Week 9 of the College Football season is in the books, and everything is starting to take shape in the race for the College Football Playoff as well as in the race for the Heisman Trophy. After every frontrunner and expected contender for the award in the preseason struggled, it created a wide open race which is finally taking shape.
As we approach the end of the season and start to get into the most important games for some teams, everyone is going to be looking for which quarterback has their Heisman moment. This weekend, Marcel Reed had the biggest impact launching himself into the race, but this race is still anyone's race moving forward.
Marcel Reed’s Emergence Adds a New Twist to the Heisman Conversation
It wasn't the best game from Diego Pavia, but the Vanderbilt Commodores keep picking up big wins, and as they're a Top 10 team, Diego Pavia will be considered. If Pavia is truly going to have a chance at winning the Heisman rather than just getting votes, he needs to have a big game or two down the stretch, as the rest of the candidates are going to have much better numbers.
When you go on the road and lead a dominant performance like we saw Marcel Reed do for Texas A&M, it's going to get you into the Heisman Trophy race. The Aggies' star was electric, passing for 202 yards and 2 touchdowns, adding 108 yards and 2 touchdowns with his legs. As Texas A&M continues to rack up wins, as long as Marcel Reed keeps making a big impact, he'll be in the race.
Julian Sayin and the Ohio State Buckeyes spent the weekend on the bye which means he didn't have a chance to help build his case for the Heisman Trophy. The good news for Sayin is that none of the front-runners ahead of him had massive showings. Given how well Sayin is playing and the weapons he has, this could quickly become his race to lose down the stretch.
The Alabama offense struggled on Saturday against South Carolina, which will hurt Ty Simpson's case, but he did lead game-tying and game-winning drives on the road. The Alabama star still has incredible numbers with 20 passing touchdowns to just 1 interception. Given that Alabama still has plenty of big games down the stretch, Simpson will have plenty of chances to have a true Heisman moment.
While it's still a race, Indiana star Fernando Mendoza is starting to make himself the clear front runner for the Heisman Trophy. This weekend, in a blowout win over UCLA, Mendoza added 4 total touchdowns to an impressive resume. The Hoosiers are one of the best teams and stories in the Country, and as long as Mendoza keeps putting together solid showings, he's going to be tough to beat.
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