Party Crashers: 10 Heisman Trophy dark horse candidates you can’t count out

Heisman dark horse No. 8: Deuce Vaughn, RB, Kansas State

Deuce Vaughn might be listed on the Kansas State depth chart as a running back, but the better designation would be “offensive weapon”. The 5-foot-6 star in Manhattan has been electric since first taking the field and 2020 and simply hasn’t stopped.

Just last season, Vaughn lit up the Big 12 single-handedly as he amassed 1,404 yards (on 6.0 yards per carry) and 18 touchdowns in the rushing game while also catching 49 passes for 468 yards and four touchdowns. He’s the definition of a game-breaker that can torch opposing defenses in any situation.

Once again, the lack of overall team success would be a problem for Vaughn in trying to get the hardware. With that said, you can’t ignore a player with the production, importance and skills that Vaughn possesses.

Heisman dark horse No. 7: Spencer Rattler, QB, South Carolina

Oh, how the tides have turned for Spencer Rattler. To be frank, he fell well short of the hype in Norman, which ultimately led to the aforementioned Caleb Williams taking over the job for the Sooners and Rattler eventually not following Lincoln Riley to USC — instead, he went the opposite direction and joining a familiar face, Shane Beamer, at South Carolina.

We’ve seen Rattler be productive at the Power 5 level in college football, albeit not in the SEC. In 11 games in the 2020 season, he completed 67.5 percent of his passes for 3,031 yards with 28 touchdowns and only seven interceptions along with six rushing scores.

Now in a more comfortable situation for him, perhaps we see him capitalize on the physical gifts he has and puts forth something closer to the campaign that we expected last season.