Heisman voters survey says ...

Race tightens among Hurts, Tagovailoa, Burrow

The three-horse race for college football’s top individual award just got a lot tighter. Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts continues to lead the USA TODAY Sports Network Heisman survey, but Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and LSU’s Joe Burrow are closing fast. Just six points separate the three prolific quarterbacks in this week’s balloting of 21 official Heisman electors who work for USA TODAY Sports Network properties.

Hurts retains first place with 43 points, including 10 first-place mentions. He now has 1,758 passing yards with 17 touchdowns on the season, with another 630 yards and eight scores on the ground, following the Sooners’ win against Red River rival Texas. He did, however, commit two first-half turnovers deep in Longhorns’ territory that might have kept the game closer than it should have been.

Tagovailoa is up to 40 points with five firsts after another big day at Texas A&M. He has 2,011 yards and 27 passing touchdowns while completing 73.6% of his throws at the midpoint of the Crimson Tide’s schedule.

But it was Burrow who might have turned in the performance of the weekend. In the Tigers’ top-10 showdown with Florida, he completed 21 of 24 passes for 293 yards and three TDs, leading an attack that gained 511 total yards in a 42-28 victory. He increased his completion percentage to a lofty 79.6 with 25 touchdowns for the year. He had just 16 scoring throws and 2,894 yards for the entire season a year ago. The voters have taken notice. He is up to 37 points with six firsts after having four first and 22 points last week.