Fernando Mendoza or Jeremiah Smith For Heisman? Joel Klatt's 1st Half CFB Award Winners

Now that we're halfway through the college football regular season, I think we can start to think about who might win some of the top awards. In fact, I think we can even dish out some awards based on how some players and coaches performed through the first seven weeks of the year. 

The Heisman Trophy race has seemed to take a drastic turn since the start of the season, while a couple of transfers have arguably emerged as the best running backs in the nation. We've also seen quite a number of surprises this season, leading to some hotly contested races for the two main coaching awards.

So, let's take a deep dive into my top five candidates for each major award, and who I would pick as the winner through this point in the season.

Jeremiah Smith in Joel Klatt’s midseason awards 😤 Joel Klatt Show

Heisman Candidates

Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama
Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
Carson Beck, QB, Miami (Fla.)
Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State
Haynes King, QB, Georgia Tech

Simpson has been absolutely great for Alabama. He makes huge throws — fourth down against Missouri, the throws that he made against Wisconsin were unreal. This guy is fantastic, and when they protect him, he's tremendous. He's got 16 touchdowns to one interception.

Mendoza is the leader of that Indiana offense, which right now looks as balanced and as good an offense as there is in college football. He's got 19 total touchdowns and only two turnovers. So this guy's playing out of his mind. He's a terrific fit there at Indiana. 

Beck is certainly in the running. He has shown no effects of that elbow injury that we were concerned about last spring. He's leading this Miami team that's ranked second in the nation (third in my poll) and is clearly one of the best teams in the sport.

Smith might not be on other people's lists, but he's on mine because he's the best player in college football. He draws so much attention because otherwise, he's just going to destroy you. He's got eight total touchdowns in only six games. Since he's stepped foot at Ohio State, no one has been more dominant on the outside than him.

As for King, he has helped Georgia Tech get out to an undefeated start. He's run for over 100 yards per game against Power 4 opponents this season. He's only got four passing touchdowns, but nine on the ground and in any big game, I just immediately think to myself, "Haynes King is going to play well."

Ultimately, I have Mendoza leading the Heisman race at the season's halfway mark. Indiana's top-three in the country in touchdowns as he's taken what was a really good offense a year ago to another level. His efficiency and accuracy are tremendous, and he helped orchestrate the best win of any team so far this season with Indiana's victory at Oregon.

Winner: Fernando Mendoza

Bednarik Award (best defensive player) Candidates

Rueben Bain Jr., DL, Miami (Fla.)
Arvell Reese, LB, Ohio State
Cashius Howell, DE, Texas A&M
David Bailey, LB, Texas Tech
Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State

Bain has been outstanding, an absolute force on that defensive line for Miami and one of the best units in college football. Reese has been an absolute missile on the field at all times. He's highly impactful on that defense, which is the best in the sport. 

Howell's also tremendous. If you haven't seen Texas A&M play defense, it's playing as well as anybody out there and its third-down defense might be historic. In its last three games, Texas A&M's opponents are 2-of-33 on third down, with Howell playing a big role in that. He's got eight sacks this season.

Bailey headlines a defense that not many expected to be great. Texas Tech's defensive turnaround has been significant, with Bailey's 8.5 sacks being tied for the most in the FBS. He leads the country in quarterback pressures, too.

Finally, in a similar vein to Smith with the Heisman, I've got to include Downs here. I've never heard an offensive coordinator be as worried about a non-pass rusher in my life as Downs. Every single coordinator that I talked to who is going to face Ohio State or talks about Ohio State's defense talks about Downs' versatility and his impact on the game. 

Still, I've got Bain winning this award at this point in the season. I don't care that he's only got a couple of sacks, he's wrecking every single game. His ability to stop the run and rush the passer has been tremendous, and Miami has picked up some impressive wins already this season.

Winner: Rueben Bain Jr.

Biletnikoff Award (best WR) Candidates

Makai Lemon, USC
Mario Craver, Texas A&M
Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State
Chris Brazzell, Tennessee
Elijah Sarratt, Indiana

Lemon's currently third in the country in receiving with 114 yards per game. He's been tremendous and has been doing it without fellow USC standout wide receiver Ja'Kobi Lane at points this season. He's got a great feel for space. He's got great hands. He's tough. He goes over the middle and catches a lot of those passes from Jayden Maiava, and USC's offense might be the best in the country. 

Craver is a big threat at every turn. We saw how he used his speed against Notre Dame, going for over 200 yards in that game. 

Obviously, Smith is going to be a candidate. His ability to win and draw attention makes Ohio State's offense better.

Brazzell has been tremendous in Tennessee's deep choice offense, forming a strong connection with Joey Aguilar. He already has three games with over 100 yards, including that incredible performance against Georgia, and has seven touchdowns this season. 

Finally, Sarratt has had a pair of strong performances against good defenses over Indiana's last two games. He recorded over 120 receiving yards in Indiana's victories over Iowa and Oregon. It feels like Sarratt is open all the time because he's great on contested catches with his back shoulder. 

But my winner is Smith. We don't need to overthink this. The only reason why he doesn't have a huge amount of touchdowns yet is that Ohio State hasn't needed to hit the gas and shift into that extra gear.

Winner: Jeremiah Smith

Doak Walker (best RB) Candidates

Ahmad Hardy, Missouri
Justice Haynes, Michigan
Waymond Jordan, USC
Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame
Jonah Coleman, Washington

Hardy leads the Power 4 in rushing in his first season at Missouri. He had five straight 100-yard games on the ground before that Alabama game this past weekend. Hardy allows Missouri to be balanced with quarterback Beau Pribula, and with that schedule, that team might be in the mix down the stretch.

I know Haynes got banged up against USC, but he's been a tremendous big-play threat for Michigan this season. He's got five runs of over 40 yards and has clearly been one of the best running backs so far.

Jordan is another running back who got banged up and probably won't be on this list at the end of the season, but we have to include him here. He's averaging over 100 yards per game and was on his way to another 100-yard day before getting hurt against Michigan. Unfortunately, he's going to be out four-to-six weeks after getting tightrope surgery on his ankle. 

Love also has to be included. Even with a slow start against Miami in Week 1, Love's averaging 115 scrimmage yards per game this season. He's got 11 total touchdowns in his last five games. He's a dominant player, and when they lean into that balance, he makes Notre Dame and quarterback CJ Carr better.

No one's paying attention to Washington, but Coleman has been outstanding. He's fifth in the country in scrimmage yards. He leads the FBS in touchdowns with 12. So, he's got a nose for the goal line, and when you watch him play, he's electric.

I decided to land on Hardy as the winner, though. I know he didn't play that great against Alabama, but he hasn't missed a beat since transferring from Louisiana Monroe, rushing for nearly 7 yards per carry and 130 yards per game.

Winner: Ahmad Hardy

Broyles Award (best assistant coach) Candidates

Blake Baker, defensive coordinator, LSU
Bryant Haines, defensive coordinator/linebackers coach, Indiana
Mike Shanahan, offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach, Indiana
Matt Patricia, defensive coordinator, Ohio State
Shiel Wood, defensive coordinator, Texas Tech

In his first year at LSU, Baker's defense is top five in the nation, improving a unit that was 59th last year. LSU has had to surprisingly lean on its defense this year, and Baker's unit has stepped up.

Haynes' defensive unit at Indiana shut down Oregon's offense on Saturday. Illinois' offense only scored 10 points against Indiana as well. Haynes does such a unique job of attacking the specific weaknesses of the opposing offense. It's really wonderful film to watch. He lets the linemen play, and the linebackers play off that, which isn't the norm in college football.

The best defense in college football, though, belongs to Ohio State. As such, we're including Patricia on this list. Shanahan also warrants a mention with Indiana's offense playing better than it did a year ago, when it was already really good.

Finally, Wood has transformed a defense that was 122nd in scoring last year and improved it to the sixth-best scoring defense in the country. My pick for this award came down to Wood and Patricia, but I ultimately picked the Ohio State defensive coordinator. Ohio State lost all of those draft picks from its defense and it's still the most dominant unit in college football. Patricia's using an NFL system and puts his guys in a position to succeed, as he's been a bit of a revelation. He's really been tremendous in his first year at Ohio State.

Winner: Matt Patricia

Coach of the Year Candidates

Curt Cignetti, Indiana
Mario Cristobal, Miami (Fla.)
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Ryan Day, Ohio State

Obviously, Cignetti is going to be on this list. He won Coach of the Year last year, but Cignetti has this Indiana team in a better spot this year. If you look at the talent composite, a lot of teams that are in the top 10 and playing at the top of college football right now, they have a top-end roster. If you look at the composite roster for Indiana, its talent composite is in the 70s. Yet, here's Indiana, sitting in the top five after beating Oregon on the road.

Cristobal has built Miami into a team in his own image. The Canes are physical at the point of attack on both sides of the ball. Defensively and offensively, in the trenches, they can win. It makes them real.

As for McGuire, remember, part of coaching in college football is how you build your roster. This is a guy who went out and transformed his roster with a tremendous investment from Texas Tech's boosters. He orchestrated that and hired the right assistants, particularly the coordinators. Texas Tech is the clear favorite in the Big 12 as a result. 

Elko might have the Aggies in the driver's seat of the SEC at the season's halfway mark. Their defense has been great, and that's his specialty. But their offense has also been balanced and very good. They had to throw the ball to win at Notre Dame, and they've also successfully run the ball. I think they're going to be a tough out.

Finally, Day lost 14 total draft picks from last year's national championship team, and Ohio State might be even better this year. When you think about roster retention and building and then having a culture and a system that can be better year over year, that's a testament to how good a coach Day is. 

Cignetti is the Coach of the Year for me so far this season, though. That win at Oregon was a ground-shaking win in college football. When you take a program like Indiana that has had little to no success in its history, and now it's sitting there looking like a bona fide national championship contender in just 1.5 years, you deserve an honor like this. It's really up there with some of the best turnarounds in the history of the sport. 

Winner: Curt Cignetti

Joel Klatt is FOX Sports' lead college football game analyst and the host of the podcast "The Joel Klatt Show." Follow him @joelklatt and subscribe to "The Joel Klatt Show" on YouTube.

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