his current pace.
Ward was locked in as our No. 1 Heisman candidate for a few weeks in September , but he’s started to come back to the pack as Miami has shown some cracks . The Hurricanes escaped against Virginia Tech in Week 5, and rallied from a 35-10 deficit on Saturday at Cal. Ward threw a bad pick-six in the third quarter but was instrumental in the fourth-quarter comeback, throwing for 277 yards in those final 15 minutes. Due to 17 negative yards from a penalty and stuffed run, Ward threw for 109 yards on Miami’s final drive, capped by a go-ahead touchdown pass to Elijah Arroyo. As long as Miami commands the ACC race, Ward will be in great position to head to New York as a finalist.
4. Jalen Milroe — QB, Alabama (Last week: 2)
Jalen Milroe had some success through the air in Alabama’s upset loss at Vanderbilt, but the Commodores largely bottled up the dual-threat quarterback on the ground.
Milroe was second in our Heisman rankings after Week 5 and had the best odds to win the award following Alabama’s win over Georgia. That game vaulted the Crimson Tide to the No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25. That all feels like the distant past after Saturday’s loss at Vanderbilt, the first for an Alabama team in 40 years. Milroe passed the ball effectively, posting his second consecutive 300-yard game, but the Commodores defense largely shut him down as a runner. The Tide’s bigger concerns come on defense, as Vanderbilt outgained them 418 yards to 394, and Diego Pavia picked up 12 yards per pass attempt. Milroe will have plenty of opportunities to improve his résumé, as the Crimson Tide host South Carolina on Saturday.
5. Jaxson Dart — QB, Ole Miss (Last week: 5)
Week 5 stats (27-3 W at South Carolina): 14-for-27, 285 yards; 8 carries, 44 yards Season stats (5-1): 127-for-173 (73.4%), 2,100 yards (12.1 YPA), 13 TD, 2 INT; 44 carries, 156 yards (3.5 YPA), 3 TD
Ole Miss got back on track following its Week 5 loss to Kentucky by blowing out South Carolina. Dart was fairly productive against a stingy Gamecocks defense but completed just over half of his attempts and was held without a touchdown pass for the first time since Ole Miss’ loss to Georgia last November. Dart’s overall stats are still tremendous: he leads the country with 12.1 yards per pass and ranks second in the nation in passing yardage behind Ward.
Oregon seems to have put its early offensive line woes behind it, as they kept Gabriel from being sacked for a third consecutive game after surrendering seven in the first two weeks of the season. He did take one big hit, though, and admitted he let his “eyes get bigger than his stomach” with two first-half interceptions deep in Michigan State territory, including one in the end zone. Next up for Gabriel and Oregon: new Big Ten rival Ohio State and the fearsome Buckeyes defense. The No. 3 Ducks have a chance to take control of the conference race, and Gabriel can climb the Heisman ladder with a strong performance.
“You dream for moments like these and just games like this. I think everyone’s excited about it,” Gabriel said, per the AP . “You look at what you can get better at, and put this game to rest, and then full steam ahead.”
Sanders remains the engine that powers the Colorado offense, but the Buffaloes have found more balance in recent weeks. After averaging just 19.3 rushes for 61.3 yards per game through the first three weeks of the season, the Buffaloes ran the ball 42 times against Baylor and 29 times against UCF. That should continue to open up opportunities downfield for Sanders and his array of talented pass-catchers, such as Hunter, Jimmy Horn Jr., Will Sheppard and LaJohntay Wester. Sanders faces an uphill battle in his campaign, though, as he’s likely to split votes with Hunter.
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