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Heisman Watch: Washington's Jake Browning faces the MUSS

This week’s Heisman Watch focuses on Washington quarterback Jake Browning. He hasn’t gotten a ton of pub, perhaps it’s that West Coast bias thing, but he’s definitely a candidate to watch. He’s been carving up Pac-12 defenses, but he’ll have his work cut out for him this weekend in front of a raucous Utah crowd.

Also, this week marks the first time we’ve put a Group of Five player on the list. Again, he might suffer from that same West Coast bias, but he’s definitely worth talking about.

Here’s the rest of Heisman Watch for Week 9:

Lamar Jackson had a rough game against Duke in Week 7, but rebounded masterfully against N.C. State last week while throwing for 355 yards and three touchdowns, and rushing for 76 yards and a score. Jackson’s four touchdowns broke the touchdowns responsible for record and he’s showing no signs of stopping. Jackson should have another excellent week against a Virginia team that has one of the worst total and scoring defenses in the country.

Jake Browning is probably the least flashy of the quarterbacks on this list, but he’s absolutely the most consistent. In his past three games, Browning has thrown 12 touchdowns and zero interceptions and the Huskies have gone on to blow out their opponents. Overall, he’s thrown 26 touchdowns to just two interceptions, which is the best touchdown-to-pass ratio of any quarterback (with 13 or more TD passes) in the country. He’ll have his work cut out for him Saturday against a Utah defense that gives up a lot of yards, but not a lot of points. This could be Browning’s Heisman moment.

Watson had a bye week after a stress test against N.C. State in Week 7. This week’s contest against Florida State will be a pivotal one in the ACC race, but it’s not as hyped as it was at the beginning of the season. The Tigers have had trouble with offensive consistency this season, and the Seminoles will put pressure on Watson to score.

I’m not ready to call it quits on Barrett, but my confidence is waning. Last week’s loss to Penn State showed that when Barrett doesn’t have the mojo to pull the Buckeyes out of a tough situation, the Buckeyes lose. This week’s game against Northwestern shouldn’t pose much of a threat, but who knows? The same was thought about Indiana and the Buckeyes let the Hoosiers hang around for awhile. Barrett needs to get back to his early season form if he wants to keep pace in this race.

Donnel Pumphrey makes his first appearance on the Heisman Watch and he probably deserved to be on the list a couple weeks ago. Pumphrey leads the country in rushing with 1,246 yards and has three 200-yard rushing games this season. Pumphrey is third in the nation in all-purpose yards (198.71), and hasn’t fielded a punt this season. His 13 rushing touchdowns are second nationally. He might have some trouble keeping those averages up this week against a Utah State team that’s been fairly stout against the run.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!