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Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
On this date last year, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. looked like the Heisman Trophy frontrunner after defeating Oregon. In 2022, Hendon Hooker held the lead at midseason following Tennessee’s upset of Alabama. The year before, Kenneth Walker III and Matt Corral were surging.
None of those players ended up taking home the hardware. The Heisman race is a marathon, not a sprint, and a tricky one to forecast early in the season.
Here’s how ESPN.com writers voted on their top Heisman candidates at midseason. In this round of voting, 11 different players received votes.
To arrive at the final rankings, 14 voters were asked to vote for their top five. First-place votes earned five points with four points assigned for second-place votes, three points for third-place votes, two points for fourth-place votes and one point for fifth-place votes.
Total points: 66 (first-place votes: 11)
In college football, few individual records have seemed more unbreakable than Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record. The Oklahoma State superstar rewrote the record books and secured the Heisman in 1988 with a jaw-dropping 2,850 rushing yards and 44 touchdowns.
Six games in, Jeanty is well on his way to breaking it. Boise State’s unstoppable star has now gained 1,248 rushing yards and scored 18 total touchdowns while averaging an absurd 9.9 yards per carry. Sanders had 1,156 rushing yards and 19 TDs on 7.5 yards per carry through his first six games in 1988.
Jeanty is the most explosive playmaker in the sport, with eight touchdown runs of 50 or more yards. Defenses spend all week scheming to stuff the box and slow him down, but Jeanty leads all FBS backs in broken tackles. He’s done all this despite sitting out the second half of two blowout wins for the No. 15 Broncos as they chase another Mountain West title and a College Football Playoff bid.
A running back from a non-power conference hasn’t been invited to New York as a Heisman finalist since TCU’s LaDanian Tomlinson in 2000. Jeanty is leaving little doubt he’ll be there in December.
Heisman moment: Nobody has figured out a good way to shut down Jeanty, and that includes the now-No. 2 ranked Oregon Ducks. Jeanty rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns in Eugene on Sept. 7 and legitimately put Oregon on upset alert in a 37-34 thriller. Jeanty broke a 70-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to tie the game, then punched in his third score of the night with 10 minutes left to put the Broncos ahead 34-27. The Ducks rallied late and won on a game-winning field goal with time expiring, but Jeanty earned a lot more believers that night.
Key stat: Jeanty has gained 841 rushing yards after first contact this season, according to TruMedia. That’s 355 yards more than any other running back in FBS. Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson ranks second with 586. How extreme is that number through six games? In 2023, only eight FBS running backs finished the season with 850 or more rushing yards after contact. Jeanty was one of them, ranking fourth nationally with 934.
ESPN BET Heisman odds: +175
Total points: 52 (first-place votes: 3)
Nobody else in college football can do what Hunter does. Colorado’s two-way star and future first-round pick got off to a dominant start in the Buffaloes’ first season back in the Big 12, leading the conference in catches with 49 for 587 yards and six touchdowns. He opened the season with four consecutive 100-yard performances at receiver, but his play at cornerback has been just as impressive. Hunter has yet to allow a touchdown pass and has recorded three pass breakups and two interceptions.
Hunter suffered a shoulder injury on Saturday night against Kansas State and had to miss the second half of the Buffaloes’ 31-28 loss. After the game, coach Deion Sanders didn’t offer an update on the severity of the injury nor a timetable for Hunter’s return. Let’s hope it’s just a minor setback for the most dynamic player in the game.
Heisman moment: Hunter struck the Heisman pose after diving for an interception against UCF, one of several highlight plays he made in a 48-21 blowout road win on Sept. 28. Hunter also hauled in nine catches for 89 yards and a touchdown against the Knights.
Key stat: Prior to his injury, Hunter had been on the field for 92% of Colorado’s plays on offense and defense this season. He has totaled 322 snaps on offense and 341 on defense, according to TruMedia. No other FBS player has played more than 500 snaps this season.
ESPN BET Heisman odds: +1100
Total points: 43
Six games in, Ward is truly exceeding Miami fans’ wildest expectations. The Washington State transfer took over a team that went 7-6 in 2023 and turned them into the undefeated frontrunner to win the ACC.
The 6-foot-2, 223-pound senior has always possessed elite arm talent but has taken his game to another level this fall with 2,219 passing yards (second-most in FBS), 23 total touchdowns and five interceptions while operating the No. 1 scoring offense in the country.
Ward dominated Florida in his debut, has pulled off dramatic comeback wins over Virginia Tech and Cal and has created real CFP expectations for the Hurricanes as they’ve risen to No. 6 in the AP poll. After two seasons at the FCS level at Incarnate Word and two at Washington State, Ward came close to entering the NFL draft but had a late change of heart. He wanted to come back to school for one final season, win big and prove he’s a first-round talent. So far, so good.
Heisman moment: If you stayed up late enough to watch it, you witnessed greatness from Ward during Miami’s resilient 39-38 comeback win at Cal on Oct. 5. Ward faced a 25-point deficit midway through the third quarter but just kept playing. He threw for 437 yards and expertly led four consecutive touchdown drives, connecting with tight end Elijah Arroyo for the game-winning score with 26 seconds left.
Key stat: Ward is averaging 12.2 yards per attempt on third downs this season according to TruMedia, best among all FBS starting quarterbacks. The Hurricanes are No. 1 nationally in third-down conversions (60.3%) thanks to their veteran QB. Ward has played 64 snaps on third downs and has accounted for 559 total yards and seven touchdowns.
ESPN BET Heisman odds: +600
Total points: 32
The Ducks sought a veteran quarterback with big-game experience to succeed Bo Nix as they aimed to take their next big step as a program in Year 3 under Dan Lanning. They were right to bet on Gabriel, a 49-game starter at Oklahoma and UCF who is predictably proving to be a terrific fit as a leader and playmaker.
Gabriel made the move to Eugene knowing his final college season would be defined by how he performed in high-pressure situations on a squad with national championship ambitions. He aced his toughest test yet with incredible poise on Saturday night, putting up 373 total yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers in the Ducks’ 32-31 upset of No. 2 Ohio State, the program’s second-ever win over an AP top-2 opponent.
Six games in, Gabriel has accounted for 1,893 total yards with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions while completing a career-high 76% of his passes. A 12-0 run through Oregon’s regular-season schedule looks entirely possible now, which would certainly keep Gabriel in the Heisman race the rest of the way.
Heisman moment: Gabriel’s performance against Ohio State was arguably the best of his career. He beat one of the top defenses in the country again and again with remarkable accuracy on downfield shots, going 6-of-7 for 220 yards with a touchdown and no turnovers on throws of 15-plus yards against the Buckeyes.
Key stat: Gabriel only needs 2,563 more passing yards and 18 more passing touchdowns to surpass Houston’s Case Keenum as the NCAA all-time leading passer.
ESPN BET Heisman odds: +375
Total points: 4
Finding a new starting quarterback in the transfer portal was high on coach Curt Cignetti’s to-do list upon taking the Indiana job. He found a proven winner to build around in Rourke, a 33-game starter at Ohio who’d thrown for more than 7,500 yards and earned MAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2022. And together, they just keep winning.
The sixth-year senior has been superb during the Hoosiers’ stunning 6-0 start and rise to No. 16 in the AP poll, passing for 1,752 yards with 16 total touchdowns and two interceptions on a Big Ten-best 11 yards per attempt. Rourke has put up a 91.9 QBR – best among Power 4 starters – while masterfully operating a rebuilt offense that’s scoring 47.5 points per game. His experience and efficiency have injected a ton of confidence into a team that went 3-9 a year ago.
Heisman moment: Indiana has yet to trail in any game this season, so Rourke hasn’t faced too many pressure moments. With Nebraska up next and games against Michigan and Ohio State on their November schedule, those opportunities are coming soon. When Northwestern did make it a 3-point game against the Hoosiers early in the fourth quarter, Rourke shut down the Wildcats’ upset bid with consecutive touchdown drives, finishing with 380 passing yards and three TDs in a 41-24 win.
Key stat: Indiana has outscored its six opponents by a combined margin of 196 points this season. Only Texas (221 points) and Ole Miss (216) have been better by that standard. In their nine losses last season, the Hoosiers were outscored by a combined margin of 135 points.
ESPN BET Heisman odds: +6000
Also receiving votes: Army QB Bryson Daily (3 points), Alabama WR Ryan Williams (3), Navy QB Blake Horvath (2), Alabama QB Jalen Milroe (2), Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith (2), Pitt RB Desmond Reid (1)