Heisman Watch: Week 5

Story posted October 11, 2021 in CommRadio, Sports by Charlie Lebowitz

The 2021 Heisman race is heating up, and Alabama quarterback Bryce Young is currently the favorite to take home the hardware.

Vegas currently has his odds set at +125.

Ole Miss quarterback sits right behind him with the second-best odds at +250.

There’s a big dropoff from here, with Desmond Ridder, the gunslinger from Cincinnati, having the third-best odds at +1400.

Young and Corral faced off once already, with the Crimson Tide pulling out a 41-21 victory. Ole Miss fell behind 35-0 before it could finally cut the deficit. His performance certainly didn’t tilt the odds in his favor, as Young has piled up 1,365 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, an 88.9 QBR as well as a 73% completion rate.

After an underwhelming season, preseason-favorite Spencer Rattler is barely in the Heisman conversation.

Despite the Sooners’ 5-0 record, Rattler has only thrown for 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. Entering Week 6, Rattler ranks 30th in passing yards (1,260), 29th in passer rating (158) and 22nd in touchdown passes (10). A big-time performance against Texas in the Red River Showdown could boost his odds.

One dark horse to win the award is Ridder.

He currently sits behind Young and Corral for the third-best odds to win the award.

However, unlike those two, Ridder won’t see a ranked team for the rest of the year.

Cincinnati will face Temple, UCF, Navy, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF and SMU.

An extremely soft schedule will give him a chance to put up huge numbers and force his way to the Heisman Trophy Award Ceremony.

History tells us that the Heisman Trophy winner usually comes from a team with a strong chance of winning the championship.

Since 2000, 14 Heisman trophy winners have played for teams that made it to the national championship game. If Cincinnati were to win out and Alabama or Ole Miss drops a game or two, don’t be surprised if Ridder finishes in the top two.

 

Charlie Lebowitz is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email Cpl5424@psu.edu.

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Charlie Lebowitz

Sophomore / Broadcast Journalism

Charles “Charlie” Lebowitz is a sophomore from Baltimore, Maryland majoring in broadcast journalism at Penn State. He is a writer and play-by-play announcer for Penn State’s CommRadio. If you’d like to contact him, email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)