1. Troy Smith (QB Ohio State): 16/25, 186 yds, 4 TD vs. Iowa - I think that the Buckeyes might want to start making plans to travel to Arizona this year. After another dominating performance, it looks like the only team that might be able to stop them is Ohio State,... or maybe Michigan in the last week of the season. However, right now, they are riding high and the biggest reason is the leadership and passing of Troy Smith. Smith had another big game to move back into the lead in the Heisman race after taking last week off against Penn State. His road is even easier this week against Bowling Green. You think the defensive backs of the Falcons aren't scared right now?
2. Adrian Peterson (RB Oklahoma): BYE, Season Stats: 643 yds, 5.5 ypc, 7 TD - There is a saying that you can't lose your starting job to injury. Tell that to Wally Pipp, and now tell Adrian Peterson that a bye week can't cost you the lead in the Heisman race. With all the great performances this week, you could have made the case that Peterson could have fallen further. He has a chance to make a great impression this week and confuse some of the voters when he takes on Texas. The Longhorns better be ready.
3. Garrett Wolfe (RB Northern Illinois): 31 car., 353 yds, 3 TD vs. Ball State - Allow me to make introductions for those who don't know him by now. Nation, Mr. Wolfe, Mr. Wolfe, Nation. Wolfe is making it hard to forget him. His performances are still coming against teams like Ball State or Indiana State, but you can't deny that he is a much more advanced player than the defenses that he faces, and that he showed against Ohio State that he can do the same thing to bigger and faster teams. Wolfe is a monster, and unless something happens to him or he has an off game against a MAC foe, he should be sitting in New York. Either that, or the voters just aren't paying attention.
4. Brady Quinn (QB ND): 29/38, 316 yds, 2 TD vs. Purdue - Welcome back Brady Quinn. Good to see you still have some talent in that arm of yours. Quinn averaged a little of 8 yards per attempt this week, picking on the one stat I used against him last week. Since I am not, and was never sold on Purdue, Quinn doesn't move up into the top three. He showed the talent that was hyped coming into the season in this game. Now he just has to keep it up. If he has another let down game against any of Notre Dame's next foes (Stanford, UCLA, Navy, UNC, Air Force...), we might have to rethink this Top 5 mark and be looking at Quinn watching the ceremony from his home.
5. Chris Leak (QB Florida): 14/20, 174 yds, 2 TD vs. Alabama - If Leak could find a way to get going in the first half of a game, we might be looking at a two arm race for the Heisman. He again led his team back from behind, this time against Alabama. Leak faces LSU this week. The top ranked team defense will show where Leak belongs on this list and whether his time in the Top 5 is limited.



6. Marshawn Lynch (RB Cal): 17 car., 106 yds, 3 rec., 59 yds, 3 TD vs. Oregon State - So, if you throw out his first week this season, Lynch is definitely a Top 5 player in the league. However, I still can't get that performance out of my head. Lynch was doing everything once again on Saturday against Oregon State. His scoring numbers are right with the league leaders after not doing anything to begin the season. He will continue to be the focal point of the Cal offense, given how shaky the passing game can be for them (and who would have thought we would say that about a Jeff Tedford team).
7. JaMarcus Russell (QB LSU): 18/20, 330 yds, 3 TD vs. Mississippi State - So, I guess Mississippi State wore out their defense in the first few weeks of the year because JaMarcus Russell had no trouble at all making them look silly on Saturday. He missed on only two passes all day and was able to take a seat early thanks to the very lopsided score. Russell will be taking on Florida this weekend and the pecking order of SEC quarterbacks will be complete after that game. My money is on Russell moving up a bit in this list.
8. Steve Slaton (RB West Va.): BYE, Season Stats: 583 yds, 6.8 ypc, 6 TD - As I mentioned before, this was a bad week to have off, especially after Slaton had an off game last time the voters saw him. I move him down again this week, but he is not off the radar yet. He just has a lot of work to do. Remember, this kid is only a sophomore, and while that shouldn't matter in terms of the votes at the end of the year, it does play into the final tallies. Don't be surprised if that is one of the reasons that is given for why Slaton doesn't take home the award this season.
9. Michael Hart (RB Michigan): 31 car., 195 yds vs. Minnesota - I am beginning to doubt my statement last week taht Hart is the only Wolverine that might deserve this award this year. Sure, 195 yards is nothing to sneeze at, but now he is starting to have to share the spotlight a little too often. Henne seems to have a Jekyll and Hyde bit to him. Week 4 wasn't good to him, but Week 5 was and therefore, look who is back in the outside chance group, even if it is a far outside chance group at this point. And Mario Manningham is doing exactly what I said he had to do last week. He is up to 9th in receiving yards and his 7 touchdown receptions is also tied for tops in the nation. Hart is the token representative this week from Michigan, but don't be surprised if that changes.
10. (TIE) John David Booty (QB USC): 23/32, 269 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT vs. Washington State, Eirk Ainge (QB Tennessee): 23/27, 324 yds, 4 TD vs. Memphis - A tie? A tie! Yes, a tie. Booty and Ainge were both too good in their games for me to say that either of them didn't belong on this list. Now, if I were being picky, maybe I would take Booty and drop him while keeping Ainge, just based on the performance of both teams in their games this week. The loss of Dwayne Jarrett didn't seem to hurt Booty too much this week, as he found Steve Smith often to pump up his stats. Ainge was stellar in his game, with his only "pick" being taken away because of an offsides penalty on the Tigers. This should shake out this week with Washington playing USC, and Tennessee taking on Georgia.

Outside chances: Mario Manningham (Michigan), Chad Henne (Michigan), Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech)

Heisman-like Performance

This week's player: John Beck - QB, BYU
Line: 23/37, 321 yards, 3 TD vs. TCU
Lost in the shuffle of many of the big performances of the weekend might have been the end of at least some people's predictions for this year's BCS buster. The TCU Horned Frogs played a high profile game on Thursday night, hoping to get some good television time in front of the voters and they run into a buzz saw named BYU. There were very few who thought that BYU had a chance in this game, but it should be no surprise that the Cougars were able to give TCU fits. John Beck is a major reason for that. I have talked about Beck before, especially when both Miami and Florida State were struggling with young quarterbacks. I was watching him put up some big numbers as a sophomore. So, now as a senior, he again is putting up contender-like numbers. There have been some great college quarterbacks at BYU, and Beck is just another in a long line of those. Congrats to BYU on pulling the big upset this week, and congrats to Beck on his Heisman-like performance.

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