2010 Heisman Race: Early Look

It's early in the 2010 NCAA college football season, but never too early to speculate who will  take home college football's most prestigious trophy at seasons end. My top 5 lists comes just before the mid way point in the season, with most teams having played 5 games. From early surprises like Denard Robinson, to early disappointments like Jake Locker, the 2010 season is shaping up too be a good one.

Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State - Terrelle Pryor was rated high on many pre-season heisman lists and he has yet to disappoint. In his Junior season he's looked more comfortable as a pocket passer, but still reminds us every week that he can burn opponents with his feet as well. Pryor leads a Buckeye offense that ranks in the top ten for ypg at over 500, and has showed us every week that Ohio State will go as far as he can take them. Pryor has done it all, passing for over 1,000 yds and running for another 350.He's thrown for 12TDs and rushed for 3, Terrelle was also on the receiving end of one last week. Pryor must continue too put up big numbers as his Buckeyes will be challenged with pivotal road games at Wisconsin and Iowa, and also home games against Penn State and Michigan, all in the coming weeks. If Pryors performance against the University of Miami was any indication, he should be up to the task of leading his team in the big games.

Denard Robinson, Michigan - Most people have Denard Robinson at the top of their lists now and for good reason. In just his sophmore season Denard has been the focal point of a Michigan Offense that has been torching their opponents for over 560 ypg and which is tops in the nation. With the win over Indiana today, he went over the 1000yd mark for passing, and also ran for 218yds, bringing his rushing total to over 900yds to go along with 15 total touchdowns. You can't knock his numbers at this point but the competition has been less then stellar, having yet to face a defense ranked in the top 50 for total team defense. These next three weeks (vs. Michigan St, vs. Iowa and at Penn State) should show if Robinson is truly the front runner. If he can continues to put up these numbers, he could jump Pryor for the top spot.

Kellen Moore, Boise State - Kellen Moore has been a touchdown machine his entire career at Boise State and he is finally getting national recognition for his passing numbers and being the man behind the madness to Boise State's high octane offense. He threw for over 3500 yds last year and chipped in 39 passing TD's, all while leading his team to an undefeated season, topped off with a fiesta bowl victory over TCU.Kellen has only lost 1 game as a starter in 3 years at Boise State and if he is to have any real shot at winning the hiesman he will have to go undefeated again this year, and continue to put up the numbers. He's done his part so far, throwing for over 1000 yds with 12td and only one interception to go a long with an undefeated record. Will that be enough? Let the debate begin, because Boise State will be heavily favorites to win the rest of their games.

Mark Ingram, Alabama - Many people were ready to write off last year's heisman winner due to an injury that kept him out of Alabama's first two games, so what does Mark Ingram do? Just rush for 350yds with 7TD's. Ingram should continue to put up good numbers the rest of the way, but with Tony Richardson getting carries in the backfield it could make it hard for Ingram to jump ahead of the rest of the heisman hopefuls. Bama does look to be well on their way to another undefeated season, which will help Ingram's case to become only the second player in college football history to win the award twice (Archie Griffin) but he has his work cut out for him.

Andrew Luck, Stanford - With Stanford's Toby Gerhart nearly winning the awards last year, is it possible a new Stanford player takes home the award? If the first 5 games of Andrew Luck's season are any indication, he will have a good shot at it. Stanford looks to be the team to beat in the PAC-10, and the arm of Andrew Luck is a key reason. Throwing for over 1,200 yds to go a long with 15td, Luck has been on a tear. Luck can also take off to gain some yardage, having rushed for nearly 200yds with 2TD's. If he can lead Stanford to a PAC-10 Championship and keep up his throwing numbers, he will have a good shot to move up the list in the coming weeks.

Just missed the cut:

Cameron Newton, Auburn - 920yds passing, 12td. 480yds rushing, 5td.

Next Update: 10/24

 Eddie Walters