Heisman Watch: USC's trip to Notre Dame could produce a Heisman moment for either Jayden Maiava or CJ Carr Nick BrombergOctober 14, 2025 at 9:49 PM 0 USC's visit to Notre Dame could be a pivotal moment in the race for the Heisman Trophy. No.
- - Heisman Watch: USC's trip to Notre Dame could produce a Heisman moment for either Jayden Maiava or CJ Carr
Nick BrombergOctober 14, 2025 at 9:49 PM
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USC's visit to Notre Dame could be a pivotal moment in the race for the Heisman Trophy.
No. 13 Notre Dame has won four straight after opening the season with back-to-back losses against teams now ranked in the top five of the AP Top 25. No. 20 USC, meanwhile, is 5-1 and is a game-winning drive by Illinois away from being undefeated.
Both teams have quarterbacks who are on the periphery of the current Heisman discussion too. USC's Jayden Maiava is 22-1 to win the Heisman at the midway point of the season, while CJ Carr is at 30-1 at BetMGM. A win will boost the victorious player's odds. A loss probably eliminates the other from any chance at the Heisman entirely.
As USC's run game ran around and through Michigan's defense in Week 7, Maiava was again very solid despite throwing his second interception of the season. He was 25-of-32 passing for 265 yards and threw two scores. Through six games, Maiava is ninth in the country in completion percentage at 71.9% and ranks first with 10.8 yards per attempt. Just two players have thrown for more total yards.
Maiava is flourishing in his second season in USC's offense. After briefly transferring to Georgia following his 2023 freshman season at UNLV, Maiava wound up with the Trojans and played in seven games a season ago as USC scuffled through its first season in the Big Ten and the team made a quarterback change from Miller Moss late in the year.
After entering 2025 as the undisputed starter, he's immediately become one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country.
Carr has shown steady improvement and has not been overwhelmed in the slightest in his first season as Notre Dame's starter. Even when he was potentially giving away what type of play it was with his stance in Week 2 against Texas A&M, Carr still completed over 62% of his passes and threw for nearly 300 yards in the 41-40 loss to the Aggies.
In Week 7 against NC State, Carr was 19-of-31 for 342 yards and threw two TDs along with his first interception since the A&M game. Along with Maiava and Washington's Demond Williams, Carr is one of just three quarterbacks averaging over 10 yards an attempt this season.
The Irish still lean heavily on a run game that features Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price; Notre Dame is rushing the ball nearly nine times more per game than it throws it. But Carr is making opponents pay when they play the run. If USC focuses too much on the Irish's star two rushers, Carr is more than capable of throwing for over 300 yards for a third game this season.
With both Alabama's Ty Simpson and Miami's Carson Beck at +350 to win the Heisman, neither Carr nor Maiava will find himself among the clear favorites even with a victory in Week 8. But the winning quarterback will still have an intriguing sleeper case over the final five weeks of the season.
Here are the other players we're watching in Week 8.
Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss (20-1): Chambliss figures to be Ole Miss' starter as long as the Rebels keep winning. But is the close call against Washington State in Week 7 a sign of potential turbulence to come? No. 5 Ole Miss visits No. 9 Georgia in Week 8 a year after taking down the Bulldogs in Oxford. Can the former Ferris State QB do what he did in Ole Miss' win against LSU? If so, his odds are going to drop precipitously.
Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar (30-1): The former UCLA QB has thrown for nearly 1,700 yards and 14 touchdowns through six games. And avoiding interceptions will be vital against Alabama. Aguilar has thrown five picks this season. Two came in the Volunteers' 44-41 overtime loss to Georgia. Two others came in Tennessee's 41-34 overtime win at Mississippi State.
Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed (20-1): Week 8 could be a sneaky test for the Aggies. After playing Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for years, the game is back on home campuses and in Fayetteville this year. Arkansas is desperate to avoid an 0-3 start to SEC play under interim coach Bobby Petrino, while A&M will be 4-0 in the conference with a win. Reed will not have backfield running mate Le'Veon Moss, either. A&M's leading rusher is out for a while after he was injured in the Week 7 win over Florida.
Oregon QB Dante Moore (17-1): How does Moore bounce back on the other side of the country against Rutgers? He may need a big game to become a serious Heisman contender again. Oregon doesn't play another ranked opponent until USC on Nov. 22 and Indiana was Oregon's first ranked opponent of the season. Moore is going to need to keep stacking numbers week-by-week to be a finalist after he was as low as +500 before the loss to Indiana.
Source: "AOL Sports"
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