Heisman Watch: How Texas’s Dramatic Comeback Shakes Up Race After Week 2

Jeremiah Smith dominated the first half, Arch Manning led the Longhorns back and Miami’s Heisman hopeful duo kept cruising.

Arch Manning led Texas to an incredible comeback win against Ohio State in Week 2. | Alex Slitz/Getty Images

We didn’t have to wait long for a game of the year candidate. Of course, it didn’t look that way through three quarters. Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith being unguardable was no huge surprise, but he had two of his more quiet college games in his two previous matchups against Texas. He exploded out of the gates in Austin on Saturday, but the Buckeyes offense went quiet in the fourth quarter and the Longhorns kicked into gear after a tough start for Arch Manning & Co.

Drops and mishaps plagued Texas early, but Manning was absolutely dialed in during the fourth quarter, leading three consecutive touchdown drives to pull his team back from a 23–3 deficit to win 24–23.

Smith and Manning will both find themselves in the heat of the early Heisman discussions, and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin should stick around for much of the season, though he may start trending downward because of his struggles down the stretch against the Longhorns. This is far from a two- or three-horse race, though. Miami’s quarterback–wide receiver duo of Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney have been unstoppable early, exciting new names like Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor and Duke’s Nate Sheppard are starting to catch on and Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss isn’t going anywhere.

Ahead of a Week 3 that brings even more big matchups, here is the state of the Heisman race.

Stock down

Nate Frazier, RB, Georgia (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Western Kentucky, 70–20—Six carries, 55 yards, one touchdown; one reception, five yards
Season: 10 carries, 127 yards, four touchdowns; one reception, five yards

This seems harsh given a totally solid performance for Frazier in a game that Georgia ran away with, but even with his ability to score touchdowns in bunches, he just doesn’t have the volume to push him ahead of the many quarterbacks filling up box scores across the country. That could certainly change, but I’m bumping him down a bit after a more pedestrian performance than his three scores in four carries last weekend.

Dante Moore, WR, Oregon (1–1)

Week 2: Lost to Oklahoma State, 39–31—14 for 29, 191 yards, two TDs
Season: 42 for 66 (63.6%), 569 yards, five touchdowns

A week ago, Moore did what great quarterbacks do when their team is facing serious pressure: He stepped up and delivered a win with 378 yards and three touchdowns against Boise State. On Saturday against Oklahoma State, not so much. Moore completed fewer than half of his passes, and after finding Evan Stewart for a go-ahead 38-yard touchdown to start the fourth quarter, Moore was 1 for 4 for seven yards across the Ducks’ final three drives—one that ended in a punt after two delay-of-game penalties and a sack, and two turnovers on downs.

Dante Moore struggled down the stretch in Oregon’s stunning loss to Oklahoma State. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Mason Heintschel, QB, Pitt (2–0)

Week 2: Beat UCF, 12–7—18 for 29, 212 yards; seven carries, 13 yards
Season: 49 for 70 (70%), 665 yards, seven TDs; 46 rush yards

No one told Heintschel that he shouldn’t use up all of his touchdowns in one week. After finding seven different receivers for seven scores in Week 1’s win over Miami (Ohio), the Panthers quarterback was held out of the end zone by the Knights, with Damon Ferguson Jr. scoring the team’s only touchdown of the day on the ground. The most important thing for Pitt is that they won, but this surprise early Heisman push has hit some turbulence. 

Keep an eye on these players

Josh Hoover, QB, Indiana (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Howard, 55–0—6 for 11, 145 yards, four TDs; six carries, 18 yards
Season: 19 for 27 (70%) for 376 yards, eight touchdowns; six carries, 18 yards

It’ll be a few weeks before we can properly evaluate Hoover and the Hoosiers—perhaps Oct. 10 at Nebraska, and if not, absolutely a week later against Ohio State. As with other players on our list this week, Hoover took advantage in limited time against an FCS opponent, but he was ruthlessly efficient, throwing touchdowns on four of his six completions.

Gunner Stockton, QB, Georgia (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Western Kentucky, 70–20—13 for 16, 234 yards, five touchdowns; one carry, three yards
Season: 28 for 32 (87.5%), 436 yards, eight touchdowns; one carry, three yards

Stockton isn’t the flashiest quarterback in the country, but the Bulldogs have been dominant in their light early schedule and the offense has been literally unstoppable with Stockton under center. To wit, Georgia has scored a touchdown on all 11 drives that he’s played so far this season. Things ramp up a bit with next week’s game at Arkansas before a Sept. 26 game against Oklahoma.

Jayden Maiava, QB, USC (3–0)

Week 2: Beat Louisiana, 49–30—19 for 29, 261 yards, five TDs, one INT
Season: 67 for 83 (80.7%), 896 yards, 10 TDs, one INT; one rushing TD

A Week Zero participant, Maiava has a game up on the rest of his competition here, and has been excellent in three straight games—with his 191.1 quarterback rating from his Week 3 outing being the lowest of his season so far. The Trojans haven’t yet faced a Power 4 opponent, so there are questions about the level of competition. The up-and-down USC defense so far this season has given Maiava reason to roll up some big stats, though. A week after shutting out Fresno State, Gary Patterson’s unit gave up 30 points to the Ragin’ Cajuns and Maiava played into the fourth quarter. Saturday’s trip to Rutgers won’t tell us much more than the Group of 6 opposition, based on the start of this season, but the Trojans end September with a home game against Oregon.

Jayden Maiava has USC’s offense rolling, and the Trojans out to a 3–0 start. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Kamario Taylor, QB, Mississippi State (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Minnesota, 38–13—16 for 22, 227 yards, three TDs; 13 carries, 83 yards, one TD
Season: 38 for 56 (67.8%), 581 yards, seven TDs; 19 carries, 145 yards, one TD

We saw the flashes of ability from Taylor down the stretch in 2025, and heard the hype from Manning Passing Academy. Now he’s turning hype into wins for Jeff Lebby’s program. A big Week 1 game against Louisiana-Monroe is all well and good. A dominant performance against what is expected to be a good Minnesota team on the road? That’ll put you on the radar.

Nate Sheppard, RB, Duke (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Illinois, 31–27—24 carries, 147 yards, one TD; five receptions, 41 yards, two TDs
Season: 59 carries, 374 yards, 3 TDs; eight receptions, 60 yards, two TDs

How do you handle losing a potential Heisman candidate at quarterback to a conference rival? By feeding your bell cow running back nonstop to start the season. After exploding for 227 yards and two scores on the ground in a blowout win over Tulane to start the season, Sheppard had another 29 touches and three total scores in a big road win at Illinois.

True Heisman candidates

Julian Sayin, QB, Ohio State (1–1)

Week 2: Lost to Texas, 24–23—17 for 32, 278 yards, one TD, one INT
Season: 38 for 57 (66.7%), 598 yards, four TDs, one INT; one rush TD

Sayin was excellent through the first three quarters in Austin, but couldn’t make the one or two big throws late that would’ve sealed the game, going just 2 for 6 for 29 yards with an end-of-game pick in the fourth quarter. It doesn’t all fall on Sayin, of course. Ryan Day and Arthur Smith were unbelievably conservative on offense once the Longhorns began putting pressure on them. Still, this was a poor finish for the Heisman hopeful, though he and the rest of the Buckeyes have plenty of opportunity to put this one in the rearview mirror.

Sam Leavitt, QB, LSU (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Louisiana Tech, 45–14—25 for 38, 344 yards, one TD, three INTs; 11 rushes, 22 yards, three TDs
Season: 41 for 66 (62.1%), 574 yards, two TDs, four INTs; 23 rushes, 135 yards, five TDs

The Tigers have gotten the full Leavitt experience over these first two games. He’s a true gunslinger, unafraid to throw his body around or force ill-advised passes, as his early interception number shows, but he also makes huge plays. He and LSU have plenty to clean up—giving up five sacks to the Bulldogs is not a great sign—but if they keep winning big, Leavitt should be in the mix.

Arch Manning, QB, Texas (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Ohio State, 24–23—23 for 37, 195 yards, one TD, one INT; eight carries, 24 yards
Season: 43 for 64 (67.2%), 500 yards, five TDs, two INTs; 11 carries, 30 yards

The first three quarters of Manning’s Week 2 outing would have had him in the first category of this Heisman watch. The final quarter, in which he engineered back-to-back-to-back touchdown drives to vault his Longhorns past the Buckeyes in an all-time comeback, was absolutely a Heisman-worthy showing. Manning extended plays with his legs, completed huge passes on fourth down and outdueled Sayin when it mattered most, landing the signature win of his college career so far.

CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Rice, 52–0—16 for 20, 253 yards, four TDs
Season: 35 for 49 (71.4%), 492 yards, six TDs

After a solid, if not overwhelming, game against Wisconsin, Carr put together the exact game you want to see against Rice. He was pulled after one drive in the third quarter, a touchdown that pushed the lead to 49–0, with four touchdown passes (the same number of incompletions he threw) under his belt.

CJ Carr and Notre Dame made quick work of Rice in Week 2. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Malachi Toney, WR, Miami (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Florida A&M, 77–7—Four receptions, 97 yards, one touchdown
Season: 16 receptions, 330 yards, four touchdowns

Toney’s fourth and final catch of the day came with 12:39 left in the second quarter, on a drive that made it 35–0 Hurricanes. Naturally, Mario Cristobal saw all that he needed to see from his most important players, so the likes of Toney and Mensah didn’t see a ton of playing time. He did a good deal of damage even in such limited time, so the extended bench minutes shouldn’t do anything to hurt his Heisman chances (and piling on stats against an FCS opponent wouldn’t have done much to improve them, either). 

Darian Mensah, QB, Miami (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Florida A&M, 77–7—14 for 15, 252 yards, three TDs, two carries, 21 yards
Season: 41 for 45 (91.1%), 653 yards, eight touchdowns, three carries, 26 yards

Mensah played one half of football against the Rattlers, and it was essentially perfect, with just one incompletion, three touchdowns and an impressive 16.8 yards per attempt. It should be noted that his two backups—Luke Nickel and Dereon Coleman—combined to go 13 for 14 for 174 yards and three more scores. It was a long day for the FAMU defense. Even so, Mensah has been about as good as you can reasonably expect through two starts for the Canes.

Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State (1–1)

Week 2: Lost to Texas, 24–23—Eight receptions, 164 yards, one TD
Season: 16 receptions, 315 yards, three TDs

Smith’s Buckeyes couldn’t hold off the huge Longhorns comeback on Saturday, but that had more to do with Manning’s play, the late-game failures of the Ohio State defense and an overly conservative approach to the fourth quarter by the Buckeyes coaches. Smith, who had been uncharacteristically quiet in two previous matchups with Texas, was unstoppable for most of the game and looked like the clear best player on the field. 

Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ole Miss (2–0)

Week 2: Beat Charlotte, 41–9—23 for 26, 225 yards, two TDs
Season: 44 for 62 (70.1%), 561 yards, five TDs, one INT; 12 carries, 62 yards, one TD

After a tough Week 1 test against Louisville, it was Chambliss’s turn to take it easy against a Group of 6 opponent. Chambliss played one drive into the fourth quarter before getting a rest, and had a perfectly solid showing with just three incompletions. Chambliss notably limited himself to just three carries against the 49ers and did not make much happen with his legs. As we saw last week and throughout the 2025 season, that will change against top SEC competition.

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