Darian Mensah didn’t need long to force his way to the front of the Heisman race.
The former Tulane and Duke quarterback put together a near-perfect opener in Miami’s 45-6 win at Stanford, completing 27 of 30 passes for 401 yards and five touchdowns. The numbers were enough to make him the clear early favorite at both DraftKings and FanDuel. Mensah sits at +600 on DraftKings and +650 on FanDuel.
Miami’s offense had a huge night in Northern California, piling up 549 total yards. Wide receiver Malachi Toney was right in the middle of it, accounting for 234 of those yards and catching three of Mensah’s five touchdown passes.
That production pushed Toney up the board as well. He’s +1250 at FanDuel and +1300 at DraftKings, giving Miami two players inside the top seven in the odds.
That kind of setup brings the obvious wrinkle: teammates can chip away at each other’s Heisman cases. Both Mensah and Toney are already well-known names, and both are starring for a Miami team that is heavily favored to win the ACC. The Hurricanes’ Week 2 game comes Thursday against Florida A&M, a matchup that probably won’t shake up the odds much for either player.
Arch Manning remains right behind Mensah after his own strong start. Manning threw four touchdown passes in Texas’ 59-7 win over Texas State and is second in the betting market at +950 on DraftKings and +1100 on FanDuel.
His biggest test may arrive this weekend against Ohio State. Manning opened last season as the preseason Heisman favorite, then had a rough opener in Columbus, lost the top spot, and never got it back. Another big performance paired with a Texas win would give him a chance to rewrite that script.
Ohio State, of course, has its own pair of Heisman names to watch in quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Last year, among returning players across college football, they drew the most Heisman votes, with Sayin finishing fourth and Smith sixth.
Both delivered in Ohio State’s 56-3 win over Ball State. Sayin went 21-for-25 for 320 yards and three touchdowns, while Smith caught two scores and totaled 151 receiving yards. Smith is actually ranked ahead of his quarterback in the odds: he’s +1000 on DraftKings, where he sits third, and +1100 on FanDuel, where he’s tied for second.
Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr also stayed in the mix despite a quieter showing in the Fighting Irish’s 41-13 win over Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. Carr completed 19 of 29 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns, then slipped a bit in the market. He’s fourth on DraftKings at +1100 and tied for fifth on FanDuel at +1300.
A group of other quarterbacks entered the year with odds shorter than +2000 and remain in that range after Week 1: LSU’s Sam Leavitt, Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss, Oregon’s Dante Moore and USC’s Jayden Maiava.
Leavitt threw an interception on his second pass in an LSU uniform, but LSU rolled past Clemson 51-10, so he never had to play the fourth quarter. Chambliss threw for 336 yards and accounted for four total touchdowns in Ole Miss’ 41-38 win over Louisville.
Moore finished with 378 yards and three touchdowns in Oregon’s surprisingly close win against Boise State. Maiava’s USC is already 2-0 after also playing in Week 0.
Week 2 brings another spotlight game with Ohio State visiting Texas, and Oklahoma heading to Michigan could also matter for Sooners quarterback John Mateer’s Heisman push. Mateer was the Heisman favorite in the middle of last season before an injury derailed that run.
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For Ohio State, the challenge is not just the venue or the buildup, but the version of Texas waiting on the other side. Arch Manning gives the Longhorns a new layer at quarterback, while new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp adds a familiar edge to that side of the ball. For a Buckeye team used to measuring itself against the nations best, this one feels less like another early heavyweight game and more like a true test of how much has changed since the last time these teams lined up. [Read more 🡒]
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Michigan's QB Uncertainty Just Added Intrigue To The Game
Ohio State opened its season with a comfortable win over Ball State, while Michigan had a far less reassuring afternoon in a narrow escape against Western Michigan. That alone would have been enough to keep Buckeyes fans watching closely, but the storyline got more interesting when Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham left the door open on Bryce Underwoods status at quarterback, a notable twist for a position that usually settles the tone for the rest of the rivalry week chatter.
Underwoods uneven play has only deepened the questions around Michigans offense, and it carries extra weight because of what this game means beyond one Saturday in September. For Ohio State, any uncertainty on the other sideline only adds to the intrigue heading into a meeting where the Buckeyes will be paying attention to whether Michigan can steady itself, or whether the Wolverines are heading toward a bigger change than anyone expected. [Read more 🡒]