Heisman Trophy Watch: Ward continues to make case, Milroe struggles again in Week 8

Week 8 of the college football season is in the books. There were plenty of noteworthy moments in the college football world. The Georgia Bulldogs handed the Texas Longhorns their first loss of the season. The Alabama Crimson Tide lost their second game of the season, this time to the rival Tennessee Volunteers. The Miami Hurricanes survived an upset against the Louisville Cardinals in an offensive battle.

With the first official College Football Playoff rankings arriving soon, the focus is on which teams will make it into the 12-team field to compete for the national title. But there are also the individual awards, and the most followed competition every year is for the Heisman Trophy.

What do the Heisman rankings look like after Week 8?

Heisman Trophy Power Rankings, Week 8

There is a new named to add to the Heisman Trophy power rankings, and it's LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. LSU may have lot their opening game of the season, but they are firmly in the College Football Playoff competition.

In Week 8, Nussmeier and LSU took on the Arkansas Razorbacks, who was capable of pulling off upsets. Look no further than their win over the Tennessee Volunteers earlier in the year, handing them their first loss. But on Saturday, the Tigers cruised to a 34-10 win.

Nussmeier didn't get on the scoreboard, but he did have a solid game, completing 23-of-34 pass attempts for 233 yards. On the year, Nussmeier threw for 2,222 yards, 18 touchdowns, and six interceptions.

As long as LSU wins games and Nussmeier plays well, he should get some Heisman consideration.

The Colorado Buffaloes are one of the most-followed teams in college football due in part to the star power on the team in Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The signal-caller is showing the world that he is the arm talent to be a legitimate top-draft prospect and, arguably, the best at his position in the 2025 class. Last week, he nearly led Colorado to an upset win over Kansas State, without their top receivers in Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr.

This week, Colorado was on the road to take on the Arizona Wildcats, who were sitting at .500 entering Week 8. It wasn't even a close game for Colorado, as they cruised to a 34-7 win.

Sanders scored three touchdowns in the first half to give Colorado an early 28-7 lead — a one-yard touchdown pass to Drelon Miller, a 16-yard pass to Will Sheppard, and a six-yard touchdown run.

Overall, Sanders threw for 250 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions while completing 23-of-33 pass attempts.

The Ole Miss Rebels and Jaxson Dart were on the bye this week. Just last week, Ole Miss lost i overtime to the LSU Tigers. They will return from the bye after fellow SEC counterparts like Texas and Alabama all losing in Week 8.

While Dart struggled in recent weeks, he has played well overall this season. Through seven games, Dart threw for 2,384 yards, 14 touchdowns, and three interceptions while completing 70.2 percent of his passes.

Dart faces long odds of winning the Heisman, but he has played well enough to stay inside the top 10.

The Ohio State Buckeyes suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Oregon Ducks for their first defeat of the season. Even so, they are still in good position to make it into the College Football Playoff.

Perhaps the most impressive player on Ohio State has been freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Filling the shoes left by Marvin Harrison Jr. was always going to be tough, but Smith has played realll well in just his first year.

This season, Smith has recorded 70 or more receiving yards and a receiving touchdown per game. Overall, Smith recorded 553 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 32 catches.

Smith is a go-to target for quarterback Will Howard, so we can expect him to continue to make plays and produce on the stat sheets.

What happened to the Jalen Milroe who had a game filled with numerous Heisman Trophy-caliber plays against the Georgia Bulldogs. Ever since, it feels like Milroe has taken numerous steps backward, whether it was against Vanderbilt or South Carolina.

This week, Milroe had to face off against the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers, and it wasn't a great outing for the once-favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. Milroe threw for 239 yars, one touchdown, and two interceptions while completing just 25-of-45 pass attempts. Milroe wasn't much of a factor running the football either, as he picked up just 11 yards on 18 carries.

Unless Milroe really turns things around, he probably won't be a finalist for the Heisman.

One player who has really risen up the rankings is Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik. We all know how bad the team played against Georgia to start the year. But ever since, Clemson has been a juggernaut on offense, and Klubnik is a main reason why.

On Saturday, Clemson took on Virginia, led by their former offensive coordinator Tony Elliott. With Virginia leading 10-3, Clemson's offense went on a run of all runs, taking a 38-10 lead by the end of the third quarter. Klubnik contributed to that with two third-quarter touchdowns (an 11-yarder and a 40-yarder to Olsen Patt-Henry). Clemson went on to win 48-31.

Klubnik finished the game throwing for 308 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception while completing 23-of-35 pass attempts.

Klubnik will be a name to keep an eye on in the Heisman race, especially with Clemson being solid contenders in the ACC.

Dillon Gabriel didn't play on Saturday. That's because he played on Friday night for the Oregon Ducks. Their opponents? The lowly Purdue Boilermakers. The thing about top teams like Oregon, they should easily beat teams like Purdue, and they did just that on Friday.

Oregon cruised to a 35-0 win over Purdue. Gabriel thrived, completing all but four passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns on 25 attempts. Gabriel did throw one interception, however. But Gabriel navigated Oregon's offense downfield with relative ease throughout the night.

The Ducks are going to be in the driver's seat for the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff if they keep up at this pace. If they do, Gabriel will receive an invite to the Heisman Trophy ceremony at the end of the year.

Travis Hunter made waves in the college football world by making his case to be the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy over Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. Hunter kind of diminished what Jeanty has done so far this season, while hyping up his own dual-threat abilities. The thing is, Hunter hasn't played that much in the past two weeks.

Last week, Hunter left in the first half against Kansas State after suffering a right shoulder injury and sat the remainder of the game. Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said Hunter would play on Saturday against Arizona.

Hunter played on a limited snap count and ultimately sat for the entirety of the second half, as the coaching staff wanted to play it safe. Hunter played 41 snaps on offense and 13 on defense, according to the FOX broadcast. Hunter logged two receptions for 17 yards at the receiver position and recorded one tackle on defense.

We'll see if Hunter will be able to play a full game next week when the Buffaloes take on the Cincinnati Bearcats.

If you wanted a college football game with a bunch of scoring, then Miami and Louisville was the game for you. It was an all-offense kind of game at Louisville. In all of this, Miami quarterback Cam Ward looked like a total superstar.

Ward completed 21-of-32 pass attempts for 319 yards and four touchdowns in the 52-45 victory. These numbers helped overcome a Miami defense that struggled against Louisville and kept their undefeated season alive and in the driver's seat in the ACC.

Ward is one of the best quarterbacks in college football and will likely be a first-round draft pick in April. Ward will be a Heisman finalist by the end of the season if he keeps this play up.

Even though Ashton Jeanty and the Boise State Broncos were on a bye this weekend, there's simply no denying that he is the best player in college football currently and the favorite to win the Heisman this season. Jeanty is simply a difference-maker when he's on the football field, and runs over opposing defenders with ease.

On the year, Jeanty has rushed for 1,248 yards and 17 touchdowns on 126 carries. Jeanty is averaging 9.9 yards per carry. Yes, you read that right, Jeanty is nearly averaging a first down per carry!

Jeanty is looking to break Barry Sanders' all-time rushing yards record in a season, who recorded 2,628 yards in 1988. That feat helped Sanders clinch the Heisman Trophy that year. If Jeanty gets anywhere close to that number or breaks it, he should win the Heisman.