Heisman Hopefuls for Week 7

The Big 12 continues to dominate the Heisman conversation. With the numbers the quarterbacks of this conference are putting up, you might as well just give the award away to the guy who leads his team to the Big 12 title.

This week's list is a little Big 12 heavy, to say the least.

(Last week's rankings in parentheses)

The Top 5

1. (1) Chase Daniel (Sr. QB Mizzou) - He's in the top 10 in the nation in passing yards, touchdowns, yards per attempt, and quarterback rating. He has the 2nd highest completion percentage and he has the best touchdown to interception ratio in the nation at 15:1. Daniel is leading the 2nd highest scoring offense in the nation.


2. (2) Sam Bradford (So. QB Oklahoma) - Another 372 yards and 2 scores through the air last week against Baylor keeps Bradford at No. 2. He has been cemented at this spot since his week 2 performance. He will have his chance to put up huge numbers this weekend in Oklahoma and Texas' annual rivalry game. Texas is 98th in the nation in pass defense giving up 244 yards per game. Texas is also tied for 110th with only 2 interception this year. Expect Bradford to go deep, a lot.

3. (NR) Colt McCoy (Jr. QB Texas) - McCoy is the NCAA leader in passing completion percentage at 79.2%. He has thrown 16 touchdowns this year to only 3 interceptions. Most impressively, McCoy is leading his team in rushing. He does everything for his team, and has shown great leadership through their first 5 games. The Longhorns will need everything they can get from their junior signal caller if they want to stand a chance against the Sooners.

4. (NR) Graham Harrell (Sr. QB Texas Tech) - The Big 12 theme continues. Last week, Harrell accounted for 7 of Tech's 8 touchdowns. He threw for 6 touchdown passes and 454 yards, and he ran for one score. He was my Big 12 "Top Performer" for the last week, and the Big 12's offensive Player of the Week. He is 2nd in the nation in passing yards and has 18 touchdown passes which ties him for fourth in the nation with Sam Bradford.

5. (4) Donald Brown (Jr. RB UConn) - Brown had 161 rushing yards and the only touchdown in UConn's first loss of the season at North Carolina. The score tied him for first in the nation with 12 touchdowns, and he is still leading the nation in rushing. He was the first player to break 1,000 yards this season and sits at 1,067 rushing yards so far.


On the Outside Looking In

Todd Reesing (Jr. QB Kansas) - Reesing's Jayhawks fell behind 20-0 in the first half against Iowa State. Reesing failed to throw a TD in the first half of a game all year, and it looked like he'd completely fall off the Heisman path and his team would be out of the top 25. Reesing led his team back in the second half throwing 3 touchdowns and Kansas won 35-33.

Max Hall (Jr. QB BYU) - Not a bad game for Hall last week, but not great. He did have 303 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, but he also threw 2 interceptions in BYU's 34-14 blowout of Utah State.

Dez Bryant (So. WR Oklahoma State) - Not including the Missouri State game (in which he barely played and just in the 1st quarter), Bryant has 3 touchdown catches in each of his last 3 games. That's 9 total which puts him in 2nd in the nation and 1st in the Big 12. He has 27 receptions for 550 yards. His 20.4 yards per catch is 2nd in the nation for players with at least 25 catches. He has the 2nd most receiving yards in the Big 12, 14 yards behind Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree (who has 11 more receptions).

Mark Sanchez (Jr. QB USC) - Sanchez followed up USC's first loss with a 332 yard 3 touchdown performance in the Trojans' 44-10 victory over then No. 23 Oregon. He now has 13 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions.

MiQuale Lewis (Jr. RB Ball State) - Lewis has the 4th most rushing yards in the nation and is tied for the most touchdowns in the nation, as well. Lewis and quarterback Nate Davis have quietly led undefeated Ball State into the AP top 25.