Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler ponder Heisman Trophy race as Gunner Stockton shines in Georgia’s win over Texas
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Usually by Week 13 of the college football season, we have a frontrunner or two in the Heisman Trophy race.
Some leading quarterback, standout receiver or productive tailback would have stolen the show by now and won over everybody’s pick to win the prestigious award.
But the 2025 campaign has strayed from the norm.
Quarterbacks are still the focal point, but none have appeared to separate themselves. Alabama’s Ty Simpson was torching defenses and emerging as a favorite before he hit a speed bump in the form of Oklahoma’s vaunted unit on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed showed that he was mortal in throwing a pair of first-half interceptions against South Carolina before leading a furious rally, and even Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza has appeared to cool off in recent weeks.
The most flawless signal-caller of them all has been Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, but a lack of ‘Heisman moments’ and high-tier competition up to this point has caused some to look elsewhere. And while Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia is far from done, he has some ground to make up as the Commodores pursue the CFP.
So with Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton appearing to make the biggest Heisman statements on Saturday, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler discussed their thoughts on the current race following the weekend’s games.
“The Heisman is just so wide open, and it just feels like the last few years it’s come down to who gets hot at the end of the year,” Herbstreit said. “We saw some great performances today…and Gunner Stockton played really well. This kid has played so well in these big games, he had 5 total touchdowns against 5 incompletions tonight.”
Fowler agreed, stating that he believes the Heisman Trust likely hasn’t narrowed its choices down much as of yet.
“I don’t see a clear group of 4 finalists at this point,” Fowler said.
Parker is currently the sports editor for the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
