The Latest Heisman Buzz
We’re coming to you live from Heisman central with stomachs full of our kids’ Halloween candy and bodies benefiting from that extra hour of sleep.
We need the extra energy as we start the home stretch of the 2025 college football season and by extension, the race for the 2025 Heisman Trophy.
Some Heisman favorites went off last week. Some had the Saturday off. Some were off, by a little, some off by a lot.
Following a fitful, or frightful, weekend, depending on how your favorite team did, we now check in to see how our Heisman hopefuls are fairing in the eyes of our voters.
The Athletic’s latest straw poll returned the same pair of Big Ten players in the top two spots, specifically Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza in first and Ohio State QB Julian Sayin in second. The former had 15 of the staff’s 25 first-place votes while Sayin had three first-place votes. Third-place Ty Simpson also had three.
The folks at on3.com had the same three in its staff poll, albeit in a different order, feating Simpson, Sayin and Mendoza, the trio tightly bunched.
Mendoza wasn’t spectacular in the Hoosiers 55-10 win over out-manned Maryland, but he didn’t have to be. He completed 14-of-21 passes for 201 yards and a score while rushing for 24 yards and a TD as the Hoosiers broke 50 for the fifth time this season.
Sayin was quite sharp, completing 20-of-23 passes for 316 yards and fours scores in the Buckeyes’ 38-14 win over Penn State. Two of his scoring passes went to fellow Heisman hopeful Jeremiah Smith, who finished with six receptions for 123 yards and two scores.
Sayin’s impressive day saw him become just the second FBS player since 1985 to have three games in a season with at least 300 yards passing, three TD passes, no interceptions and a completion percentage of at least 85%. Not too shabby!
If the Buckeyes and Hoosiers continue their torrid pace, they will meet in the Big Ten title game, two days before the Heisman balloting closes on Dec. 8.
Simpson couldn’t match that Saturday because, well, the Crimson Tide had a bye this week. When he and Alabama return, they’ll face an LSU club under new management ahead of a date with Oklahoma with a season-finale against Auburn looming.
On3 had this to say about Simpson: “All told, Simpson has Alabama headed for a playoff berth as things currently stand. He’s been excellent all year, throwing for 2,184 yards and 20 touchdowns, with only one interception. He also has two rushing scores.”
It added on Sayin: “He hasn’t thrown an interception in the past five games, throwing 15 touchdowns in that timeframe. His numbers on the season are excellent: 2,188 yards passing and 23 touchdowns, against just three interceptions.”
Four players got one first-place vote in The Athletic poll, including Georgia Tech QB Haynes King and Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia — whose top 10 teams both lost this weekend — as well as Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Texas Tech linebacker David Bailey. Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed got two third-place votes following an Aggie bye, Smith one.
Reed, on the other hand, was a solid fourth in the On3 poll while Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss, absent in The Athletic poll, was fifth. King and Pavia were tied for sixth, Oregon QB Dante Moore was eighth, Love was ninth and Smith 10th.
Bleacher Report listed Sayin atop its latest Heisman candidate article, with Mendoza second, Simpson third and Reed fourth.
On Simpson, BR wrote: “The Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback has as strong of a case to win the Heisman as Sayin and Mendoza right now. You can’t really point to the season-opening loss to the Florida State Seminoles as a resume flaw because Simpson passed for 254 yards and two scores in that contest.”
It is also bullish on Reed, writing: “Marcel Reed is the Heisman candidate who deserves more buzz for the season he’s having. The Texas A&M quarterback threw for 202 yards, ran for 108 yards and had four total touchdowns two weeks ago in primetime against the LSU Tigers. That was the breakout performance on a national stage that Reed needed to put himself into the Heisman mix … Reed has comparable passing stats to Sayin, Mendoza and Simpson. His X-factor will be rushing statistics. He can make more of an impact on the ground than the other three top Heisman contenders.”
The Saturday Blitz ranked its top 5 contenders and listed Sayin and Mendoza 1-2 with Simpson third, Reed fourth and Smith fifth.
On Sayin they said, “The Ohio State Buckeyes dismantled Penn State this weekend, and Julian Sayin quietly had a great game for his push for the Heisman. After passing for 316 yards and 4 touchdowns against Penn State, Julian Sayin is up to 2,188 yards and 23 touchdowns with just 1 interception while completing 80.7% of his passes. Sayin has better weapons than any other quarterback and will only continue to post incredible numbers.”
And on Smith, it said: “If the Heisman Trophy isn’t going to go to a quarterback, it should go to the biggest alien in College Football. Jeremiah Smith has 55 catches for 725 yards and 10 total touchdowns this season all while attracting more attention than any receiver in the sport. If Smith can post a few big games down the stretch to end the season, he has a great chance to find himself in New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation.”
The folks at Fox Sports echoed the emerging storyline, listing Sayin atop its top 5 with Simpson second and Mendoza third. In fourth, however, was BYU QB Bear Bachmeier and in fifth was a different Red Raider linebacker, Jacob Rodriguez. King was sixth and Bailey seventh.
On Bachmeier, Fox analyst and Heisman winner Robert Griffin III said: “I don’t think there’s a more exciting player in the country right now than this young man.”
We’ll close with Pro Football Network, which listed five Heisman contenders who strengthened their resumes in Week 10.
Sayin was first with Love second, Mendoza third, Smith was fourth and Chambliss fifth.
On Love, they wrote: “Although the Heisman has presumably become a quarterback award, there are rare instances in which another position player wins the trophy. For running backs, there has not been a winner since Derrick Henry’s 2015 campaign, but Love’s trajectory can certainly add a new name to the illustrious list of non-quarterback Heisman winners.”
And on Sayin, they added: “The Buckeyes have been without a Heisman since Troy Smith’s 2006 season. Still, as Sayin’s season continues, it is becoming more apparent that the 20-year-old quarterback has a legitimate shot at winning the Heisman trophy. With Purdue, UCLA, and Rutgers lined up before Ohio State’s big game against Michigan, the Buckeyes have a chance to grab three more wins and allow Sayin to rack up more statistics.”
