1. Troy Smith (QB Ohio State): 17/20, 191 yds, 3 TD vs. Bowling Green - Smith was kind enough to throw three incomplete passes, otherwise, his game against Bowling Green would just be ridiculous. He remains on top, and is now the clear front runner in this race. Unless Ohio State has a huge let down, or Smith just implodes, this award is his...
2. Garrett Wolfe (RB Northern Illinois): 29 car., 162 yds, 2 TD vs. Miami (Ohio) - ...Unless Garrett Wolfe has something to say about it. Wolfe was amazing once again. While most of the country was watching Sunday Night NFL, I was flipping back and forth with the MAC contest. Miami was fully concentrating on stopping Wolfe. They rushed the holes in the line to get to him. They had two spies just watching him from the defensive side. They did everything they could to stop him, and he still overran them. Wolfe is the only thing between Troy Smith and the Heisman at this point, and if he keeps running this way, Smith may never get there.
3. Brady Quinn (QB ND): 27/37, 232 yds, 3 TD vs. Stanford - *Yawn* Another solid game for Brady Quinn this week, this time against a terrible Stanford squad. Given the way that Quinn and Notre Dame played against the Cardinal last season, this is a big improvement. Quinn also got a big boost from the running game which took a lot of pressure off him. He gets an off week this weekend to prepare for the Swiss cheese defense which is UCLA. Should be interesting to see if they have an answer to Notre Dame's offense.
4. Steve Slaton (RB West Va.): 26 car., 185 yds, 1 TD, 2 rec., 23 yds vs. Mississippi State - West Virginia only threw the ball nine times against Mississippi State, and Steve Slaton caught two of the six complete passes. He also accounted for half of the total offense that the Mountaineers put on the board against the Bulldogs. You can't argue with Slaton being the best player on the Mountaineers. Now we just have to see if he can do anything against a real defense. Too bad we won't see that until the beginning of November.
5. Eirk Ainge (QB Tennessee): 25/38, 268 yds, 2 TD vs. Georgia - This was the weekend for an SEC quarterback to show what they had. Any of them. Seriously. And only one did, though as I said, Chris Leak was a little handicapped. Erik Ainge made a big impression, coming back from a big deficit against Georgia to put 51 points on the board. I might have been wrong about one thing at the beginning of the year - David Cutcliffe has made a huge difference in the way that Ainge (and the Vols) have played this season.



6. Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech): 10 rec., 133 yds, 1 TD vs. Maryland - Yes, a receiver, but given the way that everyone played this weekend, there is no reason not to put Johnson this high. I have to take his performance with a grain of salt, since he was playing against Maryland's defense, which had trouble stopping a lot of great players this year. Johnson is 5th in the nation in receiving yardage and is slowly winning me over. I will wait to see what he does in two weeks against Clemson
7. Adrian Peterson (RB Oklahoma): 25 car., 109 yds, 1 TD, 94 ret. yards (59 long) vs. Texas - The only offense against Texas pretty much came from Peterson, and yet, I dropped him to 7th. Why? Because of lack of hussle. On a backwards pass by Paul Thompson, Peterson made half an attempt to catch it, and then let it bound away to be picked up for a touchdown by Aaron Ross. Peterson didn't even make an attempt to recover the ball until after it was already in Ross's arms. I have to drop him down on principle.
8. Ian Johnson (RB Boise State): 14 car., 92 yds, 1 TD vs. Louisiana Tech - Alright, I give. Ian Johnson makes my list. He is the second leading scorer on the ground behind Wolfe, and he is putting up a sick average in terms of yards per carry. I am still not ready to move him into the Top 5. He hasn't exactly been playing tough competition. Show me something against Fresno State and Nevada and then we can talk about a trip to New York.
9. Michael Hart (RB Michigan): 22 car., 122 yds vs. Michigan State - And now, my Michigan pack. This is getting to be difficult with Michigan. They are getting contributions from everywhere, like a top team should. They are having huge numbers running. They are passing the ball well (though Henne still overthrows the receivers from time to time). They boggle my mind each week. Hart wins the battle again this week, though it is getting close. He didn't score (again), but put up some nice numbers, and is continually a key reason for the Wolverine success. If you want a clear indicator of that, just look at the games that Michigan lost without him last season. Now look forward to this year, and tell me teams are scared to forget about him and concentrate on stopping the air attack. He is the main man right now for Michigan, and that keeps him in the list.
10. Mario Manningham (Michigan) 3 rec., 75 yds, 2 TD vs. Michigan State - Second best receiver in the nation. And he is doing exactly what I said he needed to do in order to get into my list, namely catch a lot of touchdowns. He is up to 9, which is the top number for a receiver in the Big Ten. He is also the only pass catcher in the Top 5 in scoring in the league. Manningham injured his knee during the game and reports are that he will miss the game against Penn State this week. We will just have to wait and see if Mario can keep being "Super" this season, but for now, he gets a mention on the list.

Outside chances: Chris Leak (Florida), Chad Henne (Michigan), John David Booty (USC)

Dropped from my watch list: JaMarcus Russell (QB LSU), Marshawn Lynch (RB Cal)

Heisman-like Performance

This week's player: Dan LeFevour - QB, Central Michigan
Line: 21/29, 295 yards, 3 TD vs. Toledo
Central Michigan isn't exactly known for being "good" at football. For the last few years, they have been part of the "Directional Michigan" group that gets lumped into the worst teams in college football by a number of media outlets. Maybe they just needed a good quarterback. Dan LeFevour has been a big time reason for why the Chippewas are 3-3 this year, and unbeaten in the MAC. He came off the bench against Kentucky in last week's game and almost led Central Michigan to an upset. He threw four touchdowns in that game and followed that performance with a real comeback against Toledo. Down 14-0, LeFevour, along with a tough defense, helped the Chippewas put 42 straight points on the board against the Rockets. This was the second week in a row where he did not throw an interception. Still only a freshman, it looks like LeFevour could have Central Michigan competing in the MAC for the next three years.

Ben Miraski writes for MRISports.com and is a featured blogger on FanIQ. Readers can contact Ben at bmiraski@mrisports.com