To me, this felt like one of those weird October weekends in college football when the games were big, but the performances in those games were relatively quiet. Nonetheless, there’s still plenty to pick from on this week’s Heisman Watch, where we pride ourselves on searching for the hidden gems.
Heisman Watch: Week 9, 2024
5. QB Marcel Reed, Texas A&M – It’s pretty rare to see a player come into a game and provide a spark to the level at which Reed did against the 8th ranked LSU Tigers on Saturday night. I mean, that looked like two different Texas A&M teams….one with Conner Weigman, one with Reed. Reed completed just two passes (on two attempts) for 70 passing yards, but he added a dynamic running the ball that LSU couldn’t contend with while running for 62 yards and three touchdowns.
4. RB Kaleb Johnson, Iowa – Johnson continues to steamroll people and I guess it’s just the fact that Iowa isn’t ranked at 5-3 that has him out of the Heisman conversation among the talking heads. But, what he’s done this season shouldn’t be brushed under the rug. Sure, Ashton Jeanty is getting the headlines, but Johnson is running the ball well for the Hawkeyes. He plowed through Northwestern to put three more touchdowns on his season total (109 yards). He now sits at 1,144 yards on the season (2nd behind Jeanty) with 16 total touchdowns (4th).
3. WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona – Arizona has let the season slip away, losing four straight after starting the year 3-1. Regardless of the poor results, T-Mac continues to remind us of why he’s capable of being a first round pick next spring. The quintessential X-receiver, McMillan sits at third in the FBS in receiving yards with 982 on the season. In the loss to West Virginia, he had another of his “go off” games, posting 202 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches.
2. QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon – Props to Gabriel for this stretch of football he’s playing and settling into the guy we thought would win the Heisman before the season started. The Ducks pummeled Illinois 38-9. In that game, Gabriel was 18/26 for 291 yards, three passing touchdowns (with a pick), and a rushing touchdown to boot. Gabriel has climbed into the top 10 in both passing yards and touchdowns.
1. WR Travis Hunter, Colorado – I just can’t recall seeing a guy in recent memory who is doing what Hunter is doing this season. Back on track after an injury temporarily derailed him, Hunter is back to his old self, hanging 153 receiving yards and two touchdowns on Cincinnati on nine catches. He also had two tackles and four of the team’s eight passes deflected while playing cornerback. There’s just no one like him in the game right now.
Heisman Watch 2024 Standings
- Cam Ward – 21 (total points)
- Ashton Jeanty – 17
- Dillon Gabriel – 12
- Jalen Milroe – 11
- Travis Hunter, Kaleb Johnson – 9
- Tetairoa McMillan – 6
- Quinn Ewers – 5
- Abdul Carter, Bryson Dailey, Jaxson Dart, Garrett Nussmeier, Shedeur Sanders, Dylan Sampson – 4
- Will Howard, Jam Miller – 3
- Luke Altmyer, Rocco Becht, Luther Burden III, Miller Moss, Diego Pavia, Ryan Williams – 2
- Tahj Brooks, Ethan Hampton, Avery Johnson, Arch Manning, Marcel Reed – 1
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, third on Football & Other F Words, co-host of The Hot Read Podcast, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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