Robert Griffin III’s latest Heisman board after Week 8 keeps the spotlight on a familiar name at the top and adds a couple of fresh faces further down the list.
The Ohio State star who still sits at No. 1 for Griffin is Jeremiah Smith, and there’s no mystery why. Griffin views Smith as the Heisman favorite, and he’s doing exactly what a frontrunner should do: piling up production while Ohio State stays in the national championship picture.
Smith has already set the Ohio State career marks for catches, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. On the season, he has 52 receptions, which ranks 10th nationally, along with 984 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns, both of which trail only Oregon State’s Jesse Legree.
Griffin’s No. 2 and No. 3 spots both belong to repeat names, but each moved up from last week. Miami quarterback Darian Mensah climbed from third to second, while Legree jumped from fifth to third.
Mensah leads all of FBS in QB rating and has thrown 22 touchdowns against just one interception for Miami. He’s also thrown for 2,151 yards, good for ninth nationally, and with Miami still in the thick of the national title race, Griffin isn’t likely to let him slip away anytime soon.
Legree has been one of the biggest surprises in the sport. The freshman receiver has become an instant force at Oregon State, leading the nation with 1,040 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns on 46 catches. Last week, Legree announced his signing to return to the Beavers next season.
Two new names entered Griffin’s top five this week: Miami receiver Malachi Toney at No. 4 and Oregon State quarterback Braden Atkinson at No. 5.
Toney is right in the thick of the national statistical races himself. He leads the country with 66 receptions and ranks third nationally with 952 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.
Atkinson’s case comes from the passing numbers. The Oregon State quarterback leads the nation with 2,604 passing yards and 24 touchdown passes, while throwing only two interceptions. He’s averaging 372 passing yards per game.
BYU’s Bear Bachmeier and Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss were on Griffin’s previous top five list, but both fell out this week.
Griffin’s top five after Week 8: Jeremiah Smith, Darian Mensah, Jesse Legree, Malachi Toney, and Braden Atkinson.
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Oregon State Suddenly Has Real Stakes In A CFP Fairness Fight
The reported College Football Playoff expansion has put Oregon State in the middle of a conversation that reaches well beyond the Pac-12s rebuilt future. According to reports, an agreement with ESPN would grow the field, though nothing is official yet, and that alone has coaches and administrators across the sport sizing up what the next version of access could look like. For Oregon State, it is one more reminder that the rules of inclusion in college football are still being written.
JaMarcus Shephard has already framed the issue in terms the Beavers can appreciate: if the playoff is going to change, it should do more than simply create additional openings for the sports biggest power centers. He wants the expansion to improve access for everyone, not just make room for the Big Ten and SEC to collect more of the available spots. Until the plan is finalized, that tension remains at the heart of a fairness fight Oregon State will be watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon State Heads Into Iowa State With A Clear Edge At Quarterback
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Jaylen Raynor is expected to be back under center for Iowa State after the Cyclones turned to him again last week, but the broader picture around that offense has been shaky. Sustaining drives has been a problem, and the third-down work has been especially uneven, which makes this a matchup where Oregon State will look to press its edge early and put Raynor in a difficult position to keep up. [Read more 🡒]
Boise States Playoff Path Suddenly Looks A Lot More Real
Boise States push toward the College Football Playoff got a noticeable boost after its Week 8 win over Washington State, with DraftKings Sportsbook moving the Broncos to +105 to make the field. The number reflects how quickly their path has sharpened, and it comes as Boise State sits 12th in the national CFP odds picture and continues to look like one of the frontrunners among Group of Six programs chasing the automatic bid.
The next stretch will go a long way toward sorting out how serious that case really is, starting with a home game against Texas State before the schedule eventually brings Oregon State into the picture. That matchup is still weeks away, but for the Beavers it already carries extra relevance because Boise State is no longer just a good team on the rise, it is a program with a playoff route that suddenly looks very real. [Read more 🡒]