Heisman Watch: Week 7

Welcome back to everyone’s second favorite college football article of the week, the Heisman Watch.

Let’s first take a look at the bubble players and who needs to do more to prove their worth before they truly can enter into consideration.

Shedeur Sanders was in early contention after Colorado’s offensive domination in weeks prior but back-to-back losses and a very shaky win on the road against Arizona State have put his odds in jeopardy. Unless drastic change happens on both the Buffaloes’ sideline and in the Pac-12 standings, I see no route where he has the resume to win it all.

The Big Ten quarterback trio of Drew Allar, J.J. McCarthy and Kyle McCord have led Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State, respectively, to perfect starts on the year. However, they have not stood out enough over the rest of their squads to make serious cases for the Heisman just yet.

All three have quarterbacked top-ten teams but will need to control their offenses just a bit more over the last two months in order to enter true contention.

With all the hype surrounding the No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners following their upset win over Texas, quarterback Dillon Gabriel has played his way into contention as well, but I still need another great game against No 23. Kansas in two weeks to add him to my list of contenders.

Now onto the four true contenders for the award up to this point:

Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix

Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix both had the week off as they prepared to match up against each other, leaving me to group them together. With Penix Jr. and Nix at the helm, No. 7 Washington and No. 8 Oregon have perfect records to start the 2023 season. The two gunslingers bring their teams into Husky Stadium in Seattle, Wash., for a top-10 matchup this weekend.

Penix and Nix both rank top 15 in QBR, top five in completion percentage and top 10 in passing touchdowns this year. Penix has made the better case between the two so far but look for the true leading candidate to emerge this weekend with a win.

Both teams will face USC early in November and to LA we will head for our next leading candidate.

Caleb Williams

After a slow start at Arizona that saw Williams and the Trojans only score 14 points in the first half, they exploded for 29 in the second half/overtime periods and ended up with a 43-41 over the Wildcats.

Williams had a “tough” go-around as he went 14 for 25 for 219 yards and a touchdown while he ran for another 41 yards and three touchdowns. Not to mention the two-point conversion run that eventually proved to be the difference-maker after the USC defense shut down Arizona’s two-point attempt.

While many saw this game as a step back for the Heisman leader up to this point, accounting for 260 yards and five scores is no slacking job, even for Williams’s lofty expectations.

With five top-25 matchups in the next six weeks for the Trojans, if there’s any time for Williams to cement his case for back-to-back Heisman Awards, this is it.

Jayden Daniels

You may be calling me crazy but look at the stats. Just take a quick second to look and compare him to the rest of the country.

Where does Daniels rank in QBR? Fourth. Where does Daniels rank in yards? Third. Where does Daniels rank in total touchdowns? Second.

It may sound insane but that sounds like a Heisman contender to me. Record this record that, Daniels has played at the highest level of college players this year and nothing can change that fact. LSU may be 4-2 and basically out of playoff contention, but it’s not the fault of its star quarterback.

LSU has been held under 34 points once this year, to the fourth-best team in the nation. Daniels has been held under 350 total yards once this season, in a 72-10 drubbing of Grambling State where Daniels came out after the first half leading 42-10. There’s no reason for him to be eliminated from contention purely due to record and that’s final.

Jeremy Rose is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jmr8177@psu.edu.