Miami’s offensive surge has pushed two Hurricanes squarely into the Heisman picture, and the latest odds show just how tight the race has become.
After Miami’s dominant home win over Pitt, quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney both made a bigger national imprint with eye-popping stat lines. Toney racked up just over 190 receiving yards, while Mensah threw for nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. He also finished at 83% completions, a number that underlines how efficient he has been all season.
That efficiency has helped vault Mensah to No. 2 in the FanDuel Heisman odds at +290. The former Duke quarterback turned Miami star is putting together one of the most efficient seasons college football has seen at the position, and his name is even starting to show up in 1-1 mock draft projections.
Toney is right behind him at +370. The sophomore’s explosion against Pitt only added to the case he’s building, and his value goes beyond the usual receiver profile.
He can take the ball in the air, but he can also hurt defenses once it’s in his hands - and even throw it himself. He has already dominated with two different quarterbacks and may be asked to do it again with a third next season.
At the top of the odds board, Ohio State wide receiver and Miami Gardens native Jeremiah Smith sits at +120. He has more than 900 receiving yards this season and averages over 18 yards per catch. But with Julian Sayin out indefinitely, Smith will be catching passes from the second string for the foreseeable future, which opens the door for the players chasing him.
That backdrop has made the Heisman race feel especially crowded with South Florida talent. Miami could send two players to New York, and both Mensah and Toney have legitimate cases based on what they’ve done so far.
The timing also matters. Miami is playing this week, while Ohio State is on a bye, which adds to the sense that the race can shift fast. Still, Toney is on pace to break every Hurricanes receiving record as a sophomore, and Mensah’s numbers keep stacking up in a way that is hard to ignore.
Mensah already has 2,151 passing yards, while last year’s winner, Fernando Mendoza, finished with 2,980 for the full season. Mensah is also tracking toward Mendoza’s 33 touchdown passes, and he is doing it while being about 10 percentage points more efficient in completion percentage.
The view from the top is clear: Smith is having a spectacular season and is the best wide receiver in college football. But the argument for best football player, according to this race, belongs to Toney. And if Mensah keeps operating at this level, it’s not hard to see why he’s right there in the mix too.
In Other News...
BYU Faces A Complicated Ranking Drop After Costly Upset
Miami had no trouble staying put at No. 1 in the AP college football rankings after handling Pittsburgh, with quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney again helping set the tone. The Hurricanes keep looking like the standard at the top, while the rest of the national picture got a shakeup behind them.
BYUs double-overtime loss to unranked UCF is expected to send the Cougars tumbling after they entered the weekend at No. 2, and Ohio State appears poised to move up into the No. 2 spot. What happens after that is less clear, with Notre Dame, Indiana and Georgia all in the mix for the top six and the final order depending on how pollsters weigh a messy weekend around the country. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Faces One Growing CFP Problem Despite Holding No 1
Miami held onto the No. 1 spot in the latest AP Top 25, collecting 59 first-place votes and keeping its place atop the sport as the College Football Playoff picture continues to sharpen. Ohio State moved up to No. 2 after overtaking BYU, while Texas made the weeks biggest climb among the contenders after its win over Ole Miss. Elsewhere in the poll, USC and Iowa fell out after losses, and Oklahoma State and Wisconsin moved into the rankings.
For Miami, the ranking is a reminder that being first is only part of the equation at this stage of the season. The Hurricanes are still in position to control their own path, but every shift around them matters as the field tightens and the margin for error shrinks. With Ohio State surging and Texas now pushing upward, Miamis hold on the top line may be secure for the moment, but the broader CFP pressure is only getting heavier. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Just Raised The Stakes For Everyone Chasing Them
Week 8 turned into a shakeup weekend across college football, and Miami came out of it with even more momentum than it had going in. The Hurricanes rolled past Pittsburgh to improve to 7-0, then moved to No. 1 in the AP poll as several teams ahead of them stumbled around the country, from BYU and Texas Tech to Iowa.
For Miami, the ranking is only part of the story. The bigger takeaway is how quickly the chase group is thinning out, with Indiana and Alabama escaping their own scares while others fell outright, and that kind of chaos tends to sharpen the spotlight on a program that has suddenly made itself the standard everyone else is trying to catch. [Read more 🡒]