2. Secondary Heisman hopefuls Taylor, Minshew will make big statements
Tua Tagovailoa has taken over for Kyler Murray at the top of the Heisman rankings, but it is almost certain that one of the two will win the trophy at the Downtown Athletic Club in Manhattan in December. That doesn’t mean that one of the dark-horse candidates can’t make a surge up the charts. Two in particular will use their Week 9 games as an opportunity to generate a Heisman moment.
The first is Wisconsin’s dominant running back Jonathan Taylor. Taylor currently sits only 39 yards behind Darrell Henderson of Memphis in total rushing yards, but the Tigers back has played one more game. As a result, Taylor leads the country in rushing yards per game with an average of more than 158 yards. Against Northwestern in Evanston, Taylor will post his third game of the year with 200-plus yards and three touchdowns.
On the other side of the country, Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew has built up a bit of buzz around his possible Heisman bid. The former East Carolina quarterback has taken to Mike Leach’s pass-happy offense, and he currently sits second in the country in passing yards behind Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins and first overall when factoring on a per-game basis.
Even if the Cougars do lose to Stanford on the road, it won’t be because of Minshew. He will join Taylor in posting a major statistical performance, as he throws for nearly 500 yards against a Cardinal team coming into Week 9 ranked 97th in passing yards allowed. Both will be critical as their teams win on the road.