Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where a pooch kick can change a season arc. First Quarter: Welcome to the Dead Zone. Second Quarter: Scapegoat Season.

Third Quarter: Is Jeremiah Smith the Next All-Time Great to Not Win the Heisman?

The Heisman Trophy is a great award that is often given to a player who fits a certain rubric, as opposed to the best player in the sport. Voters can be unserious or stubborn, with tunnel vision on a certain type of player from a certain type of team—usually a quarterback, and almost always from a national championship contender. That can lead to, say, Oklahoma quarterback Jason White winning a Heisman that should have gone to Larry Fitzgerald. 

Since football is a team game, The Dash believes team success should be part of the Heisman evaluation. How large a part is a moving target. But the recent Ohio State swan dive off the cliff of playoff competition jeopardizes the candidacy of the guy many people believe is the best non-NFL player on the planet, Buckeyes receiver Jeremiah Smith (21). 

Ohio State currently is 6–3, putting Smith on a cut line of sorts. If the Buckeyes drop another game, history is against him. The last Heisman winner from a team with more than three losses at the time votes were cast was Oklahoma running back Steve Owens in 1969, when the Sooners went 6–4. 

Smith remains a statistically compelling candidate: He is second nationally in receiving yards per game at 133.3, just a yard behind Jesse Legree of Oregon State, and his 14 touchdown receptions is tied for first (also with Legree). He’s still getting the ball after the injury to starting quarterback Julian Sayin, with 17 catches for 216 yards in the two games since freshman Luke Fahey stepped into that role. That should continue in the home stretch against Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan, because it makes no sense to do anything other than force-feed their best player in a time of crisis.

But at times like this, the Heisman electorate tends to get the wandering eye in search of someone whose team is more in the national championship mix. Three such players presented themselves Saturday—two of them in the same game. 

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr (22) had the best crucial-game performance of his college career in the victory over then-No. 1 Miami. Carr threw for a season-high 319 yards with a career-high 29 completions, delivering both on-schedule throws off sharp reads and some freelance beauties. A potential Heisman highlight play: Facing a third-and-4 from the Notre Dame 25 while trying to operate a two-minute drill in the first half, Carr was chased all the way back to his own 2 before wheeling and firing to running back Aneyas Williams for a first down. Air yards on the throw, which came off one foot: 30 yards, on a rope. The Fighting Irish went 81 yards on that drive, all through the air, to take a 17–3 lead.

For the season, Carr is 17th nationally in pass efficiency at 162.76, with 21 touchdown passes and one interception. Notre Dame hasn’t had a quarterback seriously in the Heisman mix since Brady Quinn 20 years ago.

Miami quarterback Darian Mensah (23) was every bit as good as Carr on Saturday, while going against a better defense and without his top weapon, injured Malachi Toney. Mensah was sacked twice and chased relentlessly, showing more athletic elusiveness than he’s often had to this season. The Miami offense has been a machine, but this game called for some sandlot verve and Mensah delivered it.

He did throw a momentum-killing interception to Hurricanes nemesis Luke Talich, but that was only his second of the season against 28 TD passes. Mensah leads the nation in pass efficiency at 190.83 and is tied for first in total offense yards per play at 9.1. If he keeps the Hurricanes humming over the next few weeks without Toney, he’ll be in New York.

The third is Utah QB Devon Dampier (24), the dual-threat engine driving the Utes’ 9–0 season. His numbers are slightly less than the above two QBs—he’s 25th in pass efficiency and 23rd in total offense—but he fits the best-player-on-championship contender rubric. There is a little more risk-reward with Dampier, who has 10 total turnovers on the season, but he was better in victory against BYU’s stop defense than Carr was in defeat. In Utah’s two toughest games of the season, against Houston and BYU, Dampier ran or passed on 70.7% of its offensive plays.

A roundup by conference of other players who should at least be up for Heisman consideration, as the pool of candidates should widen before the final contraction: 

ACC (25)

There are notable success stories beyond Miami. Among them:

Duke running back Nate Sheppard is second nationally in rushing at 132.11 yards per game, and fourth in rushing touchdowns with 17. His 21 total touchdowns leads the nation. Sheppard has been the driving force behind the Blue Devils’ 7–2 season, keeping them in at least outside contention for a repeat ACC championship.

Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez has been sensational in the Demon Deacons’ rampaging 8–1 season. Lopez, who was disappointing last year at North Carolina, is flourishing at Wake—he’s 13th nationally in pass efficiency and ninth in total offense. Much of his passing success can be attributed to receiver Carlos Hernandez, whose 105 receiving yards per game ranks sixth in America.

SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings is a walking viral highlight, capable of producing something memorable on every play. (Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not.) He’s third nationally in pass efficiency and fifth in total offense for the 7–2 Mustangs. Here’s a personal growth stat on Jennings: He went four straight games without a turnover until an interception against Virginia Tech ended that streak Saturday.

Big 12 (26)

Outside of Utah and BYU, the league is getting back to its gunslinger QB roots. A couple beyond Dampier worth monitoring.

If the Heisman were a career achievement award, quarterback Noah Fifita would be more prominent in the conversation after four years rewriting the Arizona record books. He’s thrown for nearly 12,000 yards and accounted for 103 total touchdowns. But he’s a worthwhile candidate on this season’s merits alone, ranking fourth nationally in total offense and 11th in pass efficiency for a Wildcats team (7–2, 4–2) that remains in the Big 12 title hunt. Fifita could have helped himself with a better finish in a close loss to Texas Tech, when he misfired on several key passes, but another opportunity arises Saturday. He and Dampier have an immense showdown in Tucson.

Oklahoma State QB Drew Mestemaker is the power-conference national leader in passing yards per game (329.1) and total offense (348.8), and is tied for first with Mensah in total offense yards per play (9.1). He’s also in the mix to be the top QB taken in the next NFL draft. The Cowboys (6–3, 4–2) are not at-large playoff contenders but remain in the race for the Big 12 title game. A home game against Texas Tech on Saturday could be a make-or-break moment.

Big Ten (27)

This is not the place to look for quarterback Heisman candidates. But there are a couple of leading men on leading teams to consider. 

The numbers for Indiana receiver Charlie Becker have been hampered by the Hoosiers’ quarterback travails, but nobody in college football makes more contested catches—especially at crucial moments. In Indiana’s series of nail-biter victories, its offense has often been a heave and a prayer to No. 80. He came down with a huge one at the end of regulation against Minnesota, then caught the game-winner in overtime. Becker has 50 catches for 875 yards and nine touchdowns, and his 17.5 yards per reception ranks second nationally among players with 50 or more catches.

Undersized dynamo Wayne Knight, listed at 5'7", has been the heartbeat of undefeated UCLA, producing 789 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns despite averaging only 14 carries per game. For limber-minded voters, the better UCLA candidate might be game-wrecking linebacker Sammy Omosigho: 65 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and five passes broken up for the No. 7 defense in the country.

SEC (28)

There is not a shortage of talent in the league. There is a shortage of Heisman candidates without drawbacks.

Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons leads the nation in sacks per game (10.5 in seven games played) and tackles for loss (16). But he’s barely played in the Longhorns’ current three-game winning streak; when he’s on the field full-time the Horns are 4–2.

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton is fourth nationally in pass efficiency, which is great. He’s also 89th in pass attempts, averaging just 22 per game as the Bulldogs trend more toward ground and pound than air it out. In dominant victories over Florida and Mississippi, the Bulldogs ran it 90 times and threw it 38. Linebacker Chris Cole, with 11 tackles for loss, five sacks and 58 total tackles, might be a dark-horse candidate. But Georgia’s monster defense is muddled by its own depth, with an ensemble cast of playmakers.

Alabama sophomore QB Keelon Russell is a dazzling talent who has had some great performances. He also struggled in the Crimson Tide’s two losses, to Georgia and Tennessee. After nine total turnovers in Bama’s first eight games, Russell was turnover-free in the big win at LSU on Saturday. His 165.11 pass efficiency rating is 15th nationally. 

Group of 6 conferences (29)

It’s harder than ever to get voters to look beyond the Power 4, but there are a couple of compelling reasons to do so.

Boise State running back Dylan Riley leads the nation in rushing yards per game (137.11), despite only topping 20 carries three times. He’s also fourth in yards per game from scrimmage (162.1). If the Broncos maintain their grip on the G6 College Football Playoff bid and Riley paves the way—especially if starting QB Maddux Madsen remains out—he merits consideration. 

The only receiver putting up bigger numbers than Smith is Legree, who leads the nation in yards per game (134.3) and is tied for first in TD receptions (14) for Oregon State. Some luster has fallen off the Beavers’ season with consecutive defeats dropping them to 5–4.

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