Heisman rankings – Week 10: Tua Tagovailoa passes biggest test yet
The 2018 Heisman Trophy rankings have been shaken up greatly after Week 10, but Tua Tagovailoa remains in control after passing a massive test.
Throughout the first nine weeks of the regular season, the 2018 Heisman Trophy race had been anything but consistent, at least outside of the top candidate. In Week 10, that wasn’t something that changed. In fact, an argument could be made that the action from this past weekend shook up the middle of the 2018 Heisman race more than any other to this point.
Having said that, the one constant of the race for the most prestigious individual award in college football remained just that in Week 10, despite finally being put to the test. On Saturday night in primetime, Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was finally presented with a challenge in the form of the LSU Tigers defense. Having not seen a unit of this caliber across from him on the year, there were some questions how he would perform.
Not only did Tagovailoa help lead the way to a resounding shutout victory for the Tide over the Tigers on Saturday night, but the quarterback was phenomenal in the process. Sure, he did throw his first interception of the season and did finally have to take a snap in the fourth quarter, but that happens against good teams. As a whole, he remained dominant and solidified his status in the 2018 Heisman Trophy race.
Around the rest of the country, however, things were anything but consistent. Some leading candidates faltered, as did some candidates lower in the top 10. On the flip side, some players whose stock had been dipping a bit bounced back, while others firmly established themselves as someone to take notice of. Put simply, the 2018 Heisman Trophy race looks much different than a week ago.
With that in mind, let’s get into the top 10 rankings for the 2018 Heisman Trophy race after Week 10 of the season.
10. Eric Dungey, QB, Syracuse
In terms of throwing the football, you never know what you’re going to get from Syracuse Orange quarterback Eric Dungey. He’s had a 400-yard passing game this season, but also a game in which he didn’t even get to 100 yards — and no, it wasn’t because it was a blowout. However, what you can count on is that the senior quarterback is going to produce and do enough to secure a win for this now-ranked Orange team.
On Saturday in a win against Wake Forest, Dungey went just 23-of-35 for 157 yards and no touchdowns through the air, but bolstered his day with 119 rushing yards and a score with his legs. On the year now, Dungey has 2,001 passing yards for 13 touchdowns and only four picks with 628 rushing yards and 10 rushing scores. While those numbers aren’t overwhelming, when combined with the success of Syracuse as a team, Dungey deserves consideration in the Heisman race, even if he’s not a top candidate.
9. D’Eriq King, QB, Houston
Quite frankly, Houston Cougars quarterback D’Eriq King was a massive letdown on Saturday evening as he and his team lost to an SMU Mustangs team that they should’ve ran into the ground. Though he was productive in the loss from a yardage and scoring standpoint, King truthfully didn’t perform at the level that he should have in a game that they should have won.
King went just 11-of-22 for 175 yards and two touchdowns through the air and was somewhat stifled with his legs, rushing for 54 yards on 13 carries, though he did add another touchdown. Even still, King now has over 3,000 total yards and 42 combined touchdowns on the season, and only five interceptions to his detriment. While he was disappointing this week, his overall body of work still speaks loudly enough to keep him in the top 10 of these rankings.