Last season, Malachi Toney was one of the most important players on a Miami team that came within about half a football field of winning the national title. Only 17 years old at the start of the season, the freshman and hometown product caught 109 balls for 1,211 yards and 10 scores, rushed for 113 yards and another touchdown, threw for 82 yards and two more touchdowns and averaged a robust 13.0 yards per punt return.
Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson schemed up quite a few fun ways to get the inexperienced receiver involved, using him on loads of screens and horizontal passes; nearly half of his catches -- 48 for 369 yards -- came at or behind the line of scrimmage. It was a beautiful use of a unique player, but it also made me wonder what might happen when he has officially learned a full route tree. How good might he be when he's a fully fledged receiver and not just a brilliant playmaker?
We got a glimpse of that vision Friday night in Palo Alto, California, and frankly, it was terrifying.
Against Stanford in the first game of his sophomore season, Toney caught 12 of 13 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns. He still caught three passes behind the line of scrimmage, but he was also targeted six times on passes 15 or more yards downfield, catching four of them for 185 yards and two scores. Despite Stanford knowing how dominant Toney could be (and theoretically attempting to get more defenders in his general vicinity), he seemed to create acres of separation every time he ran downfield. It was one of the most dominant receiver performances you'll ever see.
Toney's performance was good enough to bump him up to fifth on DraftKings' Heisman odds list, behind Ohio State's star receiver Jeremiah Smith and three quarterbacks (including his own, Darian Mensah).
Top 10 Heisman contenders, per DraftKings odds:
1. Darian Mensah, Miami (+550)
2. Arch Manning, Texas (+950)
3. Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State (+1,000)
4. CJ Carr, Notre Dame (+1,100)
5. Malachi Toney, Miami (+1,250)
6. Dante Moore, Oregon (+1,300)
7. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss (+1,300)
8. Julian Sayin, Ohio State (+1,400)
9. Sam Leavitt, LSU (+1,500)
10. Jayden Maiava, USC (+1,750)
But on the Heisman of the Week list, Toney is the season's first No. 1. He beat out some stiff competition. This season, Heisman is running its Heisman Hopefuls Fan Vote all season long, with a platform that provides statistics, EA Sports ratings and other information. In that vein, I am once again awarding the Heisman every week of the season and doling out weekly points, F1-style (10 points for first place, 9 for second, and so on).
How will this Heisman race play out, and how different will the result be from the actual Heisman voting? We'll find out. But in the meantime, let's celebrate Toney, Pitt's seven-touchdown Mason Heintschel and the rest of the week's best.
This week's Heisman winner: Malachi Toney
1. Malachi Toney, Miami (10 points)
Week 1 numbers: 13 targets and 12 catches for 234 yards and three touchdowns against Stanford
Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith caught eight passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns against Ball State on Saturday, and my first reaction to his (clearly fantastic) stat line was, "That's it? He's going to need to raise his game to keep up with Toney." That's how high the Hurricanes sophomore set the bar.
Michael Irvin ... Andre Johnson ... Santana Moss ... Reggie Wayne ... Miami's receiver lineage is as eye-popping as any team's, but after setting the school's single-season yardage record last season, he now also has the single-game mark, topping Eddie Brown's 220-yard performance in the Doug Flutie Game in 1984. Xavier Restrepo holds the career mark with 2,844 yards; at this rate, Toney might take that down by the end of his sophomore season. He is preposterous, and we'll see which, if any, opponent can scheme up a way to slow him down.
The rest of the top 10
2. Mason Heintschel, Pittsburgh (9 points)
Week 1 numbers: 31-for-41 passing for 453 yards and 7 touchdowns, plus 26 non-sack rushing yards, against Miami (Ohio)
It took something as resoundingly perfect as Toney's performance to prevent Heintschel from reaching the top spot. It looked as if Pitt might have a Week 1 dogfight on its hands against defending MAC runner-up Miami (Ohio), but instead it was a Heintschel showcase and a 45-point win.
3. Kamario Taylor, Mississippi State (8 points)
Week 1 numbers: 22-for-34 passing for 354 yards and 4 touchdowns, plus 59 non-sack rushing yards and a TD, against Louisiana-Monroe
ULM probably will be one of the worst teams in FBS this season, but I'm doubting many players will do to the Warhawks what Taylor did. Another sophomore, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Taylor earned offseason hype for his electric physical talent, and he led MSU to its single-game yardage record (762) in his first start of the season.
4. Jordan Ross, LSU (7 points)
Week 1 numbers: 4 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 sack and a 30-yard pick-six against Clemson
For as bad as Clemson's offense looked Saturday night in Baton Rouge, the LSU defense played a large role in that, and Ross, a former top-25 recruit and Tennessee transfer, played the biggest role. The 6-foot-5, 254-pound junior was dominant on the line, and it was downright unfair when he dropped into coverage, stepped in front of a Christopher Vizzina pass and took it to the house.
5. Nate Sheppard, Duke (6 points)
Week 1 numbers: 38 combined rushes and receptions for 246 yards and 2 touchdowns against Tulane
Another sophomore! An 1,100-yard rusher for last season's ACC champions, Sheppard began his encore season by carrying a huge load in a rock-fight win over Tulane. He was responsible for 65% of Duke's yardage, and though his 38 touches set a pretty unsustainable pace for the rest of the season, it earned him a spot here this week.
6. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss (5 points)
Week 1 numbers: 21-for-36 passing for 336 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT, plus 60 rushing yards and a score, against Louisville
At quite a few points during Chambliss' performance in Sunday night's win over Louisville, I thought to myself, "Louisville's doing a pretty solid job of containing him." Yeah, he ended up with nearly 400 combined rushing and passing yards. That's what "containing" Chambliss looks like.
7. Darian Mensah, Miami (4 points)
Week 1 numbers: 27-for-30 passing for 401 yards and 5 touchdowns against Stanford
It's hard to split credit between passer and receiver, but the best thing you can say about Mensah's brilliant Friday night performance is that, when he wasn't throwing to the untouchable Toney, he still went 15-for-17 for 167 yards and two touchdown passes. The Miami offense is going to be so much fun to watch.
8. Jayden Maiava, USC (3 points)
Week 1 numbers: 23-for-25 passing for 349 yards and 3 touchdowns against Fresno State
Star transfer Terrell Anderson has yet to play, and nearly two-thirds of USC's receptions have come from freshmen thus far, and yet, Maiava is a combined 48-for-54 passing (88.9%!) for 635 yards, five TDs, no INTs and only one sack. A ruthlessly efficient passer.
9. Javon Tracy, Minnesota (2 points)
Week 1 numbers: 5 catches for 98 yards, plus 2 punt-return touchdowns against Eastern Illinois
Take two punt returns to the house in one game, and you get yourself on this list.
10. Lamont Lester Jr., Colorado (1 point)
Week 1 numbers: 5 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 3 sacks and a run stop against Georgia Tech
Deion Sanders signed quite a few exciting and proven defenders in this year's transfer portal, and the Buffaloes as a whole did a lovely job of containing Georgia Tech in their Thursday night win. But the most impressive defender might have been a 230-pound sophomore -- another sophomore! -- from Monmouth. Lester was in Tech's backfield so much, it was as if he were lining up there.
Honorable mention:
• Deuce Alexander, Ole Miss (6 targets and 5 catches for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns against Louisville)
• Cutter Boley, Arizona State (21-for-27 passing for 387 yards and 6 touchdowns against Morgan State).
• Jaylin Carter, Memphis (20 combined rushes and receptions for 201 yards and 4 touchdowns against Arkansas State).
• KJ Duff, Rutgers (16 targets and 9 catches for 196 yards and 3 touchdowns against UMass).
• Xavier Gilliam, Tennessee (5 tackles, 4 TFLs, 3 sacks and a forced fumble against Furman).
• Leroy Harris III, Kansas (4 tackles, all for loss, against Long Island).
• Josh Hoover, Indiana (13-for-16 passing for 231 yards and 4 touchdowns against North Texas).
• Sam Leavitt, LSU (16-for-28 passing for 230 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, plus 113 non-sack rushing yards and 2 scores, against Clemson).
• Lincoln Kienholz, Louisville (18-for-29 passing for 307 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus 88 non-sack rushing yards and a score, against Ole Miss).
• Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State (9 targets and 8 catches for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns against Ball State).
Gordie Lockbaum of the week: Jedidiah Galvin, Taylor University
Because I'm me, I'm going to give a shout-out to a smaller-school standout each week as well, naming it after the Holy Cross two-way legend who finished in the Heisman top five twice in the late 1980s.
This week's honor was pretty easy to determine. NAIA's Taylor University scored a key, storm-delayed 38-31 win over Saint Xavier on Saturday, and the Trojans wouldn't have done it without an absurd performance from Galvin. The sophomore (of course!) from Poseyville, Indiana, scored on runs of 15, 53, 68 and 95 yards and finished with a ridiculous 319 yards in only 18 carries. A legendary performance.
