Heisman Watch for Week 5 of College Football

There were a handful of interesting developments to happen throughout the Week 4 college football slate this past weekend.. Tennessee passed a home test against Florida, Miami got blasted by Middle Tennessee State at home, and Kansas State went down to Norman and knocked off Oklahoma.

On the Heisman Trophy front, things still remain static at the top with Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud on the top of the leaderboard with Alabama quarterback Bryce Young and USC quarterback Caleb Williams sitting right behind him. After those three, there’s been a lot of shakeup with new contenders rising and previous contenders falling.

We’ll take a look at who rose and fell coming out of last weekend and analyze where the Heisman race stands heading into Week 5. Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

Stock Up

Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee

With the eyes of the nation looking upon Neyland Stadium this past weekend, Tennessee lived up to expectations in a 38-33 victory over Florida.

Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker looked the part of a Heisman Trophy contender in a big game, going 22-28 through the air for 349 yards and two touchdowns. He also led UT in rushing for the afternoon, breaking off 13 carries for 112 yards and a score on the ground as well. Hooker now has the fourth-highest odds to win the award, climbing up to +1600 this week.

Tennessee will have off this weekend before heading down to Baton Rouge, LA, to face LSU next Saturday.

Jalon Daniels, QB, Kansas

A Kansas quarterback as a serious Heisman Trophy contender? You’re darn right that’s the case!

Jalon Daniels has been a main catalyst behind the Jayhawks being one of the biggest surprises in the sport this year at 4-0. The dual-threat from Lawndale, CA, accounted for all five touchdowns in Kansas’ 35-27 victory over previously undefeated Duke this past Saturday. For the year, Daniels has completed 71% of his passes for 890 yards, 11 touchdowns, and one interception through the air and has added an additional 320 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. As a result, his Heisman Trophy odds have skyrocketed from +6000 last week to +2500 this week.

Daniels and KU will play host to Iowa State this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Stock Down

Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas

From a stats standpoint, Bijan Robinson had a pretty nice outing in Texas’ 37-34 overtime loss at Texas Tech last Saturday. He ended the day with 101 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. However, a critical mistake of his may have cost the Longhorns the game and his status as a serious Heisman Trophy contender.

In overtime, Robinson fumbled on the very first play and the ball was recovered by the Red Raiders. That set up Tech to eventually boot the game-winning field goal to send the Horns back to Austin with their second loss of the year. In the aftermath of this, Robinson has borrowed a move from Omar Epps in “The Program” by walking around campus with a football in his arms. Unfortunately for him, his Heisman Trophy odds have gone down from +3000 a week ago to +7000 at the moment.

Robinson and UT will host West Virginia this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

Tyler Van Dyke, QB, Miami

We can safely say that the Heisman Trophy hopes for Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke are effectively over. In fact, he may not even be the starting quarterback for the Hurricanes when the calendar flips over to month of October.

The ‘U’ was lit up in an embarrassing 45-31 loss to Middle Tennessee State on Saturday, a game where Van Dyke did not fare well. He went 16-32 for 138 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions and was benched midway through the game for backup Jake Garcia. As a result, his odds have nosedived from +4000 two weeks ago to +12000 at the moment.

Miami will be off this weekend but will open ACC next Saturday when hosting North Carolina. We’ll see if head coach Mario Cristobal will decided on either Van Dyke or Garcia as the starter for that one.

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