Exploring Heisman Trophy Candidates Heading Into Week 6

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00:00The Heisman Trophy, one of the most prestigious awards in all of sports.

00:04We gave it out to the best quarterback, it feels like, typically, in NCAA action.

00:08It's Donnie Wright's out. It's Joe Lisi.

00:10And at this point, we're going to focus on some of those quarterbacks today.

00:13Big game environment.

00:15Now, I'm going to ask you in just a few moments about Diego Pavia,

00:17but that's not where the focus is.

00:19You're taking a look at you need big-time statistics.

00:21You need big-time football games and maybe a nice resurrection story.

00:24We're talking about Alabama.

00:25Lose game number one, pile up the victories as you go throughout the SEC.

00:27That focus now is on Ty Simpson.

00:30Did you know, Joe, second in line now at a plus 950 price here to win the Heisman Trophy.

00:35Expectations for Ty Simpson today, the rest of the year for you.

00:38Again, he's going to be a frontrunner, barring a loss.

00:41I think that's the biggest thing.

00:43When you snap a 33-game home-winning streak to one of the best teams in the nation last week

00:47in a primetime performance, put up 276 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions,

00:53and you dominate Kirby Smart, you're going to be recognized.

00:57And that's the biggest thing, I think, when you look at Ty Simpson.

00:5911 touchdowns, no interceptions, plays for a recognizable brand,

01:04a team that many picked to win the national championship this year.

01:07He's had a better party of work than Arch Manning up until this point.

01:11So that has been the problem when you just look at some of the other Pavia

01:14and some of these other players.

01:16Can they maintain the winning down the stretch?

01:19Will ultimately dictate whether or not they win the Heisman.

01:22And I'll go back to your guy last year, Cam Ward, probably would have won the Heisman

01:26if they don't drop those games to G Tech or Syracuse.

01:29Brutal at the end of the season.

01:30Wasn't even his fault either.

01:31The defense was just so bad, but sometimes you get lumped into your team itself, Joe.

01:34But let's go to the other side of the equation here in that Alabama and Vandy game today.

01:38Diego Pavia.

01:39Now, you say, well, he can't win it here.

01:41I remember, what, a little bit over a decade ago?

01:44Johnny Manziel.

01:44Yeah.

01:45Walking into Alabama, stunning a national audience, and basically winning the Heisman

01:49in that football game.

01:50Tell me about Diego Pavia, 17-1, walks on that field of Brian Denny, leaves the winner.

01:55Yeah, I mean, and they have, if they get the victory today, Donnie, he'll be, I guarantee

02:01you, maybe 2-1 to win the Heisman because, again, they have the marquee win over Alabama.

02:07They're at the halfway point.

02:09They'd be undefeated.

02:10He still has to play a team at LSU that's not playing well right now.

02:14He's going to get another top 25 victory, potentially, down the stretch.

02:18And they have a give-me.

02:20They can afford to lose a game and still have Diego Pavia in the college football playoff.

02:25If Vanderbilt knocks off Alabama today, this goes so much in the Heisman race, especially

02:33if he performs.

02:34If it's Stowers and Richardson and Pavia puts up 160 and throws two interceptions, but they

02:39win, he's still going to be recognized, but he's not going to be 17-1.

02:43He puts up 300 total yards of offense.

02:46Forget it.

02:47He could be the frontrunner.

02:48Joe, talk to me about this guy, too, because, you know, week to week, the evolution of the

02:51odds market is always fun because these kids are playing every week, and you don't have

02:5552 games to let this sort of level out.

02:58You only have a short period of time.

02:59But last week, we were talking about, hey, who's this Fernando Mendoza guy at a plus 850 price?

03:05I look at him this week, Joe.

03:07He's down to 14-1.

03:08Why no love within, like, one week here?

03:10Because they didn't play, because that's why.

03:13They don't play a game until Oregon.

03:15But that's what it is, Donnie.

03:16Easy.

03:17Yeah, Donnie, the pick of the week two weeks ago was Illinois.

03:20Everybody loved Illinois plus the points, right?

03:22Yep.

03:23They go into Bloomington.

03:24They get boat raced by 53.

03:26He completes 91% of his passes.

03:29So people say, oh, you know what?

03:31I'm buying into Fernando Mendoza, and he's doing great.

03:3415 touchdowns on the year.

03:35But can you sustain that?

03:37It's Indiana.

03:38It's not a notable market that if you don't have top 10 performances each and every week

03:43against top-ranked competition, you're going to fall off the radar.

03:47That's why teams in the SEC and Big Ten, these players have life, even though they may be 20 or 25 to 1 or 50 to 1.

03:54Yep.

03:55Just have one big performance in one of those big games.

03:57It could certainly help you out there, Joe.

03:58We typically talk about this as a quarterback award, right?

04:00Well, then you take a look at the best wide receiver in college football, Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State.

04:04He's just a 10 to 1.

04:05It's not like he's 40 to 1, Joe.

04:07He's 10 to 1.

04:07I watched that game.

04:08But I just don't feel like at the end of the day he's going to have enough.

04:12Ohio State's fantastic, Joe.

04:13They might run the table.

04:14They might be the number one team in the country.

04:15I just feel like a quarterback is always destined to win this because we equate,

04:19unless the wide receiver goes 10 for 195 against Penn State

04:24and whoever they might be playing as a ranked opponent the rest of the way,

04:26it's always the quarterback for me.

04:27It is, but you think about Devontae Smith three, four years ago.

04:31He had huge performances down the stretch, right?

04:34You know, 200-yard performances.

04:36Now, he played great against Washington, one of the better defenses in the Big Ten.

04:41The defense is still getting all the recognition.

04:44But if you start to see now today against Minnesota, 10 receptions, a buck 55, two touchdowns.

04:50They play Penn State later in the year, depending upon where Penn State's ranked.

04:54He puts up 12 receptions for 200.

04:57All of a sudden now you're building up steam at the end of the regular season.

05:00And if you get the rivalry game where, let's say, it's another ranked opponent in Michigan,

05:05and he single-handedly takes that game over, he's just got to stay, Donnie,

05:09in that 10-to-1, 15-to-1 area where he can make a move where if he catches fire,

05:16you can catch.

05:16If he was like 50-to-1, 60-to-1, he'd have no shot.

05:20But the fact that he's right around 10-to-1 right now,

05:22he's just got to coast and now start to build on the performances from last week.

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