Heisman Watch: There’s no stopping Jalen and Tua
Jalen Hurts throws three touchdowns and runs in one himself, collecting 439 total yards. (1:32)
We’re almost one month into the season, and after three games, the Heisman race appears to be led by three quarterbacks — Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow. But it’s too soon to count out Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence.
Throughout the season, ESPN.com writers will vote on their top Heisman Trophy candidates.
To get the final rankings, we use the following methodology: 10 voters, five votes each. Points system: five points for first-place votes, four points for second-place votes, three points for third-place votes, two points for fourth-place votes and one point for fifth-place votes.
Voters: Andrea Adelson, Edward Aschoff, Kyle Bonagura, Bill Connelly, Heather Dinich, David M. Hale, Chris Low, Ivan Maisel, Adam Rittenberg, Mark Schlabach
Total points: 45 (first-place votes: 6)
Notable: Hurts continued his streak of otherworldly performances, this time against UCLA, becoming the first Oklahoma quarterback to pass for 200 yards and rush for 100 in the first half. The transfer QB passed for three touchdowns and ran for another in the Sooners’ blowout win over the Bruins.
Quotable: “I think that he’s a special player. He’s as good as I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach against. I’d put Jalen Hurts and Kyler Murray, who we’d played against last year, and Andrew Luck as the three [best] quarterbacks who I’ve coached against.” — UCLA coach Chip Kelly, on coaching against Hurts
Heisman odds (Caesars Sportsbook): 5/2
Total points: 40 (first-place votes: 2)
Notable: Jalen Hurts wasn’t the only QB who had a monster performance in Week 2. Tagovailoa also went all-out, throwing for a career-best 444 yards in the Tide’s win over South Carolina. Those 444 yards were the third most in history for Bama and included five touchdown passes for the junior QB.
Quotable: “As a quarterback, you have to expect to throw the ball a lot whether you want to or not,” Tagovailoa said.
Heisman odds: 5/2
Total points: 32 (first-place votes: 2)
Notable: Burrow had another strong game for the third straight week in LSU’s win over Northwestern State, throwing for 373 yards and two touchdowns (and rushing for one) before he was taken out of the game during the third quarter. Burrow’s passing stats are astronomical this season — 75-of-90, 1,122 yards and 11 TDs.
Quotable: “This is who we are as an offense,” Burrow said. “We are going to take our quick passes and our deep shots and that is going to continue to work well for us.”
Heisman odds: 9/2
Total points: 13 (first-place votes: 0)
Notable: Fields finished with three TD passes in just over a half of play as Ohio State crushed Indiana, 51-10. He threw for 199 yards and also rushed for a score.
Quotable: “We’ve got a lot of weapons. You’ve got to watch out for us.” — Ohio State RB J.K. Dobbins
Heisman odds: 12/1
Total points: 6 (first-place votes: 0)
Notable: Wisconsin was on a bye this past weekend, so let this be a reminder that through two games, Taylor already has 237 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Not to mention his five receptions for 65 yards and three touchdowns.
Quotable: “A guy who’s got a chance to go down as one of the great running backs in the history of college football.” — ESPN’s Dave Flemming
Heisman odds: 12/1
Despite throwing two interceptions and eclipsing his 2018 total, Trevor Lawrence tosses three touchdowns and rushes for another in Clemson’s win over Syracuse.
Total points: 5 (first-place votes: 0)
Notable: Some may say that Lawrence is struggling, that he’s not the Heisman favorite everyone expected at the start of the season. But if you look at his stats, they’re still pretty eye-popping. Against Syracuse on Saturday, the sophomore QB threw for three TDs and ran for one more, finishing with a career-high 395 passing yards.
Quotable: “It felt good. It felt good to be able to finish,” said Lawrence. “Any time you win a game like that, convincingly, it’s just awesome.”
Heisman odds: 8/1
Total points: 4 (first-place votes: 0)
Notable: Ehlinger followed up his breakout performance against LSU with another strong showing, this time against Rice in Houston. The Longhorns QB threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns in a win over the Owls.
Quotable: “When we’re doing things on offense and long drives, that really takes the life out of the defense,” Ehlinger said. “By the end of the game, when we string those together, we are so well trained that it’s really hard on opposing defenses. It’s great to do what we want on offense to wear the defense down.”
Heisman odds: 10/1
Total points: 2 (first-place votes: 0)
Notable: Hubbard continues to have a strong season and rushed for a career-high 256 yards against Tulsa on Saturday. He also scored three touchdowns, including a run for 75 yards.
Quotable: “He was awesome,” Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders said. “The first play of the game — that was such a confidence-booster. It’s awesome to hand somebody the ball that can do that.”
Heisman odds: 30/1
Total points: 1 (first-place votes: 0)
Notable: Swift ran for 76 yards on nine carries — including one for 39 yards — in UGA’s win over Arkansas State. He also caught two passes for 64 yards and a touchdown. He leads the team with 290 yards rushing through three games this season.
Quotable: “This may be a slightly underrated part of his game. I don’t know if that’s possible, but D’Andre Swift is a very good receiver of the football.” — ESPN’s Kelly Stouffer
Heisman odds: 50/1
Justin Herbert dissects the Montana defense with five touchdown throws in Oregon’s big win.
Total points: 1 (first-place votes: 0)
Notable: Herbert makes his first appearance on this list this season following his five-touchdown night against Montana. He threw for 316 yards in what was his fifth career five-touchdown game in the Ducks’ win.
Quotable: “He’s a good player. You guys know, I talked about him all week. I had high regard for him before the game. I just think he’s a smooth operator.” — Montana coach Bobby Hauck
Heisman odds: 16/1
Total points: 1 (first-place votes: 0)
Notable: How’s this for a stat? Gordon has three straight 400-passing-yard, three-TD games to open the season, making him the third QB in the last 15 years to start a season that way. In the Cougars’ win over Houston, he threw for 440 yards and three touchdowns.
Quotable: “What I thought was impressive about him is he got better as the game went on. He got more precise. He got sharper with his throws and was quicker to get his eyes in the right place.” — WSU head coach Mike Leach
Heisman odds: 100/1