The Heisman race in college football is as tight as ever lately as we get closer to the end of the season and narrow in on conference championships.
While there are about five or six total candidates, the Heisman is mostly a three-horse race with LSU’s Joe Burrow (-110) trying to hold off Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa (+375) and Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts (+250) according to mytopsportsbooks.com.
But there’s a new contender on the scene: Ohio State edge rusher Chase Young has an outside shot to become the first-defense only player to win the award. He first appeared in the odds two weeks ago at +2500 and has been bet down all the way to +800 ahead of Week 11.
Here’s a quick look at what the top three have ahead of them this week.
Burrow and LSU are coming off a huge 46-41 over Alabama last week and they’ll take their perfect 9-0 record on the road against Ole Miss (4-6) on Saturday. Ole Miss has the worst pass defense in the SEC, so they don’t have much of a chance at stopping Burrow and that should give him a chance to shine and keep his top spot among the Heisman favorites.
LSU will finish out their season after the Ole Miss game against Arkansas and Texas A&M.
Alabama and Tua Tagovailoa were obviously on the wrong side of that game against LSU, but even though Tua threw a pick in the loss, it was still a somewhat solid outing for him as he threw for 418 yards and four touchdowns.
Alabama trails LSU in the SEC standings at 8-1 and they too will be on the road in Mississippi this weekend for a Saturday matchup with the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who are 4-5 this season. They’ll round out their regular season with a game against WCU and then a big matchup against Auburn.
Hurts has led Oklahoma to an 8-1 record, good enough for second in the Big 12, with their only loss coming against Kansas State two weeks ago. They had a few more difficulties than expected against the 5-4 Iowa State Cyclones in a 42-41 win last Saturday. Hurts was 18 of 26 for 273 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. But once again Hurts also got it done on the ground with 68 rushing yards for two additional touchdowns.
He’ll lead the Sooners into a big Big 12 Matchup against the undefeated Baylor Bears on the road on Saturday. Oklahoma then finishes the season against TCU and a rivalry game against Oklahoma State.
These next three games will be important if anyone plans on moving up. Hurts probably has the toughest schedule, while it looks like Burrow has the best chances at staying on top.
