Heisman watch: Kyle Trask takes lead, Justin Fields struggles, Spencer Rattler is back

Heisman watch candidate No. 6: Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati

The Cincinnati Bearcats’ perfect record in 2020 was tested more seriously than it has been at any other point in the season as they went on the road to Orlando and faced a spunky UCF team. The Knights found offensive success in this game, which put the pressure on Bearcats quarterback Desmond Ridder to continue his torrid run of late that has caused him to surge up these rankings.

Ridder did exactly that on Saturday. Against UCF, the Cincinnati quarterback continued to look like Lamar Jackson reincarnate as he threw for 338 yards with two touchdowns and no picks while rushing for 57 yards and scoring twice more. Ridder now has 10 passing touchdowns, 11 rushing touchdowns and just two interceptions over his last five games, giving him 27 total scores and over 2,000 total yards on the season. At the helm of an unbeaten team, he deserves to keep climbing in the Heisman race.

Heisman watch candidate No. 5: DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone on the Alabama offense who didn’t have a nice day at the office against Kentucky considering that the Crimson Tide hung 63 points on the Wildcats. While that may be true, wide receiver DeVonta Smith continued to rise above the rest as the team’s No. 1 wide receiver and put up eye-popping numbers while also breaking some impressive records.

Smith unsurprisingly led the way for the Tide passing offense as he caught nine balls for 144 yards and two touchdowns on the day. His first score of the day, however, made him the SEC leader in career touchdown receptions, passing Amari Cooper to achieve that mark. For just this season, though, Smith is coming up on a 1,000-yard season quickly (903) and already has 10 scores. If that’s not a top-five candidate in the Heisman race, what are we even doing here?