Daily Southtown

Heisman long shots may shake things up

Milton, Fitzgerald, Finley, Oliver, Gaskin could get in the picture

- By Joel Boyd joboyd@chicagotri­bune.com Twitter @JJoelBoyd

You probably know all about Bryce Love, Jonathan Taylor and Khalil Tate. But if you’re looking for some slightly longer shots with a legitimate chance to win college football’s most prestigiou­s individual award, here are five players lurking just outside the spotlight.

McKenzie Milton, Central Florida QB (+4,000 in Bovada’s Heisman prop): Milton is hardly an unknown, having finished eighth in last year’s Heisman voting while leading the Knights to an undefeated season. And UCF is making a big promotiona­l push for the Hawaii native (#HIsman). Still, to make it to New York as a finalist, he likely needs the team to repeat its success and voters to get past the Knights’ AAC schedule.

Nick Fitzgerald, Mississipp­i State QB (+5,000): Assuming Fitzgerald is fully recovered from the ugly ankle injury he suffered against Ole Miss, the big (6-5, 230) dual threat figures to thrive in Joe Moorhead’s offense that allowed Trace McSorley to put up big numbers at Penn State. Yet Fitzgerald lags behind fellow SEC quarterbac­ks Tua Tagovailoa, Jake Fromm, Drew Lock and Jarrett Stidham when it comes to Heisman buzz. A win at Alabama on Nov. 10 would go a long way.

Ryan Finley, N.C. State QB (+10,000): Finley is no dark horse to NFL scouts, appearing in the first round of many 2019 mock drafts. His 339-pass streak without an intercepti­on was second in school history to Russell Wilson’s FBS-record 379. With West Virginia, Clemson and Florida State on the schedule, Finley will have plenty of potential signature games to make voters remember.

Ed

Oliver, Houston DT (+10,000)

Oliver has to overcome a double whammy of biases against defensive players and Group of Five programs. But the potential No. 1 pick in April at least enters the season with more hype — the cover of Sports Illustrate­d and ESPN’s ranking as the top player in college football — than Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh did in 2009, when he finished fourth as the last defensive lineman to be a Heisman finalist.

Myles Gaskin, Washington RB (not on board): Jake Browning (sixth in 2016) understand­ably is swallowing up any preseason Heisman talk about the Huskies. It’s a quarterbac­k award after all, with 15 of the last 18 winners playing the position. But Gaskin quietly is the active FBS leader in career rushing yardage (4,055), and if he puts up big numbers in Washington’s marquee games — particular­ly the opener against Auburn and a showdown with Love and Stanford on Nov. 3 — he could start to make some noise.

 ?? ELAINE THOMPSON/AP ?? Washington running back Myles Gaskin is the active FBS leader in career rushing yardage (4,055).
ELAINE THOMPSON/AP Washington running back Myles Gaskin is the active FBS leader in career rushing yardage (4,055).

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