Heisman Odds After Week 11: Gators’ Kyle Trask Becomes Co-Favorite

• Florida Gators QB Kyle Trask is now co-favored to win the 2020 Heisman Trophy
• Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones were all idle this weekend
• See the updated Heisman Trophy odds after Week 11 along with betting analysis below

Florida’s Kyle Trask continues to make major strides in the 2020 Heisman Trophy race. The Gators QB saw significant improvement in his odds for the second straight weekend, going from +1000 to +250 at FanDuel after throwing six touchdown passes in a win over Arkansas.

Trask is now being listed as a co-favorite to win the trophy after Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Alabama’s Mac Jones were all idle in Week 11.

The table below shows the updated Heisman odds following Week 11 of the season.

2020 Heisman Trophy Odds

Odds taken Nov. 14th at FanDuel.

Trask Shines on Center Stage 

In a weekend where many of college football’s top players were out of action, Florida’s Kyle Trask took center stage in a matchup with Arkansas. The Gators’ QB made the most of his time in the spotlight, throwing for 356 yards and six touchdowns in a 63-35 victory over the Razorbacks. Trask is now one of co-favorites for the Heisman after also leading his team past UGA last weekend.

Kyle Trask keeps his 🎩 in the ring for Heisman 🐊 pic.twitter.com/gSEzrdQLtw

— ESPN (@espn) November 15, 2020

Trask has thrown at least four TD passes in every single game this season and now leads the nation with a whopping 28 touchdown passes in just six games. An upset loss to Texas A&M sticks out on Trask’s resume, but that was hardly through fault of his own.

Trask has similar stats to co-favorite Mac Jones of Alabama, which means the SEC title game this season could potentially determine the trophy winner. Jones has a better completion percentage (78.5%) than Trask (70%), but he’s thrown 12 fewer TD passes in the same amount of games.

Welcome to the Book Club

Notre Dame’s Ian Book is starting to make a late push for the Heisman after turning in one of his best performances of the season against Boston College in Week 11. The Irish senior QB went 20-of-27 for 283 yards and three touchdowns, while adding an additional score on the ground in a 45-31 victory.

Ian Book made it look easy in Boston ☘️ pic.twitter.com/3MKFmIZZyz

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 15, 2020

Book fits the recent trend of the Heisman being awarded to quarterbacks on top teams, but the reality is that his numbers are nowhere near Heisman-worthy. He was the star against the Eagles, but his season stats show the full picture. Book is only completing 62% of his passes and is averaging just 1.4 touchdowns throws per game.

Book is a great dual-threat QB, but the Heisman has been about numbers. In a year where the quarterbacks at the other top schools are shattering passing and touchdown records, Book is going to need to have an incredible final stretch to get himself into the race.

COVID-19 Impacts Favorites 

COVID-19 is having a major impact on this year’s Heisman race. Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence has missed two games this season due to a positive test, while Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Aalabams’ Mac Jones both had games postponed or cancelled in Week 11.

Lawrence is trending back in the right direction after seeing his odds fade following his COVID diagnosis. This is likely due to Ohio State’s Week 11 game against Maryland getting cancelled and Alabama’s highly-anticipated rematch with LSU getting postponed. Lawrence is on track to play 10 games this season, while Fields is only on pace to play eight.

Highest accurate pass % in College Football

1⃣ Justin Fields, Ohio St – 80%

2⃣ Trevor Lawrence, Clemson – 74%

3⃣ Mac Jones, Alabama – 71% pic.twitter.com/4J0wyTzq7Y

— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 12, 2020

Another reason Lawrence is trending up is due to ‘Heisman moment’ potential. Notre Dame is 8-0 this season and handed Clemson their first loss of the season when Lawrence was on the sidelines. The Tigers’ QB could get the chance to lead his team to a revenge win in the ACC title game.

Heisman Analysis After Week 11

A virtual Heisman trophy ceremony date has officially been set for Jan. 5, with the voting deadline being Dec. 21 — two days after the conference title games. After a CFB weekend devastated by COVID-19, there remains no clear frontrunner for the trophy.

Here are the details about this year’s Heisman Trophy:

🗳Ballots due on Monday, Dec. 21

📆Finalist revealed on Thursday, Dec. 24 at 7:30 ET on ESPN

🏆 Heisman ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 5th at 7:00 ET on ESPN.

— Matt Murschel (@osmattmurschel) November 14, 2020

Fields has been near flawless through three games, but will he garner enough votes with the reduced schedule? He’s playing like the Heisman front-runner right now, but he could miss out on winning due to circumstances out of his control.

I still think Fields is a good bet given his skill level, but Trask offers major upside. He’s posting outrageous numbers and is on track to play Mac Jones in the SEC title game. If Trask leads his Gators past Alabama and into the CFP, it’ll be hard for anyone to deny him the trophy.