Heisman straw poll: Ashton Jeanty sprints to the highest, Dillon Gabriel emerges

Travis Hunter was injured, left early and saw his team narrowly lose. That's no reason for anyone who thought the Colorado cornerback/receiver was the very best player in college football entering Saturday to think otherwise.

But the Heisman Trophy can't just be about being. It's all about doing something, and nobody does more on a weekly basis to get voters' attention than Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. As the candidate pool expands within the 2010 Heisman poll – to a season high of nine this week – Jeanty also boasts probably the most points scored by a candidate.

After rushing for 217 yards and a touchdown and catching a touchdown, Jeanty received 20 first-place votes and 74 points in Boise State's 28-7 win at Hawaii. That's a rise from the ten first-place votes and 58 points per week ago. Hunter placed second with six first-place votes and 52 points after topping the poll last week with 15 first-place votes and 67 points.

follows the identical voting protocol as that of the Heisman: three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, one point for a third-place vote.

Miami quarterback Cam Ward remained in third place with 21 points, once more securing the one first place spot after a foul week for the Hurricanes. This week's latest name is Dillon Gabriel, the Oregon quarterback who had a giant performance in a top-five contest that lived as much as his expectations – 341 yards passing and two touchdowns, plus a 27-yard touchdown run, for Ohio Beat State 32-32. 31.

He's been spectacular for what's now No. 2 within the country, and he has games against Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Washington coming up that may strengthen his position. The case may very well be reflected in a possible Big Ten Championship Game rematch against Ohio State if Gabriel can maintain a high level of play until then and get a second win against the Buckeyes.

Ward didn't get as many opportunities within the regular season, but he was the more dynamic player, and a possible ACC title matchup with Clemson may very well be a giant moment for him.

Those two are joined by three other quarterbacks within the straw poll: Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia, who, after a shocking upset of No. 1 Alabama, controlled the sport in one other upset win at Kentucky; Alabama's Jalen Milroe, who could get a shot at Tennessee this week; and Kurtis Rourke of Indiana, whose 6-0 Hoosiers have an amazing probability at home against Nebraska.

Ohio State freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith received a vote after one other great performance, nine catches for 100 yards and a touchdown within the dramatic loss at Oregon. He had a late catch that would have resulted in a game-winning field goal being nullified attributable to offensive pass interference, but a rookie doing that to a defensive back will still find yourself on highlight tape.

Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson is a first-time voter after running 21 times for 166 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-16 win over Washington. Johnson is second nationally with 937 rushing yards and 156.2 rushing yards per game. Jeanty leads each categories, 1,248 yards and 208.0 per game. He also leads the nation with 17 rushing touchdowns and averages a ridiculous 9.9 yards per carry.

As Stewart Mandel identified, Jeanty is on pace to rush for two,704 yards if Boise State can reach the Mountain West title game. That would surpass Barry Sanders' 1988 FBS record of two,628 yards. Yes, Sanders did it in only 11 games and against powers like Oklahoma and Nebraska. But Jeanty shredded Oregon with 192 yards and three touchdowns, and anything near the record will make him hard to beat. Unless a quarterback has some dominance from here by way of individual and team success. Or when Hunter does some great things to remind everyone what a terrific and unique player he’s.