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Heisman Trophy 2018: Who got snubbed?

By Cody Williams

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 21: Gardner Minshew #16 of the Washington State Cougars passes during the second quarter against the USC Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 21: Gardner Minshew #16 of the Washington State Cougars passes during the second quarter against the USC Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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PALO ALTO, CA – OCTOBER 27: Gardner Minshew #16 of the Washington State Cougars falling to the ground throws the ball away against the Stanford Cardinal during the first half of their NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA – OCTOBER 27: Gardner Minshew #16 of the Washington State Cougars falling to the ground throws the ball away against the Stanford Cardinal during the first half of their NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

1. Gardner Minshew, QB, Washington State

After spending time at East Carolina, Gardner Minshew made his way to Pullman for the 2018 season to take the spot of Luke Falk, who graduated after the 2017 season, at the helm of Mike Leach’s offense with the Washington State Cougars. To put it mildly, expectations for the quarterback and his team were quite limited, despite Leach’s track record for producing prolific offenses. Even the most optimistic likely couldn’t have seen what Minshew had in store coming.

Minshew came out of the gate of the 2018 campaign firing on all cylinders, starting the year with 400-yard passing games in two of his first three games. However, when the Cougars lost by three points to USC in their fourth game, it seemed as if things were about to come back down to Earth for the quarterback and his team. Instead, it only ignited them as they went on a run.

Led by the mustachioed Minshew, the Cougars reeled off seven-straight wins after the loss to the Trojans, and the quarterback was the catalyst for it, emerging as the country’s leading passer and staking his claim as a Heisman candidate. In fact, had it not been for Wazzu’s loss and Minshew’s two-interception, no-touchdown performance against Washington in the Apple Cup, he may well have been a fourth finalist.

Next. Simulated 16-team 2018 College Football Playoff bracket. dark

Even still, Minshew completed 70.6 percent of his passes in 2018 for 4,477 yards and 36 touchdowns while throwing only nine interceptions over the 12 games in the regular season. Though he may have come out of nowhere, what he was able to do both as an individual and in regards to putting the Cougars in the national spotlight was still worthy of consideration for being a 2018 Heisman finalist.

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