The running backs have dominated the Heisman trophy spotlight this season with Penn State’s Saquon Barkley and Stanford’s Bryce Love topping the list of sports betting favorites to win the award. However, the sportsbooks shook up the odds after a wild Week 9 in which Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett put on a show in a comeback win over the Nittany Lions. Barrett climbed from third to second on the list of sports betting favorites to win the award with plenty of time to make up the remaining ground the rest of the way. Here is a look at the Heisman trophy favorites according to the updated sports betting odds to win the award.
RB: Saquon Barkley, Penn State
Heisman Trophy Odds: -150
It isn’t Barkley’s fault that Penn State blew an 11-point lead in the final five minutes of its 39-38 loss to the Buckeyes. To be fair, Ohio State focused on shutting down Barkley and limited him to just 2.1 yards per carry on 21 attempts. He finished with his worst production of the season with just 67 total yards and a touchdown. Barkley has averaged 5.8 yards per carry while registering 1,272 total yards and 12 touchdowns this season so it makes sense that he is still the betting favorite to win the award. However, the Nittany Lions no longer have the best record in the Big Ten so his status as the Heisman favorite might not be as secure as it was before Penn State’s loss to the Buckeyes.
QB: J.T. Barrett, Ohio State
Heisman Trophy Odds: +300
Barrett made a statement in last week’s comeback win over the Nittany Lions. The senior quarterback delivered his best performance of the season as he threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns in the biggest game of the year for the Buckeyes so far. After a slow start, Barrett has thrown for over 1,300 yards and 20 touchdowns compared to zero interceptions over the course of five straight Ohio State wins. Barrett is on pace to exceed his passing yardage total from last year with 25 touchdowns compared to just one interception so far. A strong finish to the regular season could result in Barrett emerging as a Heisman favorite by the time the regular season is over.
RB: Bryce Love, Stanford
Heisman Trophy Odds: +550
Love was on pace to be one of the favorites to win the Heisman before an ankle injury put his contention in jeopardy. The junior back missed last week’s game against Oregon State because of the injury and according to head coach David Shaw he is expected to be a “game-time decision” for this week’s game against Washington State. Love has averaged a ridiculous 10.3 yards per carry while rushing for 1,387 yards and 11 touchdowns this season so it’s unfortunate that an injury could keep him out of the lineup for Stanford.
QB: Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma Sooners
Heisman Trophy Odds: +1200
Mayfield is coming off another strong performance in a 49-27 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders as he threw for 281 yards and four touchdowns with an interception. Mayfield has thrown for 2,628 yards and 23 touchdowns compared to just three interceptions while leading Oklahoma to a 7-1 record so far this season. Mayfield will be in the spotlight once again this weekend when the Sooners clash with the rival Oklahoma State Cowboys. While he is still among the sports betting favorites to win the Heisman, Mayfield will need an outstanding finish to leapfrog either Barkley or Barrett and become a finalist for the award.
QB: Khalil Tate, Arizona Wildcats
Heisman Trophy Odds: +5000
While we’re breaking protocol a little bit (breaking the order of the futures), Tate is worth mentioning in this spot. While he’s at 50/1 to win the Heisman Trophy, it wouldn’t be a complete shock if he was among the favorites after this weekend.
Tate had 275 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns, and 146 rushing yards and another touchdown against a ranked Washington State team last week. That’s been the norm for him since he took over the starting job. In four October games, he had 743 passing yards and six touchdowns, and then ran for 840 yards and eight touchdowns (on just 59 carries).
This week, he gets the ESPN spotlight as faces off with USC. Another performance like he’s had and he’s going to be among the Heisman Trophy frontrunners.
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