Bill ConnellyNov 10, 2026, 07:00 AM ETCloseBill Connelly is a writer for ESPN. He covers college football, soccer and tennis. He has been at ESPN since 2019.Multiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsNotre Dame’s CJ Carr is an excellent quarterback. He is asked to drop back to pass only about 30 times per game, and his stats are therefore simply solid — he’s eighth in QBR (84.4), and projected over 13 games he’s on pace for about 3,100 passing yards and 30 touchdowns.Here are some pretty good recent statistical comps: Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke (3,042 yards, 29 TDs and an 85.1 QBR in 2024) and Ohio State’s Kyle McCord (3,170 yards, 24 TDs and an 83.8 QBR in 2023).
Those are solid players, and I think Carr’s upside is even higher than theirs. He’s unsackable, he’s smart, he has won 18 of his past 19 starts, and he’s coming off the best performance of his career in a win over top-ranked Miami.With four weeks remaining before the Heisman Trophy vote, however, Carr is also now the betting favorite. Translation: The Heisman Trophy race is in an immense state of flux.For context, McCord didn’t finish in the Heisman top 10 in 2023, and Rourke was ninth in 2024. Granted, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza was only beginning to shift into Heisman mode after nine games last season — he had fewer passing yards than Carr at this point (2,124 to Carr’s 2,168), though he had more TD passes, far more rushing yards and a better QBR (90.0).
But Carr’s profile is closer to that of an excellent game manager, not a Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Bryce Young or Joe Burrow. (Those are, along with Mendoza, the most recent Heisman-winning QBs.) But in a year in which early front-runners more or less drop out of the competition, weird things can happen.This year, Heisman is running its Heisman Hopefuls Fan Vote all season with a platform that provides statistics, EA Sports ratings and other information. In that vein, I am once again awarding the Heisman every week of the season and doling out weekly points, F1-style (10 points for first place, 9 for second, and so on).This has proved to be a fun approach, but it works a lot better when the lead drivers keep driving. Heading into Week 10, Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith led the points race, but his team has fallen into existential crisis since quarterback Julian Sayin got hurt, and his pace has dropped off considerably. Miami’s Malachi Toney was second, but he suffered a high ankle sprain in practice and is out for a few weeks.
Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss was fourth, but his supporting cast is not giving him enough support, and he’s down to 17th in QBR and coming off of a shellacking by Georgia. Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor was fifth because of a beautiful September run, but he has barely played in the past month because of injury.The points tally is a lovely concept, but it seems like the Heisman race basically started over this week, so let’s juice the idea a bit. In acknowledgement of the circumstances, let’s start offering double points each week: 20 for first place, 18 for second, etc. There’s a case for doing this every year — November is when the race truly shifts into gear regardless of injuries and other circumstances. (And hey, doubling the points late in the game works for “Jeopardy!”) So let’s try it out and see what happens.
To be sure, if the race really did start over this week, Carr picked a good time to have his best game.This week’s Heisman winner: CJ Carr 1. CJ Carr, Notre DameWeek 10 numbers: 29-for-40 passing for 319 yards and 3 touchdowns against MiamiIn the first half of the huge Miami-Notre Dame primetime affair, Miami’s Darian Mensah, last week’s betting favorite, completed 6 of 12 passes for 74 yards while Carr went 18-for-26 for 205 yards and two scores. Carr was making big throws, his receivers were making big catches — my goodness, Jordan Faison’s end zone tiptoe was outstanding — and the Irish led by 14. Then Carr’s second pass of the second half expanded the lead to 21.The narrative then lurched back and forth.
With Notre Dame star corner Leonard Moore briefly out of the game, Mensah caught fire, and Miami charged back to get within seven points twice. But the Irish defense made a couple of key stops, and the offense moved the ball well enough to see out a 31-24 win. Carr finished with his third-most passing yards in a game and threw for at least three TDs for the seventh time. He was a star, and he gets this week’s 20 points.
The competition for the top spot was pretty fierce, though.The rest of the top 10 2. Arion Carter, TennesseeWeek 10 numbers: 13 tackles, four TFLs, two sacks and a run stop against KentuckyArion Carter was in the news this summer when the NCAA NCAA’d its way into suspending him for taking a flight on an agent’s dime before electing to return to college (and repaying the agent). He was having a strong final college season before Saturday, but he was an absolute wrecking ball against Kentucky, leading the team in tackles and TFLs and pacing a dominant 34-6 win. 3. Caleb Hawkins, Oklahoma StateWeek 10 numbers: 20 carries for 175 yards and three TDs plus 71 receiving yards and a score against Kansas StateIt was a big week for ridiculous offensive numbers in the Big 12, but before we get to the quarterbacks, let’s celebrate the OSU offense as a whole — the Cowboys have scored at least 39 points in seven of their past eight games and gained more than 530 yards in six — and Hawkins in particular.Aside from the blowout of Murray State, when he didn’t get enough touches, Hawkins has topped 100 yards from scrimmage in every game, and in his past four outings he has averaged 26.3 touches (rushes and receptions) and 226.5 yards from scrimmage.
An upset loss to Iowa State might have knocked OSU from the Big 12 race, but even in that game he was incredible (275 yards). He might be the best running back in the country. 4. Tommy Castellanos, Texas TechWeek 10 numbers: 18-for-27 passing for 362 yards and five touchdowns plus 124 non-sack rushing yards against West Virginia 5. Michael Hawkins Jr., West VirginiaWeek 10 numbers: 11-for-16 passing for 303 yards and a touchdown plus 107 non-sack rushing yards and three TDs against Texas TechWe’ll group these two together, as they put on a ridiculous show in Lubbock late Saturday night.
Hawkins threw for at least 300 yards for the second time in three games, and he has topped 90 non-sack rushing yards in every game this season. He has gone over 300 combined rushing and passing yards five times, including in three losses. WVU’s defense will likely prevent him from getting serious Heisman consideration, but he’s putting together a brilliant year.He was ever-so-narrowly outdueled by Castellanos, however. Castellanos has been on and off the Red Raiders roster thanks to eligibility fights, and his ceiling tends to get lower over the course of a season, but he has jolted the Tech offense into life in the past two games, and he bailed out the defense Saturday.
We’ll see if he can continue this pace, but Saturday night brought so many old-school Big 12 vibes (translation: ridiculous point totals and minimal defense) to the table. I loved it. 6. Nate Sheppard, DukeWeek 10 numbers: 18 carries for 217 yards and three touchdowns against NC StateIf Hawkins isn’t the best RB in the country, Sheppard probably is. This is the sophomore’s third appearance on the Heisman of the Week list, and he has been at least as consistent as Hawkins.
Sheppard has gained at least 120 yards from scrimmage eight times, he has scored at least one TD in every game (21 in all), and even in his least successful game (66 yards from scrimmage against Virginia), he threw the winning TD pass. 7. Kevin Jennings, SMUWeek 10 numbers: 24-for-32 passing for 350 yards, four TDs and one INT plus 23 non-sack rushing yards against Virginia TechAs strange as it sounds, Wake Forest at SMU might have the highest stakes of any Week 11 matchup — the winner will be the clear front-runner to face Miami
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