Can you believe the 2024 season is halfway through?
Week 7 marked the official midpoint of the season. With each team getting two bye weeks in 2024, there are only seven weeks left in the regular season before the week of the conference championships.
We’ve already learned a lot and things are about to get even wilder in the final seven weeks of the season. These are our mid season prices as we are halfway through the month of October.
Heisman: Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
This one is pretty simple. Jeanty was unstoppable in the first six games of the season. Yes, Boise State is outside the power conferences and yes, the Broncos haven’t played a super tough schedule. But Jeanty is just ridiculous.
The junior has rushed for 1,248 yards so far in 2024. That’s more than 300 yards more than Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, the nation’s second-leading rusher. Jeanty’s 31 carries for 217 yards against Hawaii late Saturday night was his worst per-carry performance of the season. And he still averaged seven yards per attempt!
For the season, Jeanty is averaging 9.9 yards rushing, and he has scored 18 total touchdowns in six games. Three of those came against No. 2 Oregon, when he had 25 carries for 192 yards in the Broncos’ 37-34 Week 2 loss. It’s hard to justify a Heisman case for another player at this point.
Best QB: Jalen Milroe, Alabama
You can make a case for Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, especially after the Ducks swept Ohio State on Saturday and Milroe threw two interceptions against South Carolina in Alabama’s narrow win. But we’re going with a player who has made incredible progress since being benched in Week 3 of the 2023 season, and the QB who is perhaps the most essential to his top team’s offense.
Through six games, Milroe has totaled 23 TDs and completed 73% of his passes. Gabriel’s completion percentage is better, but Oregon’s offense is making more throws at a higher percentage. He hasn’t been all that important as a runner either. Milroe is Alabama’s second-leading rusher with 319 yards and he has more than twice as many rushing TDs as running back Jam Miller. If Alabama gets back into the playoffs, Milroe’s excellence will be a big reason why.
Best WR: Tre Harris, Ole Miss
Harris is having the best season of his career. And he has played just seven games so far this season. Harris posted 65 catches for 935 yards in 2022 during his senior 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 pace to eclipse his career-high in TD catches. Harris has played one more game than almost anyone else in college football, but he leads the nation in receiving yards (San Jose State’s Nick Nash is second with 806 yards) and is second in receptions.
Oh, he also made this great catch against LSU on Saturday night.
Best Defensive Player: Travis Hunter, Colorado
Hunter gets this because he is arguably the most valuable player in football. He played 44 of 45 snaps on Saturday before leaving Colorado’s first-half loss to Kansas State. He is the only player who regularly plays in both attack and defense, and he is excellent at both. Hunter is the Buffaloes’ top cornerback and also has 49 catches for 587 yards as a receiver.
We’re also picking Hunter at this price, knowing he may be limited for the foreseeable future. He didn’t play the second half at all due to an apparent right shoulder injury. If Hunter is out for an extended period of time, Colorado will take a significant hit. Especially if WR Jimmy Horn is also sidelined for several weeks. He was also injured in the first half against the Wildcats.
Best Coach: Curt Cignetti, Indiana; Bryant Vincent, Louisiana-Monroe
We were torn between two coaches in their first year at new schools, so we declared this one a tie. Cignetti came to Indiana from James Madison and the Hoosiers are 6-0 through seven weeks. Since becoming college football head coaches in 2011, Cignetti’s teams have not had a losing season at any level. That streak will continue into 2025, barring a seven-game losing streak that would end the Hoosiers’ season.
Vincent, the former interim coach of UAB, is doing a fantastic 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 can win eight games in 2024, the school will surpass its combined win total from 2020-2023 to match. seasons. Not bad for the guy who was passed over for Trent Dilfer at UAB.
Biggest surprise: BYU
The Cougars are one of only two teams undefeated overall in the Big 12. BYU went 5-7 in their first season in the conference, but has already surpassed that win total so far this season. The Cougars are outscoring their opponents by an average of 34-16, while the defense is forcing nearly 2.5 turnovers per game. That 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 scheduled for the remainder of the season.
Biggest disappointment: Florida State
This one isn’t really a surprise. The preseason ACC favorites are 1-5 overall and 1-4 in the ACC. It’s been a miserable start to the season for the Seminoles and a bowl game feels almost impossible. FSU would need to win 5-1 to play a 13th game and there are still games at Miami and Notre Dame to play this season. Coach Mike Norvell isn’t in the top spot by any means, but the fall from the undefeated 2023 regular season is hard to comprehend.
