Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa had a bye-week this past Saturday but still remains the unanimous choice for the top award in college football.  Dwayne Haskins and Ohio State had a bye-week as well, but that opened the door for him to get passed by Kyler Murray after leading Oklahoma to a romping of Kansas State.  Washington State’s Gardner Minshew joins the bunch of Heisman finalists after his fifth 400-yard passing game in a shootout win against Stanford.

1.  Tua Tagovailoa (Quarterback, Alabama)

QBR: 97.3

Passing Yards: 2,066

Touchdowns-to-Interceptions: 25:0

Tua held a bye-week before his upcoming SEC West showdown with #5 LSU.  This will be his biggest test of the season and if he can stay true to form against the Tiger’s defense, he’ll only further separate himself from the rest of the field.

 

2.  Kyler Murray (Quarterback, Oklahoma) 

QBR: 97.2

Passing Yards: 2,329

Touchdowns-to-Interceptions: 28:3

Murray passed for over 300 yards and 3 scores while adding a rushing touchdown against Kansas State.  Among the quarterbacks, his running ability and pure speed are the difference, and his QBR is right up there with Tua’s.

 

3.  Dwayne Haskins (Quarterback, Ohio State) 

QBR: 83.9

Passing Yards: 2,801

Touchdowns-to-Interceptions: 30:5

Usually teams are enjoying their bye-week, but the Buckeyes were still living with the fact they lost to Purdue.  Haskins did all he could do in that game, throwing 73 times for 470 yards and two scores, but his offense was unable to establish a run game.  He still leads the NCAA in passing touchdowns with Hawai’i’s Cole McDonald, but he’ll need to be uber impressive on the November slate.

 

4.  Gardner Minshew (Quarterback, Washington State) 

QBR: 81.8

Passing Yards: 3,183

Touchdowns-to-Interceptions: 26:6

Minshew’s name has been circling around Heisman watch lists for weeks, but after leading the Cougars to a 7-1 record and a #8 national rank, he deserves serious consideration.  He leads the nation in passing yards and gives the Pac-12 hope for a College Football Playoff berth.  He has 5 games this season where he threw for over 400 yards and his lowest passing-yard game of the season was 319 (a 41-19 win in the season opener against Wyoming).