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Nothing about this Heisman Trophy race has followed the script we have come to expect. For one, there are no representatives from the SEC — the conference that has won four of the past five trophies.

Perhaps even more surprisingly, the same top four players on our midseason list remain on this one, though in a slightly different order. Colorado receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter has moved past Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty into the top spot. But only five points separate them, suggesting a tight race that could go down to the wire.

Two quarterbacks might have something to say about that. Going back to 2000, quarterbacks have won the Heisman 20 times; the only two non-QBs to win in the past 14 years were wide receiver Devonta Smith in 2020 and running back Derrick Henry in 2015. In addition, no player outside a power conference has won the award since Ty Detmer in 1990.

Here is how ESPN writers voted on their top Heisman candidates headed into the final week of the regular season. In this round of voting, 10 different players received votes.

To arrive at the final rankings, 12 voters were asked to select their top five. First-place votes earned five points with four points assigned for second-place votes, three points for third-place votes, two points for fourth-place votes and one point for fifth-place votes.

Total points: 56 (first-place votes: 9)

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0:31

Travis Hunter hits the Heisman pose after 2nd TD for Colorado

Travis Hunter hits the Heisman pose after he catches his second touchdown of the game for Colorado vs. Kansas.

Simply put, nobody has done what Hunter has done this season, and that is the biggest reason why he has vaulted to the top of our Heisman watch. We are not just talking about the snap count here, which on its face is unprecedented; Hunter has played 1,266 snaps, more than any player since 2018, when ESPN started tracking snap count data.

He has been an elite starter at both of his positions: receiver and cornerback. Hunter has 82 catches for 1,036 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. His receiving touchdowns number is tied for the second most in a season in school history. Defensively, he has three interceptions and is the first player with 1,000 receiving yards and three interceptions in a season since at least 1980.

His snap count breakdown is nearly identical: 602 on offense, 640 on defense (with an addition 24 on special teams). The only other season in which someone played at least 200 snaps on both sides of the ball since 2018? Yup, Travis Hunter last year (412 on offense, 572 on defense).

According to ESPN Research, Colorado has run 710 plays on offense this season, and Hunter has played on 85% of them. On defense, Colorado has run 772 plays, with Hunter playing 83%.

For a comparison, the only defensive player to win the Heisman, Charles Woodson in 1997, played the bulk of his snaps on defense and was merely a contributor on offense, with 238 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

Is it any wonder Hunter has begun striking the Heisman pose at a much more frequent clip?

“Travis is who he is,” said Colorado coach Deion Sanders, who also played both ways as a player. “It’s supposed to go to the best college football player. I think that’s been a wrap since, what? Week 2?”

ESPN BET Heisman odds: -800


Total points: 51 (first-place votes: 3)

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0:29

Ashton Jeanty can’t be contained on thrilling 61-yard TD

Ashton Jeanty finds an opening in the offensive line and houses a 61-yard touchdown to put Boise State ahead against Wyoming.

Jeanty has already reached his goal of 2,000 yards rushing through 11 games this season, continuing his master class of speed, toughness and big-play ability every time he touches the ball. He is now the first player to rush for 125 or more yards in 11 straight games in the same season since Troy Davis did it at Iowa State in 1996.

Jeanty needs three more rushing touchdowns to join Barry Sanders as the only players in FBS history with 30 rushing touchdowns and 2,000 yards rushing in a single season.

With 2,062 yards rushing so far this season, Jeanty leads the nation — with nearly 600 more yards than his closest competitor. He is also the first back since 2019 to rush for more than 2,000 yards.

Still, he is a ways away from the single-season rushing mark Sanders set in 1988 (2,850 yards). His production has also fallen off a tick since midseason. After averaging 9.9 yards per carry in his first six games, Jeanty has averaged 5.74 in the past five. He had three 200-yard performances in the first six games of the season, and just one in the past five.

But even when he is slowed, he is not completely stopped. Against UNLV, in which he had season lows in yards (128) and yards per carry (3.9), he scored the deciding touchdown in a 29-24 win. Last week in a closer-than-expected 17-13 win over Wyoming, Jeanty was forced out of the game and into the medical tent after taking a hard hit to the legs in the third quarter. He missed one drive but had 53 yards rushing upon his return to set up the go-ahead score.

“This is Game 11, Week 13 of the season, and he’s an absolute warrior playing through being banged up,” coach Spencer Danielson said after the victory over Wyoming. “We got to be smart with his body and make sure we get him what he needs.”

ESPN BET Heisman odds: +600


Total points: 34

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2:19

Cam Ward goes off against Duke with 5-TD performance

Cam Ward goes 25-for-41 with 400 yards and five touchdowns to push the Hurricanes past the Blue Devils.

Miami built its football dynasty with a succession of elite quarterbacks who earned it the nickname “Quarterback U.” But it has been more than 20 years since the Hurricanes both won a championship and had a quarterback make it to New York as a finalist for the Heisman.

Ward appears on the verge of changing all that. He has not been perfect, but Ward has been, quite simply, the most dazzling quarterback in college football this season. Some of his plays border on incomprehensible — from no-look shovel passes to big throws across his body — but others are the routine throws that he needs to make to get the job done. Ward is completing a career-high 67.2% of his passes and has the Hurricanes ranked No. 1 in the nation in total offense, averaging 541.5 yards per game.

Along the way, he has reset the single-season school record for touchdown passes (34 and counting), passing yards (3,774) and completions (268), doing it with an unflappability that has earned him widespread praise from his coaches and teammates. The latter two marks were set by Bernie Kosar in 1984. Not since Ken Dorsey made it to New York in 2001 and 2002 has there been so much excitement around the quarterback position at Miami.

Ward has brought hope that the program has turned a corner. A win on over Syracuse on Saturday puts the Hurricanes in the ACC championship game and keeps their College Football Playoff hopes alive. Ward put a 28-23 loss to Georgia Tech on Nov. 9 — in which he fumbled on the final drive — behind him, following it up with a 280-yard, two-touchdown performance in a 42-14 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday. He knows he has to be at his best for the Hurricanes to reach the goals they set when the season began.

ESPN BET Heisman odds: +1200


Total points: 26

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0:25

Dillon Gabriel becomes FBS all-time TD leader with pass to lineman

Dillon Gabriel finds Gernorris Wilson in the end zone to pass Case Keenum as the all-time touchdown leader in FBS history.

Gabriel has done exactly what he has done over the course of his six-year career: throw for lots of yards and score lots of touchdowns. Indeed, for the fifth time in his career, he is over 3,000 yards passing (the lone exception at UCF in 2021, when he went down with a season-ending injury early in the year). Gabriel also set the NCAA FBS record earlier this month for total touchdowns (179), so his productivity and longevity cannot be denied.

The difference, this year, is that his veteran presence, savvy playmaking and remarkable accuracy has lifted Oregon to the No. 1 ranking as the only undefeated team left in the country.

That is no coincidence. Gabriel is completing a career-high 73.8% of his passes as he has methodically guided the offense, ranking No. 5 in the country in QBR. At the midseason point, Gabriel was at No. 4 in this poll as well. To climb higher, he will have to do more in his last two games. Last time out against Wisconsin, he failed to throw a touchdown for the first time all season as Oregon scored a season-low 16 points. Still, Gabriel made plays to lead the Ducks to a come-from-behind 16-13 win in which they outscored the Badgers 10-0 in the fourth quarter.

Against Maryland on Nov. 9, Gabriel threw three touchdown passes but only for 183 yards. In his past two games, his QBR was well below his season average. Opportunities against Washington and in the Big Ten championship game could potentially be difference makers in the Heisman race.

ESPN BET Heisman odds: +5000


Total points: 8

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0:30

Cam Skattebo celebrates 3rd TD by autographing football

Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo immediately autographs a football after scoring his third rushing touchdown of the game.

As Arizona State has begun its rise, so too has Skattebo. After receiving zero votes in our midseason poll, Skattebo sits at No. 5, thanks in large part to the impact he has had on the Sun Devils’ offense. He ranks No. 2 in the nation in all-purpose yards behind Jeanty with 1,681 (1,221 yards rushing, 460 yards receiving).

The 5-foot-11, 215-pounder plays like a battering ram, making him one of the hardest players to bring down in college football.

According to TruMedia, Skattebo ranks No. 2 in the country behind Jeanty in forced missed tackles on rushes, with a whopping 86 through Week 12. (Also consider: He has 49 fewer runs than Jeanty.) One other particularly impressive stat: Skattebo has been the most effective in the fourth quarter. In that quarter, Skattebo has 337 yards rushing, more than any other quarter. Especially eye-opening considering he missed one game and sat out the fourth quarter in two blowout wins.

Skattebo also averages his highest yards per carry in the fourth quarter (6.1) and has more 10-plus-yard runs in the fourth than any other quarter.

There has been something endearing about his rise to national prominence. He has an NIL deal for his signature “Skatteburger” at a local restaurant chain, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

ESPN BET Heisman odds: N/A


Also receiving votes: Omarion Hampton, North Carolina, RB (1 point); Kyle Kennard, South Carolina, DE (1); Bryson Daily, Army, QB (1); Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green, TE (1); Tyler Warren, Penn State, TE (1)

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Scheifele plays, scores hours after losing father

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Scheifele plays, scores hours after losing father

DALLAS — Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele scored a goal in his club’s must-win Game 6 of the second-round playoff series at Dallas on Saturday night, hours after the unexpected death of his father.

But he also had the penalty that set up the Stars’ power-play goal in overtime for a 2-1 win that knocked the top-ranked Jets out of the playoffs.

Jets captain Adam Lowry went and got Scheifele out of the box when the game ended.

“We’re a family. Just to let him know that we’re there for him. It’s just an awful day for him,” Lowry said. “You want to give him the strength, you want to get that kill so bad. We just couldn’t do it.”

During the handshake line afterward, Scheifele hugged and talked to just about everyone, with Stars players clearly offering their support to him in a heartwarming moment.

Scheifele scored his fifth goal of the playoffs 5½ minutes into the second period to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. He scored on a short snap shot from just outside the crease after gathering the rebound of a shot by Kyle Connor.

“I just I know we have a great group here. I knew, going in, once we found out the news that he’s going to have a great support group and we’re going to be there for him through the highs and the lows and obviously today was a real low,” defenseman Neal Pionk said of Scheifele. “[We] did everything we could to give him some words of encouragement, [and] for him to play tonight, and play the way he did, is flat out one of the most courageous things we’ve ever seen.”

The game was tied at 1 when Sam Steel, who had already scored for Dallas, was on a break. Scheifele lunged forward desperately trying to make a play when he tripped up the forward at the blue line with 14.8 seconds in regulation. Scheifele and the Jets avoided a penalty shot on the play, but ended up losing on the power play when Thomas Harley scored 1:33 into overtime.

Jets coach Scott Arniel said the news of Brad Scheifele’s passing overnight was difficult for the entire team. The team was told before the optional morning skate.

“On behalf of the Winnipeg Jets family, our condolences to Mark and his family. It rocked us all this morning when we found out,” Arniel said before the game. “Mark will be playing tonight. As he said, that’d be the wishes of his dad. He would have wanted him to play.”

Scheifele was the last Jets player to leave the ice following pregame warmups, and during at least part of the singing of “O Canada,” he had his head bowed and his eyes closed. He took the opening faceoff against Roope Hintz.

“The thing about Mr. Scheifele is he’s part of our family. He’s part of the Jets family. He goes back to 2011 when Mark was first drafted here,” Arniel said. “We have a lot of players that came in around the time that are still here that he’s been a big part of their life, along with their family. So it’s certainly, obviously devastating for Mark, but also for a lot of guys on this team.”

Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said the organization was doing everything it can to support Scheifele. There was no immediate word on the cause of Brad Scheifele’s death.

The 32-year-old Mark Scheifele finished with 11 points (five goals, six assists) while playing in 11 of the Jets’ 13 games this postseason. He missed Games 6 and 7 of the first-round series against St. Louis with an undisclosed injury after taking a pair of big hits early in Game 5 of that series.

In Game 5 against the Stars on Thursday night, a 4-0 win by Winnipeg that extended the series, Scheifele was sucker-punched by Stars captain Jamie Benn during a late scrum. Benn got a game misconduct penalty and was fined by the NHL the maximum-allowed $5,000 but avoided a suspension.

Scheifele had 87 points (39 goals and 48 assists) in the 82 regular-season games.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Stars win, oust Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets

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Stars win, oust Presidents' Trophy-winning Jets

DALLAS — Thomas Harley scored on a power play 1:33 into overtime and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final for the third season in a row, beating the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in Game 6 on Saturday night.

Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets hours after the unexpected death of his father, but also had a tripping penalty with 14.8 seconds left in regulation that set up Dallas to start overtime with a man advantage.

Sam Steel, who had scored earlier for Dallas, was on a break when Scheifele lunged forward desperately trying to make a play when he tripped up the forward at the blue line. The Stars called a timeout, but missed a shot and had another one blocked before the end of regulation.

The Stars move on to face the Edmonton Oilers in the West final for the second year in a row and will host Game 1. Connor McDavid and his club, which won in six games last year, wrapped up their second-round series with a 1-0 overtime win over Vegas on Wednesday night in Game 5.

Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made 22 saves to wrap up his sixth playoff series win over the past three seasons. He made an incredible diving save with 8½ minutes left in regulation, leaning to the right before having to lunge back across his body toward the left post to knock down a shot by Mason Appleton.

Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 19 shots but couldn’t prevent a loss that assured a winless record for his club on the road this postseason. Meanwhile, his final goal allowed continued a magical season for Harley, Dallas’ breakout blueliner who also played for Team Canada this season in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“Not surprising to the guys in here,” Oettinger said of Harley’s rise to prominence. “We’re very lucky.”

Steel notched his first goal of the playoffs midway through the second period. He shot a long rebound from the top of the right circle, sending the puck into the upper right corner of the net just above Hellebuyck’s glove.

“I’m just disappointed,” Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry said. “We couldn’t get that [penalty] kill for [the fans], and get it back to win in Winnipeg for Game 7. But you know, [I’m] really proud of this group, and the way they handled everything, and the way we fought back. … It just came up short.”

The Jets become the next in a long line of Presidents’ Trophy winners to bow out early. The award, which goes to the NHL’s top regular-season team, was won by the New York Rangers last season before they lost in the Eastern Conference final. Two years ago, the No. 1 seed Boston Bruins lost in the first round to the Florida Panthers.

“We lost to a great team,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We lost to a team that was in our rearview mirror all year long.”

Scheifele’s effort was a focus for Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, who began his postgame media availability by saying what the Jets star forward did in playing Saturday was “courageous,” adding “I’m sure his dad would’ve been really proud of him and what he did.”

For the Stars, it’s off to the NHL’s final four, as the franchise continues to seek its second Stanley Cup title.

“I think we’ve got something special going on. We’re going to have to prove it again,” DeBoer said. “You know, we’ve been to this spot the last two years and haven’t taken the next step, so that’s the challenge.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Eichel, Knights seek ‘common ground’ on new deal

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Eichel, Knights seek 'common ground' on new deal

As the Vegas Golden Knights absorb being knocked out in the second round of the NHL playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers, they don’t have to wait long before planning for their future. Jack Eichel, who has one season left on his eight-year, $80 million contract, is eligible for an extension beginning July 1.

“He’s one of the top guys in the NHL,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “He’s got great character, great leadership. You see night in, night out what he does for our team, so that will be a really important piece of business for us. We certainly hope to keep Jack in our organization. Jack loves it here, so I would hope we could find common ground.”

Eichel, 28, comes off the best season of his 10-year career, the past four with the Golden Knights. He set career highs with 66 assists and 94 points to go with 28 goals as the center on the team’s top line. He also skated for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off, where his club finished second to Canada.

“Can’t say enough about my teammates and the people in this building and the people that make this organization what it is,” Eichel said. “I’m super proud to be part of this organization and the city and represent the Vegas Golden Knights. Contractually, I think things kind of take care of itself. I’ll just worry about trying to prepare for next season this offseason and go from there.”

Management, which is not known for sitting on its hands, will have other significant decisions to make as well on the team’s direction after the Golden Knights were eliminated in the second round for the second year in a row.

“I like our team,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I don’t have a problem with any player in that room. I think every one of them is a great teammate. They care about one another. Are there areas of our game we could complement better? Probably. We’ll evaluate that.

“All the guys that were up, their contracts, they were all good players for us. All good players. No disappointments at all. We’ll probably have to look at areas because we’re not the last team standing. Usually, you think, ‘Where can we upgrade? Where can I upgrade what I do?'”

McCrimmon offered a similar assessment.

“I feel our team was good enough to win,” McCrimmon said.

The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup two years ago and thought they had another contender this season after capturing the Pacific Division and securing the Western Conference’s second-best record. But Vegas had to rally from a 2-1 series deficit to beat Minnesota in the opening round, winning twice in overtime. Then the Golden Knights lost two overtime games in the 4-1 series loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

“I didn’t walk away from Edmonton saying, ‘We had no chance. They’re just better,'” Cassidy said. “I didn’t feel that way. I felt we needed to execute better in a few of the games and we could be the team moving on.”

Forward William Karlsson said losing to the Oilers made it “a wasted season.” McCrimmon wasn’t as blunt, instead labeling the loss as “a missed opportunity.”

Change will come, but at least given the tenor of the comments by Cassidy and McCrimmon, the Golden Knights will largely return their roster intact next season.

“I think we have a great organization,” goaltender Adin Hill said. “Best management I’ve been under. I think they’re going to do the things that they see fit for [the] roster, whether it’s keeping it the same or whether it’s changing up a few things. I don’t know. That’s their decision, above my paygrade, but it will be exciting to see. We know that we’re going to be contenders every year.”

Forward Reilly Smith made it clear he wants to return. An original Golden Knight, Smith was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins after winning the Stanley Cup and then sent to the New York Rangers a year later. The Golden Knights reacquired the 34-year-old on March 6.

Smith made a smooth transition back into the lineup with three goals and eight assists in 21 games. Then he delivered the play of the postseason for the Golden Knights, scoring with 0.4 seconds left to beat the Oilers in Game 3, and finished with three goals and an assist in 11 playoff games.

“Probably the best hockey I’ve played in my career has been wearing this jersey,” Smith said. “It’s a fun group to be a part of and a fun place to call home. My family loves it here, so if there’s a way to make it work, it’d be great. At the end of the day, it’s a business. My contract negotiations, I probably know as little as [the media does] right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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