Can you believe that the 2024 season is already behind us?
Week 7 was the official mid-season. With each team receiving a two-week bye in 2024, there are just seven weeks left in the regular season until conference championship week.
We've already learned a lot, and things are only going to get even crazier over the final seven weeks of the season. Here are our mid-season giveaways since we're already halfway through October.
Heisman: Ashton Jeanty, stan Boise
It's quite easy. Jeanty was unstoppable through the first six games of the season. Yes, Boise State is out of the power conferences, and yes, the Broncos haven't had a particularly busy schedule. But Jeanty is just ridiculous.
The junior has rushed for 1,248 yards so far through 2024. That's more than 300 yards more than Iowa's Kaleb Johnson, the nation's No. 2 running back. Jeanty's 31 carries for 217 yards against Hawaii late Saturday night was his worst carrying performance of the season. Yet he averaged seven yards per attempt!
On the season, Jeanty is averaging 9.9 yards rushing and has scored 18 total touchdowns in six games. Three of those came against No. 2 Oregon, which had 25 carries for 192 yards in the Broncos' 37-34 loss in Week 2. It's hard to justify a Heisman win for any other player at this point.
Best QB: Jalen Milroe, Alabama
There's a case to be made for Oregon's Dillon Gabriel, especially after the Ducks beat Ohio State on Saturday and Milroe threw two interceptions against South Carolina in Alabama's narrow victory. However, we are betting on a player who has made incredible progress since being benched in the third week of the 2023 season, and a QB who can be the most important in the offense of his top team.
Milroe totaled 23 TDs in six games and completed 73% of his passes. Gabriel has better shot making efficiency, but Oregon's offense plans to make more high-percentage shots. He also wasn't as important as a running back. Milroe is Alabama's second-leading rusher with 319 yards and has more than twice as many rushing TDs as running back Jam Miller. If Alabama returns to the playoffs, Milroe's excellence will be a major reason why.
Best WR: Tre Harris, Ole Miss
Harris is having the best season of his career. And he has played only seven games so far this season. Harris had 65 catches for 935 yards in 2022, his final season at Louisiana Tech. In his first season at Ole Miss, Harris had 54 catches for 985 yards.
This year, Harris has 59 catches for 987 yards in seven games. He also has six receiving TDs and is on track to eclipse his career record for catches TDs. Harris has played more games in college football, but is the nation's leader in receiving yards (San Jose State's Nick Nash is second with 806 yards) and second in receptions.
Oh, he also made a phenomenal catch against LSU on Saturday night.
Best defenseman: Travis Hunter, Colorado
Hunter achieves this because he may be the most valuable player in football. He played 44 of 45 snaps on Saturday before leaving in the first half for Colorado's loss to Kansas State. He is the only player who regularly plays in both attack and defense, and he is excellent in both. Hunter is the Buffaloes' leading receiver and has 49 catches for 587 yards as well as a receiver.
We also selected Hunter for this award knowing he may be limited in the near future. He didn't play at all in the second half due to an apparent right shoulder injury. If Hunter is sidelined for an extended period of time, Colorado will take a significant hit. Especially if WR Jimmy Horn is also sidelined for multiple weeks. He also suffered an injury in the first half of the game against the Wildcats.
Best Coach: Curt Cignetti, Indiana; Bryant Vincent, Louisiana-Monroe
We were torn between two coaches in their first years at their new schools, so we figured this one was a tie. Cignetti came to Indiana from James Madison, and the Hoosiers are 6-0 through seven weeks. Since becoming the head college football coach in 2011, Cignetti's teams have never had a losing record at any level. The streak will continue in 2025 unless a seven-game losing streak ends the Hoosiers' season.
Vincent, former UAB interim coach, is doing an amazing job at ULM. The Warhawks are 5-1 after beating Southern Miss on Saturday and are two wins away from the school's first winning season since 2012. If Louisiana-Monroe wins eight games in 2024, the school will equal its win total from the 2020-2023 season. Not bad for a guy who was passed over at UAB in favor of Trent Dilfer.
Biggest surprise: BYU
The Cougars are one of only two undefeated teams in the Big 12. BYU went 5-7 in its first season in the conference, but has already exceeded that win total this season. The Cougars are outscoring their opponents by an average of 34-16, and the defense is forcing nearly 2.5 turnovers per game. This turnover rate may not be sustainable, but it's hard to imagine BYU falling out of the Big 12 title race in the second half of the season. The Cougars do not have any ranked teams on their schedule for the remainder of the season.
Biggest disappointment: Florida State
This isn't a big surprise. Preseason ACC favorites are 1-5 overall and 1-4 in the ACC. It's been a terrible start to the season for the Seminoles and a bowl game seems almost impossible. FSU would need to go 5-1 to play a 13th game, and it still has games left this season against Miami and Notre Dame. Coach Mike Norvell is by no means the center of attention, but it's hard to understand the decline after an undefeated regular season in 2023.
