Colt McCoy

This is the Colt McCoy we’ve been expecting all season. With his best performance of the season coming this past weekend against UCF, McCoy has certainly solidified his spot among the Heisman favorites. His 470 yards and two touchdowns were good enough to deliver McCoy his best passer rating of the season as the Longhorns took it to UCF, 35-3. Also, it looks almost certain that the Longhorns will finish the season undefeated and in the national championship game the way they’re playing now, finally having hit their offensive stride. And as we all know, leading a successful team is always helpful to a Heisman candidacy.

Mark Ingram

When it was most important, Mark Ingram stepped up to the plate for the Crimson Tide, and his 144 rushing yards were integral in securing not only the victory for Alabama over LSU, but the SEC West crown as well. Although Ingram did not find the end zone for just the second time this season, and Julio Jones might have stolen the show, Ingram continued to show why he is considered among the best running backs in the nation, helping the sometimes uneven Tide offense to avoid the monumental upset by the Tigers.

Jimmy Clausen

At first glance, Clausen’s statistical line on Saturday looks good enough to strengthen the junior’s Heisman candidacy, but look closer, and you might see reason for doubt. In the Irish loss to Navy, Clausen committed two costly turnovers and an unforgivable 15-yard penalty during Notre Dame’s third loss of the season. The loss in and of itself doesn’t help Clausen’s candidacy, as the Irish struggle to find the momentum that helped them climb the national rankings earlier this year. All told, Clausen did pass for more than 450 yards and had two touchdowns, but it’s the little things that are starting to hurt his Heisman hopes.

Tim Tebow

Not the worst game we’ve seen out of Tebow all year, but the effort put in by the senior QB and the Gators left some of the critics wondering. His only TD pass came on a tipped ball in the end zone, and although he rush for another touchdown late in the third quarter, Tebow’s two total touchdowns weren’t anything extraordinary. In this year where no one wants to assert themselves in the Heisman race, Tebow leads the pack in mediocrity.

Case Keenum

Another 500 yard performance from Keenum, and for the second time in two weeks, he leads his Houston Cougars to close victory over an in conference opponent. This time, Keenum lead the Cougar offense to nine points in 21 seconds. Keenum passed to wideout James Cleveland with 21 seconds left for his fifth touchdown pass of the game. The Cougars then recovered the onside kick, Keenum completed two passes of 12 and 13 yards, and his kicker came through as the final seconds ticking off the clock, nailing a 51-yard field goal with all zeroes. Keenum’s performance once again showed why he is the most prolific quarterback in the nation, and his two last minute drives could be considered Keenum’s “Heisman moment”, that elusive highlight that solidifies a Heisman candidacy.

Colt McCoy

Nothing special from McCoy this week, but at this point in the season, where no one is stepping up, that’s more than enough to keep him on most lists. The Oklahoma State game was supposed to be a challenge for the Longhorns, but they didn’t struggle in the least, and McCoy had a relatively quiet night, completing 16 of 21 for 171 yards and a touchdown pass. In the coming weeks, McCoy will certainly have opportunities for big statistical output, as the Longhorn’s schedule gets a whole lot easier.

Tim Tebow

A solid all-around game from Tebow helped Florida continue its recent dominance of the Georgia-Florida rivalry. In rushing for 85 yards and two touchdowns, Tebow also broke Herschel Walker’s all-time SEC rushing touchdowns record, which had stood at 50. Tebow was also relatively proficient through the air, passing for two touchdowns on just 21 attempts. Tebow too will have the opportunity to get some big statistics into his resume in the coming weeks, as the Gators have a pretty easy rest of the SEC regular season.

Jimmy Clausen

Just as the previous two quarterbacks on this list, Clausen oversaw an easy victory. For the Fighting Irish, that victory came over Washington State in San Antonio, Texas. Clausen finished with two more passing touchdowns, bringing his season total to 16, on track to match or better his output from last season, where he had 25 TD passes. And for the third straight game, Clausen went without an interception, important in the Irish’s recent success.

Mark Ingram

Mark Ingram had a bye this week, but his overall statistics speak for themselves, and therefore Ingram stays among the Heisman favorites. Already over 1,000 yards on the season, Ingram has been integral in the Crimson Tide’s success this year, and has played an important role in the success of Alabama’s offensive success, although against the SEC, the yards have been harder to come by.

Case Keenum

Keenum, following rather subpar performance last week against Southern Methodist, followed it up with his best performance of the season, and of his career. His 559 yards on 44 of 54 passing helped Houston continue its surprising season, improving their record to 7-1. Keenum also passed for five touchdowns, a career high.

Colt McCoy

If you’ve missed it before, that’s the Colt McCoy the nation is used to seeing. Against Missouri, a team that a fair few thought might hand the Longhorns a upset loss, McCoy instead reinvigorated his Heisman candidacy by passing for 269 yards and three touchdowns on 26 of 31 passing. McCoy’s performance was good enough to negate his lackluster attempt against Oklahoma, and continued to show why he’s one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the history of college football, this weekend throwing for an 84 percent completion rate.

Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow can get you in two ways, and on Saturday, he mastered the two in ways that everyone knew he could, but hadn’t since at least three weeks ago. Against a very game Mississippi State squad, against which Florida had lost its last four road games, Tebow passed for 127 yards, but more importantly, asserted himself on the ground, rushing for 88 yards and a TD. Tebow still is living off the Heisman hype from years past, but he may finally be getting to the point where his performance from this year is now finally helping his Heisman candidacy.

Jimmy Clausen

In years past, Boston College had been a trouble spot for the Irish. But under the watch of Jimmy Clausen, the Irish are beginning to emerge again as a national power. That reemergence is a big reason why Clausen is among the nation’s Heisman trophy hopefuls. Against the Eagles, Clausen passed for 246 yards and two touchdowns against no interceptions. And most importantly, the junior QB led the Irish to their fifth victory of the season, although the sealing play was an interception return for a touchdown. Clausen had a good game, and likely solidified his Heisman candidacy for now.

Mark Ingram

Ingram, whose 246 yards against South Carolina entered his name into many Heisman conversations, followed that performance up with a rather pedestrian 96 yards against a tough Tennessee defense, nearly cost the Tide the ball game on Saturday. In losing his first fumble of his career, he set the Volunteers up for the potential tying field goal, only to be saved by the block of Terrance Cody. Still, Ingram’s numbers have been spectacular to this point, and his continued success in the Tide offensive package, even when QB Greg McElroy struggles, like he did on Saturday, helps his Heisman candidacy.

Todd Reesing

This was definitely Reesing’s toughest game of the season, and may have all but ended his Heisman hopes for a second straight season. Reesing, who was lighting up Big 12 defenses before Saturday’s matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners, instead couldn’t find a rhythm all night, and threw for three interceptions against zero touchdowns, and his Jayhawks were man handled by the Sooners 35-13. Todd Reesing has always been counted out by the experts, and don’t expect him to go quietly into the end of his college career, but for now, his Heisman chances don’t look too special.

Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow’s Heisman candidacy is quickly becoming college football’s greatest enigma. His statistics weren’t otherworldly against Arkansas. They were rather pedestrian in fact. His 255-yards passing and 69-yards rushing seemed somewhat insignificant, and he created just one touchdown. But Tebow once again proved his leadership ability and drove the Gators down the field for the winning field goal to escape the upset bid from Arkansas. That has to only boost his Heisman chances. True, much of his hype for this year’s award is from a familiarity with him from the last two years, but there is no denying his abilities on the field to get the job done.

Colt McCoy

What a huge hit Colt McCoy’s Heisman chances took on Saturday. In his biggest game of the season, McCoy put on his worst overall performance. If not for his own tackle to prevent a pick-six from the Sooners, the Longhorns may have lost the game, and McCoy’s chances may have been shot even more. As it stands, McCoy did deliver the victory for his team, and the tackle may be Heisman reel material, so maybe not all was lost. His 53.8-percent completion percentage was by far the worst of the season, and surprisingly, his interception made it six straight games with at least one pick against McCoy.

Jimmy Clausen

Okay, so Jimmy Clausen was unable to defeat the mighty Trojans of USC for the Fighting Irish, but there was a lot that Clausen did in the game that definitely improved his Heisman chances on Saturday. As the first quarterback to throw a touchdown pass against the Trojan defense, Clausen was already being lauded for his success against the tough defense of USC. Then he threw another. And then two passes went begging from the five-yard line, which would have given the Irish a chance at USC in overtime. But, Clausen was able to bring the Irish almost all the way back from a big deficit, always popular with the Heisman voters.

Todd Reesing

Another of the quarterbacks who just couldn’t get their team all the way back from a huge deficit, Todd Reesing showed once again why he’s one of the most productive QBs in the nation, throwing for 401 yards in the 34-30 loss to Colorado. Kansas was down big early, but Reesing continued his dominance of Big 12 secondaries this season and almost brought the Jayhawks back. Really crushing though was his rush average, which ended at -5.7 yards per rush, which likely helped to doom the Jayhawks from the beginning, and allowed Colorado to get its first Big 12 win.

Jacory Harris

Harris’s performance against UCF was good. It just wasn’t great. And great is what Harris will need to continue to sit on Heisman Watch lists around the country. UCF is no Oklahoma, and is no Virginia Tech, against whom Harris did struggle a bit, but his underwhelming performance against UCF doesn’t bode well for his Heisman chances. Neither does his -4.9 yards per rush on Saturday. Harris will have to step it up, otherwise a few candidates lurk below him and he could find himself off this list very soon.

Well that certainly lived up to the hype.

Just one day before the first BCS standings of the year are released, a day filled with interesting matchups and conference battles delivered drama and excitement around the country. At the end of the day, two top eight teams had fallen. But how close were we to having five fall on Saturday?

Let’s count the ways:

A game-saving tackle by Colt McCoy, a missed field goal, and a flubbed final five yards that fell incomplete, ended the game, and then didn’t, and then did.

Colt McCoy, Heisman candidate extraordinaire, was struggling. He was having one of his worst days as a Longhorn, and he was dragged down with a cold. He had also just witnessed the possible ending of friend Sam Bradford’s college career. And then he threw an interception.

As the only Longhorn DB Brian Jackson had to beat to score, McCoy looked helpless, but a great effort from the senior having a tough day stopped him from scoring, and likely saved the Longhorn’s chances of a national title, and the game ended 16-13 in Texas’s favor.

Alabama took Florida to the brink of defeat, playing right alongside Tim Tebow, his Gator offense and even their defense, driving the field multiple times. But missed field goals doomed the Razorbacks, and a late field goal from the Gators assured victory, 23-20.

And USC, seemingly cruising through Notre Dame again, instead found the Irish driving with a chance to score a tying touchdown, taking advantage of Trojan penalties all the way to the USC five-yard line. An incomplete pass from Jimmy Clausen seemed to end the Irish’s upset bid, but review put a second back on the clock, only for Clausen to throw an errant pass once again, sealing Trojan victory.

Ohio State and Virginia Tech weren’t so lucky, however, and will likely shake up what had been projected BCS standings until this point, but are now the real deal.

The Hokies were a projected No. 3, which certainly wont be the way it looks after they were unable to defeat ACC rival Georgia Tech, instead look for them to possibly fall all the way out of the top 12, with Georgia Tech making an appearance inside the first BCS top 12.

Boise State – who also survived an upset bid earlier this week – Texas and USC should all benefit from the Hokies sudden lack of energy from a team many considered the best one loss team in the nation.

Recently confirmed class of the Big East Cincinnati, Iowa and TCU should all benefit from the Buckeye’s shocking loss to Purdue.

The first official BCS standings are released tomorrow, but until then, here’s a quick stab at what the top 8 might look like without any polling info.

Projected BCS Standings October 18th

Tim Tebow

It’s hard to tell what Tim Tebow’s performance against LSU meant this Saturday. Tebow was returning from a concussion suffered two weeks ago, and was obviously a little hobbled by the off time, throwing wobbly balls to his receivers and not gaining a very high per rush average. But no matter his statistical output, Tebow’s performance was enough to get the Gators by the Tigers in Baton Rouge this weekend, and that will count for a lot, especially considering the circumstances from which Tebow returned to lead his Gators to the victory.

Colt McCoy

A very accurate performance is to be expected from McCoy, but his numbers don’t tell the whole story. McCoy’s performance was severely second half heavy, as the Texas attack did not look as strong as it has while playing from behind during the first half against Colorado. McCoy’s 265-yard output was his second worst statistical line of the season; only his performance against Texas Tech was less dominant. But McCoy’s Heisman hopes were not hurt too much, as very few contenders had good weeks.

Jacory Harris

Harris did not need to play the second half of his Hurricane’s huge blowout of Florida A&M on Saturday, so his statistics may belie his performance, but his 217 yards and two touchdowns are enough to keep him on this board. The rest of Miami’s schedule doesn’t even come close in toughness to the road Miami has already taken, so Harris may get a good shot to boost his Heisman stock with good performances in conference match ups with the weaker side of the ACC.

Jimmy Clausen

Jahvid Best’s spot will be taken this week by Jimmy Clausen, whose numbers outshine Best’s numbers, even though neither played this past weekend. In short, Clausen has had a stellar season for the Fighting Irish, but could quickly lose this spot with a loss and subpar performance against USC, a match up which will likely define both Clausen’s and the Irish’s season.

Todd Reesing

Reesing absolutely lit Iowa State’s defense on fire this past weekend, continuing to strengthen his Heisman hopes, which seemed slim at best at season’s start. His four TD, 442-yard effort in the Jayhawks’ 41-36 victory was the performance of the weekend among BCS Know How Heisman hopefuls, and will solidify his place on the board for quite some time. The meat of Kansas’s Big 12 schedule is ahead, and will be a true test for the senior quarterback.

-BCSKnowHow.com