It’s a few weeks into college footballl season now and we have dropped our first MAS Heisman Watch. Every Thursday, TJ and myself will lay out our Heisman Five rankings. It’s early in the season so the situation is obviously fluid. Here’s how they shaped out in edition number one.
In our 3rd spot, is Miami senior transfer, Cam Ward. Anyone that saw him play prior to this season knew that Ward was going to be a huge difference maker for the Canes. Through the early stretch, he has thrown one bad pass on a misread in week one against Florida that went for a pick. 11.7 yards per completion and a tad under 77%, Ward has been as advertised so far. Miami really doesn’t get to the meat of their schedule until September 27 when they host Virginia Tech. If you look closer at their schedule, the Canes don’t really face any world beating defenses at all this year. A perfect set-up for Ward to lead the Canes to a great season and stay in the Heisman talk all year long. Saturday he’ll get Ball State at home.
2nd this week for us is Ole Miss senior signal caller Jaxson Dart. Appropriately named, the Rebels QB has been throwing darts in the early season. Leading the country in passing, Dart has thrown for 795 yards, six touchdowns to no interceptions, and is connecting at an 87% clip. I talked about this Ole Miss squad as my “darkhorse” in our preseason previews because of how loaded they are on both sides of the ball. Big Play Tre Harris at 6’3’’ 210 coming back for his senior season was a big reason why. This weekend, the Rebels visit Wake Forest. A tougher path forward lies ahead for Dart compared to Ward, but the Rebels don’t see that tough stretch until mid-October.
Top of our list this week? Ashton Jeanty of Boise State. The 5’9’’ Junior tailback is averaging 10.2 yards per carry while leading the nation with 459 yards and nine touchdowns. After posting a monster in week one, people wondered if the numbers were a fluke. This past Saturday in one of the nation’s toughest places to play; Autzen Stadium. Jeanty went for 192 yards with 3 house calls. Defensively, the Mountain West Conference isn’t particularly imposing. Jeanty should be able to continue to put up monster numbers. That being said, we will see when it comes time if the committee holds the MWC against him.
Lurking in the background?
Texas QB Quinn Ewers. The 6’2’’ Junior from Southlake, Texas has posted solid numbers so far. Six touchdowns to one interception and nearly a 70% clip through two games. But if you watched the Longhorns dismantle Michigan on Saturday, you saw it. 246 yards and three touchdowns to no picks against a very good Michigan defense on the road. Ewers is poised, confident, and smart. He doesn’t get rattled at all. Texas has back-to-back games with Oklahoma and Georgia in mid-October. Ewers poise, experience, and accuracy will be on full display with the two biggest games on their schedule back-to-back.
This Heisman race will take plenty of twists and turns. Dillon Gabriel, Nico Iamaleava, Tetairoa McMillan, Carson Beck, and a few others will get into this conversation as we go forward. Honestly, to me? This might be one of the best Heisman races that we’ve ever seen.
