Heisman Watch
Quarterback Edition
Favorite - Jalen Hurts -Oklahoma - Led the Sooners to 119 points in 2 games, albeit one was against a traditional patsy, still the other was against Houston, which is not a slouch. He has thrown for 591 yards and rushed for 237. Could be the third consecutive Oklahoma quarterback to win the Heisman after transferring from another school.
Rising - Joe Burrow - LSU - The winner of the SEC Offensive Player of the Year for each of the first two weeks has thrown for 749 yards in his two games this year, including 471 against then 9th ranked Texas. He also has 9 touchdowns against only 1 interception so far this year.
Sleeper - Elijah Sindelar - Purdue - He has already thrown for 932 yards and 9 touchdowns in his two games. A concussion may keep him out of next week's matchup, though.
Falling - Trevor Lawrence - Clemson - He has not exactly lit it up at QB in Clemson's two wins. Team success, and the inevitable 300 yards in a very big game. He does already have a Heisman moment on his resume this year, with the touchdown saving tackle after he threw an interception which resulted in zero points for the opposition.
Running Back Edition
Favorite - Jonathan Taylor - Wisconsin - He has only gained 237 yards, but has 5 touchdowns. His low yard total (by Heisman standards) is largely due to his teams blowout wins over South Florida and Central Michigan, so he has sat for large portions of the game. Easily the best running back in college, and he has legitimate track speed coming out of the backfield. Wisconsin's upcoming game against Michigan (9/21) will be telling for Taylor, and the entire Badger team.
Rising - Travis Etienne - Clemson - The only running back in Taylor's class, Etienne has 258 yards and 3 touchdowns in Clemson's two victories. He should tear up the ACC.
Falling - Cam Akers - Florida State - How can the fourth leading rusher in the NCAA be falling? Easily, his team, the Florida State Seminoles were beat at home by Boise State and then barely survived a botched extra point to beat the University of Louisiana-Monroe 45-44 in overtime.
Sleeper - Kylin Hill - Mississippi State - The Bulldog running back in second in the NCAA in rushing having amassed 320 yards on the ground. If he can keep this up through SEC play, he could be a contender. (My hint, he won't).
Wide Receiver Edition
Favorite - Rondale Moore - Purdue - The do-everything All-American candidate has 344 yards receiving on 24 catches already for the surprising Boilermakers. He will have to come up big for freshman Jack Plummer if Elijah Sindelar is declared out with a concussion this week.
Rising - Tylan Wallace - Oregon State - Only 10 catches, but for 272 yards. This bodes well since he plays in the Big 12, and will likely be able to have many more big plays due to the lack of defense in the conference.
Falling - DeVonta Smith - Alabama - He has literally done nothing wrong, except for lining up next to Jerry Jeudy.
Sleeper - Omar Bayless - Arkansas State - He has 16 catches for 271 yards (6th and 3rd respectively in the NCAA), but already has 5 touchdowns! At Arkansas State, he is the ultimate sleeper.
Defensive Edition
5. Jace Whittaker - CB - Illinois - His 3 interceptions lead the NCAA.
4. Keandre Jones - LB - Maryland - 4 sacks, 12 tackles and a forced fumble. Plus, I have to give some love to somebody from Maryland.
3. Oluwole Betiku, Jr. - DE - Illinois - Leads the NCAA with 5 sacks, but also has 10 total tackles and a fumble recovery. Only bright spot on this Illini squad.
2. Ethan Aguayo - LB - San Jose State - He leads the NCAA with 34 total tackles in just two games.
1. Kenny Willekes - DE - Michigan State - Four sacks, and 12 total tackles, along with 2 fumble recoveries and a TD. Pretty impressive start to the season for this All-American candidate..
Player(s) to Watch
Jabari Zuniga - DL - Florida - Has the talent and ability, and he plays with the requisite abandon to control every game he plays in from the line of scrimmage.
My New Favorite Player
Steven Montez - QB - Colorado - Montez was 28-41 for 375 and 2 TDs in the comeback win over Nebraska. More importantly, Montez lays claim to the best Hispanic quarterback over Nebraska's Adian Martinez.
Players of the Week (Just Week 2)
5. JK Dobbins - RB - Ohio State - He gained 141 yards on only 17 carries with 2 TDs in Ohio State's 42-0 drubbing of Cincinnati.
4. Ryan Hilinski - QB - South Carolina - The freshman, starting in game 2 only because of an injury to starter Jake Bentley, played in his first game after brother Tyler - who played at Washington State - committed suicide in what was later attributed to CTE. Hilinski finished 24-30 for 282 yards and 2 TDs passing, and added a rushing TD. He would ordinarily be listed higher except the Gamecocks only played Charleston Southern, defeating them 72-10.
3. Rondale Moore - WR - Purdue - Moore hauled in 13 passes for 220 yards and 1 TD as Purdue defeated Vanderbilt 42-24.
2. Elijah Sindelar - QB - Purdue - Sindelar was 34-52 for 509 yards and 5 TDs. Most week's he would be first, but ...
1. Joe Burrow - QB - LSU - Burrow finished 31-39 for 471 yards and 4 TDs in LSU's 45-38 victory over Texas.
Goat of the Week (Player Edition)
Secondary - CBs/Ss - Miami - Gave up a successful pass to North Carolina on a 4th and 17 that would have iced the game for Miami, but instead continued the drive for the Tar Heels. Then, they give up the game winning TD pass to conclude the drive. Miami did have a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Bubba Baxha missed a 50-yard field goal attempt.
Goat of the Week (Coach Edition)
Willie Taggert - Florida State - Just one week after admitting his team was dehydrated and not in shape after a come-from-ahead loss to Boise State, the Seminoles once again gave up a late lead, only to beat Louisiana-Monroe 45-44 in overtime.
Alabama (1) v. Ohio State (4)/ (2) Clemson v. (3) Oklahoma
Again, still way too early to tell as tons of teams are still alive. LSU is looking especially intersting.
Final Unbeatens
Too many to list right now.
Rant(s) of the Week
ESPN, take the yellow coloring off the down and distance display at the bottom of the screen (at least on ESPNU). It looks like a penalty flag is being thrown on every single play.
Under Performance of the Week
Tennessee. Starts off 0-2 after a surprise opening-game loss to Georgia State, falling 38-30 at home (and paying Georgia State $950,000.00). The Volunteers continued their season with a 29-26 loss to Brigham Young, also at home. But, they have a good story with the t-shirts! No truth (yet) to the rumor that Smokey has entered the transfer portal.
Last Entry's Trivia Answer (from two seasons ago)
As a reminder, the question was:
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson has set the school record for touchdown passes with his 88th TD in last week's game. Whose record did he break?
The answer is Chris Redman, who interestingly also played in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens.
Trivia Question of the Week
We will start off easy: There are five active NCAA head coaches that have won NCAA titles as head coaches. Name them.
Match up(s) to Watch
5. Chattanooga v. Tennessee - Just to see if Tennessee can start off with 3 upset home losses.
4. Ohio State v. Indiana - Both teams enter their Big Ten debut 2-0. Can Indiana provide an early-season upset at home?
3. Stanford v. UCF - It isn't UF, FSU or Miami, but UCF gets a big school to come play in Orlando. Stanford coming off a big loss to USC last week. Will that make them down, or more hungry?
2. Arizona State v. Michigan State - Not your ordinary Pac-12/Big 10 matchup, but both teams are undefeated and Herm Edwards always "plays to win the game".
1. Florida v. Kentucky - Everybody agrees that UF is not as good as its ranking, while everyone also agrees that Kentucky is much better than its non-ranking. Can Mark Stoops work a little home-magic?
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