Oklahoma and its star quarterback, John Mateer, had all the momentum in the world through four games. Few teams boasted as strong of a resume as the Sooners with their wins over Michigan and Auburn, and Mateer was terrific in those victories as the SEC leader in completions and passing yardage. But then struck a surprise injury.
Mateer is on the shelf indefinitely with a hand issue. Not only is his looming absence a blow to the Sooners in their pursuit of an SEC title, but it also shakes up the Heisman Trophy race in a significant way. Mateer had the second-best odds, per FanDuel, to win the award before the announcement of his throwing-hand injury.
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The quarterback Mateer trailed in the Heisman race just got a surprise boost. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza was a steep riser on his own and clinched frontrunner status entering Week 5 even before the Oklahoma star’s injury. Now he has a clear lead on the rest of the country.
The chaos at the top of the Heisman battle will only become crazier this week. Marquee matchups are aplenty on the Week 5 schedule, and a handful of them pit award candidates against each other.
Heisman Trophy odds entering Week 5
- QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (+650)
- QB Dante Moore, Oregon (+1000)
- WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State (+1000)
- QB Carson Beck, Miami (+1200)
- QB Gunner Stockton, Georgia (+1200)
- QB Marcel Reed, Texas A&M (+1400)
- QB Jayden Maiava, USC (+1400)
- QB Josh Hoover, TCU (+1400)
- QB Joey Aguilar, Tennessee (+1400)
- QB Julian Sayin, Ohio State (+1600)
- QB Garrett Nussmeier, LSU (+2000)
- QB Ty Simpson, Alabama (+2000)
- QB Tommy Castellanos, Florida State (+2500)
- QB Drew Allar, Penn State (+2500)
- QB Haynes King, Georgia Tech (+2500)
Stock up: Mendoza skyrockets into pole position; Maiava, Hoover make noise
Defeating a top-10 team by 53 points will earn you some attention. Going 21-for-23 with five touchdowns in the process will make you a Heisman frontrunner, especially when that isn’t even your best performance of the year. Mendoza absolutely shredded the Illinois defense in perhaps the most stunning result of Week 4 and is suddenly the national touchdowns leader with 14 on the year. Better yet, all of those scoring passes came in the last three games, and he has a pair of rushing touchdowns on his ledger, too.
Expectations for Mendoza were sky-high when he picked Indiana out of the transfer portal. Many touted him as a Heisman dark horse, if not a legitimate candidate outright. He and the Hoosiers were not sharp out of the gate, but they turned things on in Week 2 and have looked like a wagon from that point onward.
With Mendoza leading the way, quarterback play in the Big Ten is up this season. USC’s Jayden Maiava is part of the surge, too, and leads the country in passer efficiency. As the orchestrator of the always-potent Lincoln Riley offense, Maiava ranks first nationally in yards per attempt and yards per completion. That’s on the heels of his best game to date in which he racked up five total touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) on Michigan State.
Outside the Big Ten, Josh Hoover is now part of the Heisman discussion. Nobody in college football averages more yards per game (333.3) than the TCU veteran, who went nuclear with five touchdowns in the Iron Skillet rivalry game.
Stock down: Mateer, Dampier suffer costly injuries
The Mateer surgery news came as a shock because he seemed unfazed in the final three quarters of Oklahoma’s key win over Auburn. The effort solidified him as one of the most elite players in the sport and a potential first-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft. None of that big-picture acclaim changes with him missing time, but injuries are extremely detrimental to Heisman campaigns because of the reduction in sample size that comes with them.
That reality hit Utah standout Devon Dampier last week, too. Dampier sustained an ankle injury in Week 3, and it limited him in practice in preparation for the ranked battle against Texas Tech. The ramifications were clear; the typically dynamic quarterback managed just 2.5 yards per carry (a career low) and threw two interceptions against the Red Raiders in a loss that got out of hand late. Dampier had the seventh-best Heisman odds going into last week but is now just +4800 to win.
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Introducing a new segment to the weekly Heisman outlook: the longshot of the week. It’s still early in the season and movement in the award race is extremely fluid, so let’s have some fun with this and identify some dark horses who could find themselves more squarely in the mix later in the season.
Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. might be the best player nobody is talking about through four games. The sophomore is an outstanding decision maker for someone with limited starting experience and has been exactly what the Huskies hoped he would be when they signed him as a four-star recruit and gave him 13 games worth of playing time as a true freshman. Williams was no match for rival Washington State in the Apple Cup and found the end zone five times in the best game of his young career.
Williams has the kind of dual-threat ability that makes Heisman voters’ mouths water. He has yet to run for fewer than 64 yards in a game this year and does not sacrifice anything as a passer to make those plays with his legs. Washington has not played a Power Four opponent, so at +5000 to win the Heisman, the buy-in price on Williams will only get steeper once he proves against Big Ten foes that this is no fluke.
College Football QB Power Rankings: Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Oregon’s Dante Moore lead surging Big Ten crop
David Cobb
Week 5 performances to watch
This week is heavy on hard-hitting matchups and should offer one of the most entertaining Saturdays of the year. As such, it is impossible to highlight all of the must-see showdowns. So here are a few honorable mentions; Watch Garrett Nussmeier take on whoever Ole Miss throws out at quarterback, keep tabs on what Jayden Maiava does against an injury-riddled Illinois secondary, see if Fernando Mendoza stays hot against in his toughest matchup to date and take in all the star power in the Ohio State vs. Washington clash.
Now, on to the headliners.
Dante Moore vs. Drew Allar
It’s the biggest game of the week and it features two renowned quarterbacks. Penn State’s White Out game against Oregon is a behemoth of a matchup. Dante Moore looks like a budding star with the Ducks but has yet to face a real test, while Drew Allar has thus far been underwhelming against weak competition of his own. Is Moore for real? Is Allar saving his best for the biggest games? The answers come Saturday night.
Gunner Stockton vs. Ty Simpson
At the same time that the Big Ten heavyweights clash at Beaver Stadium, the SEC throws two of its best teams onto the field in another installment in one of the decade’s most competitive rivalries. Gunner Stockton and Ty Simpson stand among the 12 players with the best Heisman odds and square off with a chance to distance themselves from one another. Simpson can ill afford a second loss in the first half of the season, so he needs to lead Alabama to a head-turning road win at Georgia to stay afloat in the award race.
Marcel Reed vs. Jackson Arnold
Jackson Arnold just got a dose of the Brent Venables defense and now has to try and dissect a Mike Elko unit. That is a brutal two-week stretch. Defeating Texas A&M and going 1-1 against the Aggies and Oklahoma would get him back into the conversation. Marcel Reed, meanwhile, has a chance to log a second big-time win in as many weeks after making himself a legitimate Heisman contender with his clutch heroics in a thrilling victory at Notre Dame.
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