Kirk Herbstreit thinks Gunner Stockton just put himself in the Heisman conversation.
The ESPN analyst brought up the Georgia quarterback during Saturday night’s 35-10 win over Texas, framing Stockton’s performance as evidence of how wide open the race remains.
“I’m not big on like, ‘He had a good game, give him the Heisman,’ but the Heisman is so wide open,” Herbstreit said during the broadcast. “And it just feels like last few years it comes down to, who gets hot at the end of the year? We saw, today, some great performances, and Gunner Stockton has stepped up; Jeremiyah Love at Notre Dame. I’m just saying, this kid, he’s played so well in these big games.”
Stockton completed 24 of 29 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns while adding 29 rushing yards and another score. He had five total touchdowns against just five incompletions.
Kirk Herbstreit thinks Georgia QB Gunner Stockton should be getting more Heisman talk. 🏈 🎙️ #CFB pic.twitter.com/omhWU3p0qD
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 16, 2025
The performance brought Stockton to 27 touchdowns on the season — 19 passing, eight rushing — through 10 games. He’s thrown three interceptions all year while completing 68.2% of his passes. More importantly, he outplayed Arch Manning in prime time, on national television, in a game Georgia had to have.
Chris Fowler agreed with Herbstreit about the uncertainty in the race. By mid-November, the Heisman usually has a clear frontrunner or at least a defined group of finalists. This year doesn’t.
“I don’t see a clear group of 4 finalists at this point,” Fowler said.
Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is the betting favorite. The Cal transfer has thrown 30 touchdowns against five interceptions while leading the Hoosiers to 11-0. His signature moment came against Penn State, when he hit Omar Cooper Jr. for an 80-yard touchdown with 1:51 left. Last week against Wisconsin, he went 22 of 24 for 299 yards and four touchdowns.
Ohio State’s Julian Sayin is completing 80.1% of his passes with a 186.2 rating. He’s been the most efficient quarterback in college football, becoming only the second QB in 30 years to have three games with at least 300 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and an 80% completion rate. The Buckeyes are 11-0 with Sayin under center.
But he lacks what ESPN’s Pamela Maldonado called the “Heisman moment.”
“Voters need to feel something, and right now, he has zero emotional imprint on the season,” Maldonado wrote. “Sure, he’s efficient, clean, and technically superior, but where’s the drama? Efficiency without drama is invisible in a Heisman race.”
Sayin hasn’t had the fourth-quarter comeback or the 500-yard explosion. He’s been excellent every week, which in the modern Heisman race might not be enough.
Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love was the other name Herbstreit mentioned alongside Stockton. Love had 147 yards on 23 carries against Pittsburgh, highlighted by a 56-yard touchdown where his spin move drew immediate comparisons to Braxton Miller. Through 10 games, Love has over 1,100 rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns. But running backs face an uphill battle in the modern Heisman race – Derrick Henry in 2015 was the last one to win it.
Jeremiyah Love with the best spin move since Braxton Miller
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) November 15, 2025
The race stays muddled because other contenders keep stumbling. Alabama’s Ty Simpson looked like he was gaining traction until he struggled against Oklahoma. Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed has flashed but hasn’t been consistent enough. Nobody’s seized control, which creates the opening Herbstreit’s describing.
Herbstreit’s argument works if you buy that the Heisman has become a late-season award. The last two winners back that up – Jayden Daniels caught fire down the stretch in 2023, and Travis Hunter separated himself in November of 2024. Sometimes, getting hot at the right time matters more than sustained excellence over four months.
Stockton just delivered in prime time against a top-10 opponent, and Georgia still has Charlotte and likely an SEC Championship game ahead if he wants to keep building his case.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.