As we round out the first month of the college football season, ESPN has launched its 2023 Heisman Tracker to give fans an early look at who’s in the running for the sport’s most coveted individual award.
While many would think USC’s Caleb Williams would be the out-and-out frontrunner, the network actually has a different QB out of the Pac-12 with the inside edge to join the Heisman fraternity: Washington’s Michael Penix Jr.
We have an awesome Heisman tracker with stats, graphs, etc. to watch the progression throughout the season. https://t.co/nSK1VorKdo
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) September 27, 2023
Writing:
Well, well, look here. This former Hoosier has led the Huskies to a 4-0 record against four fairly solid teams, and not one of those contests has been close. He’s not really running the ball at all, but he also hasn’t had to, throwing for 1,636 yards with 15 TD passes, already well ahead of last season’s marks of 4,641 and 31. It helps that he’s been sacked only once. The national buzz that’s building around the Tampa Bay native is even more impressive when you consider that a relatively large number of folks have yet to see him play. Since his five TD passes in a season debut on ABC against Boise State, his next three games have aired on the much lower-profile conference network, a streaming service or at 10:30 p.m. ET. That will change as autumn rolls on, especially Nov. 4 when Washington travels to see [Caleb Williams].
Michael Penix Jr. putting up UNREAL numbers this season:
1,636 pass YDs (1st in nation)
16 pass TDs (1st in nation)
93.7 QBR (1st in nation)
3 games with over 400+ YDsHeisman 🔜? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/IPHn7Riafi
— Bleacher Report CFB (@BR_CFB) September 26, 2023
Penix has been off to an incredible start in 2023. We’ll see if he can carry it throughout a string of tough conference battles vs. the likes of Oregon, USC, Utah, Oregon State and Washington State.