The Latest Heisman Buzz Entering Week 8

Two months from yesterday, the newest Heisman winner will be announced. It’s still anybody’s guess who that will be — let alone who the four finalists will be — in a season featuring dozens of strong candidates and without one dominant Heisman front-runner.

Let’s dig into the scuttlebutt post haste, starting with folks at on3.com, who released their latest staff Heisman poll, which featured Alabama QB Ty Simpson first.

The Crimson Tide opened the season with a stinker, losing 31-17 to Florida State and opening the inevitable floodgates of criticism. 

Since then, Alabama has won five straight, the past three over ranked teams, including this weekend’s 27-24 victory over No. 14 Missouri.

Simpson has excelled during that stretch and has now thrown for 1,678 yards and 16 touchdowns to just one interception, completing 70.9% of his passes. His TDs are tied for fifth nationally while he is hovering near the top 10 in most passing categories against one of the nation’s toughest schedules.

Per On3: “His ability to play turnover-free football so far this season has been a huge part of the Crimson Tide’s success.”

At No. 2 was Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, who led the Hoosiers to a massive win at No. 3 Oregon to remain unbeaten. Miami’s Rueben Bain (DL) and Carson Beck (QB), were third and fourth, respectively, while Mississippi’s Trinidad Chambliss was fifth.

The next five spots featured Oregon QB Dante Moore and Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed tied for sixth with USC QB Jayden Maiava and Ohio State QB Julian Sayin tied for eighth and Georgia Tech QB Haynes King 10th.

Stock in Mendoza and newly ranked No. 3 Indiana is rising sharply. Everyone likes a Cinderella story — which the Hoosiers were last year when they reached the College Football Playoff — and the 2025 sequel seems just as popular.

Mendoza has passed for 1,423 yards and 17 touchdowns with just two interceptions and has also rushed for two scores. His 215 yards passing and one score plus 31 yards rushing was enough to lead Indiana over the Ducks.

Sports Illustrated’s Blake Silverman has Mendoza third behind Beck and Simpson and ahead of Moore and Sayin in its latest Top 5 rankings. Fellow SI writer Khari Demos has Mendoza ranked first with Beck second and Simpson third.

Beck and the undefeated Hurricane were idle this weekend as Miami moved to No. 2 nationally. He’s passed for 1,213 yards and 11 TDs.

Chambliss, a Division II transfer who started the year as the back-up in Lane Kiffin’s program, helped keep Ole Miss unbeaten at 6-0 thanks to 253 yards passing and two passing TDs as well as one rushing score, the Rebels escaping a meeting with Washington State with a 24-21 win.

CBS commentator Rick Neuheisel had Chambliss in his Top 3 before last weekend and isn’t likely to move him down.

FoxSports released its latest Heisman rankings, which featured Beck on top with Simpson second, Mendoza third and Buckeye wideout Jeremiah Smith and Sayin in fourth and fifth. The Buckeyes have been rolling since their season-opening 14-7 win over Texas, most recently posting a 34-16 win over No. 17 Illinois.

Smith’s seven TDs are tied for second nationally and he is tied for ninth with 40 receptions for 505 yards. Sayin leads the nation in completion percentage (78.4) and is second in QB Rating (188.06) with 15 TD passes.

Pro Football Network released its own rankings following Week 7 with Mendoza first, Simpson second, Maiava third, Sayin fourth and Beck fifth.

Maiava completed 25 of 31 passes for 265 passing yards and two touchdowns as USC knocked off No. 15 Michigan to move the Trojans to 5-1.

Maiava is third nationally in passing yards per game (308.7) and QB rating (185.65) and is 10th in completion percentage (71.9).

ESPN listed its top 10 offensive players in the first half of the season and Maiava was listed second behind only Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa. Simpson was third with Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy fourth and Mendoza fifth. The next five featured some interesting choices in Beck, Jacksonville State running back Cam Cook, Washington QB Demond Williams Jr., Michigan running back Justice Haynes and San Jose State wideout Danny Scudero.

Bleacher Report’s latest ranking featured Simpson, Beck and Mendoza in its front-runner tier.

In Mendoza, the outlet said: “Hope you’re ready for ‘Fernando Mendoza, Heisman finalist’ in December. That has become a strong possibility after IU’s 30-20 upset at Oregon.”

Its second tier featured Moore, Reed and Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar while Notre Dame’s CJ Carr was among its third tier. Carr, a freshman, has helped the Fighting Irish rebound from opening losses to currently ranked No. 2 Miami and No. 4 Texas A&M with four straight wins. He is second nationally in yards per attempt (10.3).

As for Aguilar, the Knoxville News said: “Aguilar has quickly risen to dark-horse status in the Heisman race. He leads the SEC with 1,680 passing yards along with 14 TDs and five interceptions. Tennessee leads the FBS in scoring at 48.2 points per game.”

Aguilar and Simpson square off this weekend as the Vols play at Alabama while Carr and Maiva will also take center stage Saturday as USC travels to Notre Dame.

Let’s close with The Athletic’s straw poll, which had Mendoza earning 18 of 26 first-place votes by its voting staff. Simpson was second (earning seven first-place votes) with teammates Bain and Beck third and fourth. 

Maiava was fourth while Texas Tech linebacker David Bailey was sixth. Navy QB Blake Horvath — who has the Midshipmen at 6-0 and just outside the top 25 rankings — was seventh while USC receiver Makai Lemon was tied with OSU’s Smith in eighth.

King, Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia, Alabama OT Kadyn Proctor and UW’s Williams also got votes.