Forde-Yard Dash: Wide-Open Heisman Field After Shaky Starts by Preseason Favorites

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (ball security tips sold separately in Pullman, Wash., after Washington State turned the ball over five times in the first half of a 52–10 loss to North Texas). First Quarter: But Remember, the Selection Committee Is the Problem. Second Quarter: Six Degrees of Jimbo.

Third Quarter: The Heisman Race Is in Shambles, Which Is Fine

It was always going to be an iffy Heisman Trophy season, given the uncertainty around so many quarterbacks. Three weeks in, consider that iffiness elevated. The Dash has no idea who should be considered the front-runner.

Which is O.K. There is no rush to start that particular hype train. Given the results to date, we are free to cast aside August notions in favor of actual performances. It’s good to put fresh eyes on the subject.

Sports Illustrated listed eight top candidates the week before the season began, so let’s catch up on them.

Arch Manning (21), Texas

If you want a basketball analogy, Manning was hyped like LeBron James but thus far has been closer to Felipe Lopez. That’s not a complete condemnation—Lopez had a pretty solid college career at St. John’s and even played five years in the NBA; he just didn’t live up to the massive billing.

For Arch, he had a 7-minute, 14-second outburst against San Jose State in which he threw four touchdown passes. In the other 172 minutes and 46 seconds of the season to date, he’s thrown two touchdowns and three interceptions. He’s completing 55.3% of his passes, which is last in the SEC, and his efficiency rating of 128.74 is 83rd nationally.

On the positive side, Manning has run the ball with verve—112 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He has one more tuneup game (Sam Houston) plus an open date to work on the passing before SEC play begins Oct. 4.

Drew Allar (22), Penn State

The Nittany Lions have played nobody, and Allar has been pedestrian in those walkover wins—he’s 14th in the Big Ten in efficiency and yards per game. The passing game was expected to gain some vertical pop from new wide receivers, but Allar has just three completions of longer than 30 yards and one of 40-plus so far. Perhaps James Franklin is keeping the fireworks under wraps for the big reveal against Oregon on Sept. 27 … or perhaps this is just who the Nittany Lions and Allar are.

Cade Klubnik (23), Clemson

The Tigers’ offense has been one of the biggest disappointments in the country so far, and third-year starter Klubnik is part and parcel of that. He has four touchdowns on the season and also four turnovers, and, as noted in The Dash First Quarter, has not been able to get going quickly in the first quarter. (It would also help if the Tigers’ anemic running game showed some signs of life.) Taking on the Syracuse defense Saturday could cure a lot of ailments for Clemson and Klubnik.

Sam Leavitt (24), Arizona State

Looks like he does miss having running back Cam Skattebo as a defensive focal point after all. Leavitt’s pass efficiency rating is down about 29 points thus far from last year to 121.83, which is 14th in the Big 12. The ASU passing game is almost completely dependent upon star receiver Jordyn Tyson, who has 24 of the Sun Devils’ 50 receptions and four of their five touchdown catches. Leavitt has been an effective runner (157 yards and three TDs), which is a continuation of what he showed last season.

LaNorris Sellers (25), South Carolina

Sellers suffered the biggest injury of any quarterback to date, being knocked out of the Vanderbilt game in the second quarter Saturday on what was ruled a targeting hit to the head. Sellers’s status for the Gamecocks’ game against Missouri should be updated when the SEC releases its first availability report Wednesday night. Norris already has been a reduced runner from last season, with just 45 rushing yards. That injury may further curtail what has been a dynamic element to his game.

Jeremiah Smith (26), Ohio State

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith catches a pass against Ohio cornerback Michael Mack II. | Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If there is one player on this list who seems likely to still be in the Heisman mix come November, it’s Smith. His season got off to a puzzling start, with multiple dropped passes and no huge plays against Texas (six catches for 43 yards). Against the lighter competition of Grambling and Ohio, he put up the expected numbers: a combined 14 catches for 272 yards and three touchdowns. Smith just needs to produce in Big Ten play, which starts Sept. 27 at Washington.

Garrett Nussmeier (27), LSU

The story of the Tigers’ 3–0 start has been defense, allowing just nine points per game. The offense has been Nuss-ing special—they’re last in the SEC in scoring at 20 per game, and the QB was fortunate Saturday that Florida counterpart DJ Lagway offset one terrible interception with five of his own. Brian Kelly said Monday that Nussmeier has been dealing with an unspecified torso injury that has limited his ability to practice. LSU shouldn’t need much out of him to beat Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, but some improved firepower will likely be mandatory when LSU visits Mississippi on Sept. 27.

Jeremiyah Love (28), Notre Dame

It’s gotten late early for the Fighting Irish, as a College Football Playoff contender and for Love as a Heisman candidate. He didn’t get the ball enough in the opening loss to Miami (14 touches), and his only breakaway play of the season to date was a reception (a 36-yard touchdown he snared with one hand against Texas A&M). His long run so far is 16 yards.

And now for something completely different: two (of many) new Heisman candidates who have had big starts to the season.

Diego Pavia (29), Vanderbilt quarterback

He’s not the only Commodore off to a great start, but there is little doubt who is the competitive engine driving Vandy to a 3–0 record and consecutive road routs of power-conference opponents. Pavia is averaging 7.9 yards per play rushing and passing, and he really hasn’t cranked up the running game to the level he did last season yet. The Albuquerque Tinkler has transformed the Vandy program.

Mario Craver (30), Texas A&M wide receiver

Small but explosive, the 5' 10", 165-pound speedster from Birmingham, Ala., leads the nation in receiving yards at 147.7 per game. He’s been over 100 every game this season, climaxing with a shredding of Notre Dame for 207 yards Saturday. Caver leads the country in catches of 10-plus yards (16) and 20-plus (nine), and is the only player with two receptions of 70 or more yards. Four of his 17 catches last year as a freshman at Mississippi State went for 45 or more yards.