As the college football season winds down, the talk not only continues to turn toward the College Football Playoff rankings but also toward the Heisman Trophy rankings. Currently, it looks to be a tight race, specifically between two Pac-12 rivals in Washington's Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon's Bo Nix. But who has the advantage?
Most go back to the game where Penix and Nix had the opportunity to face off against one another back in Week 6. Penix and the Huskies football team bested Nix and the Ducks on that day at home, 36-33, although if not for some overly aggressive play-calls from Oregon football head coach Dan Lanning, it could have played out much differently.
Penix came out as the star of the game and the leading Heisman Trophy winner favorite after throwing a touchdown to Rome Odunze with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter in just two plays that gave the Huskies the final lead. He finished the day 22-for-37 with 302 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. But it's not as if his counterpart was bad by any means.
Nix was 33-for-44 with 337 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions, and even had 14 yards rushing. Nix did everything he could against the Huskies to get Oregon football the victory.
Bo Nix is now the Heisman Trophy favorite over Michael Penix Jr.
Since that game, both quarterbacks have continued to be impressive in their own right, but Nix has perhaps just looked more the part of holding the Heisman Trophy than Penix come Dec. 10. Plus, after his game against USC the other night, where he threw for 412 yards and four touchdowns, he's the current leading favorite, according to FanDuel.
After their encounter, Nix has been close to flawless and has had Oregon winning convincingly in every game. He's only thrown one interception since the Washington game, with only two overall this season. He's also yet to take a sack since that game. Meanwhile, he's thrown for 12 touchdowns, while adding another four rushing. He leads the nation in completion percentage with 77.7 percent.
Penix and Washington football immediately struggled after the Oregon game. They barely beat Arizona State, after not scoring an offensive touchdown, winning 15-7. Penix threw two interceptions in that game and threw one each against Stanford and USC the following weeks. In two of those games, his completion percentage dropped well under 60%. However, over that stretch of games, he did throw for eight touchdowns and ran for two. Penix leads the nation in passing yards with 3,533.
Could Jayden Daniels become the Heisman Trophy favorite?
As far as touchdown passes, Nix is third in the country with 29, while Penix is just behind with 28, with the leader in that category belonging to LSU's Jayden Daniels, who continues to make his name known in the Heisman race.
Daniels has been mightily impressive, considering he is the sole reason that LSU has been able to stay alive in games and stay among the top-25 in the College Football Playoff rankings. But voters are likely to turn their heads at LSU's three losses this season, while Washington and Oregon are residing in the top-6 with only one loss between them. Daniels has only four interceptions in 273 passing attempts, with 30 passing touchdowns and another eight rushing. He's rushed for nearly a thousand yards this season, with his last game against Florida, rushing for 234 yards.
The winner of the Heisman Trophy will come out of the Pac-12 Championship Game
While Daniels still can't be counted out of this Heisman Trophy race with two games left to put up even more staggering numbers, Penix and Nix can likewise do the same. The best thing any of these quarterbacks can do is keep winning, however, especially for Penix and Nix who can propel their teams into the top-4 of the College Football Playoff rankings.
Should Washington and Oregon win out, that will then set up a rematch between the two in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Dec. 1. That's also an important date because that's a week before the Heisman Trophy ceremony and three days before the deadline for ballots to be submitted by voters. Likely, the winning quarterback of the Pac-12 Championship Game will heavily allude to who the next Heisman Trophy winner will be.
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