Who’s in the hunt for the Heisman Trophy? The top candidates, what they need to do, and who still has a realistic shot.
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Heisman Trophy Watch: Top Candidates, Week 7
College Football Week 7 Roundup
CFN 1-131 Rankings | Rankings by Conference
Bowl Projections | Week 7 Scoreboard
Week 8 Early Lines | AP Rankings | Coaches Poll
What 12-Team Playoff Would Look Like
Top 10 Hot Seat Coach Rankings
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And now it’s on.
The race for the Heisman Trophy hadn’t really kicked in yet.
Bryce Young was banged up, no one who goes to bed at a reasonable hour had seen Caleb Williams play a full game, CJ Stroud was rolling with too much ease – there wasn’t any intrigue.
That all changed up in a big way last weekend, and now the Heisman Trophy chase is in high gear.
Who are the five most realistic candidates in the hunt? As a Heisman voter, I’m not allowed to reveal my thoughts or ballot under penalty of death – or worse, be forced to watch the Iowa offense – but here’s the best guess at how the voting would go if the season were to end now.
Before getting going, remember the reality of this thing. To be in the hunt, you have to 1) be on a team in the mix for the national title, or at least the College Football Playoff, 2) be a quarterback, or 3) be having an otherworldly season if you’re at another position.
And you have to do stuff when everyone is watching.
To me, it’s about who the signature player is in a given season – a combination of MVP and MOP – but again, this list isn’t necessarily what I would do with my ballot.
The top five players in the Heisman Trophy race after Week 7 are …
Player of Week 7
WR Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee
There were a few other guys out there who had pretty good days, too, but Hyatt came up with something otherworldly in the 52-49 win over Alabama. He only made six grabs, but they were all big with 207 yard and a school-record five touchdowns.
5 Other Players On The Heisman Watch List
These five are in the waiting room with the potential to make it on to the set, but they all need to rise up and rock over the next several weeks, and they need the top five to stumble.
In alphabetical order …
QB Stetson Bennett, Georgia
QB Max Duggan, TCU
QB Drake Maye, North Carolina
QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA
QB DJ Uiagalelei, Clemson
5. RB Blake Corum, Michigan
Why Blake Corum Will Win the Heisman: It’s been totally forgotten about now, but if Bryce Young doesn’t lead Alabama to that amazing game-winning drive against Auburn last year – and if Tank Bigsby had stayed in bounds – we’re talking about Michigan trying to get its second Heisman in a row.
Aidan Hutchinson proved Michigan players really can be in the mix for this thing, and now Corum is starting to build up his own Heisman resumé.
He hit the 120-yard mark in each of the four Big Ten games – and didn’t in the first three games of the season because the team didn’t need him. The 901 yards are great, the 13 touchdowns are strong, and running for 166 yards and two scores against Penn State was huge.
Rock against Michigan State, keep on winning, and then roll up Ohio State, and then look out.
Why Blake Corum Won’t Win the Heisman: It’s not wrong to think he’s not even the best back in the Big Ten, or even second.
Chase Brown of Illinois is having a monster season, but the name recognition isn’t there to be in the Heisman mix. Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim is right there in the discussion of best backs in the Big Ten, Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen has to be in the mix, and the Ohio State backs are …
Corum is the star of an unbeaten Michigan team that keeps on rolling. To be in the hunt for the Heisman, though, the stats and performances have been great, but it all has to go up several notches in this beauty contest.