Did Kenny Pickett improve his Heisman Trophy chances with win over Clemson?

The No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers have been one of the under-the-radar teams of the college football season and quarterback Kenny Pickett is a major reason why.

On Saturday, the super-senior quarterback further boosted his burgeoning Heisman Trophy campaign by helping the Panthers secure a signature 27-17 victory over Clemson to establish themselves as the head of the pack in the ACC.

Pickett had a solid afternoon, completing 25-of-39 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns. While his stats in this one didn’t necessarily jump off the page, he effectively led Pitt to a statement home win over the the program that has dominated the conference for the past six years, and that’s going to earn him credit with Heisman voters.

Heading into the weekend, Pickett had gotten off to the best start of his five-year career at Pitt as he had completed 69.8% of his passes for 1,934 yards with 21 touchdowns and one interception. He also came in with 180 rushing yards on 48 attempts with three scores.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Pickett entered Saturday’s college football slate at +2200 odds, which was seventh-best in the country. He had the fifth-highest odds by the final whistle, exiting Saturday’s victory at +1600.