By Field Level Media
Sep 08 (Field Level Media) - Miami Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah vaulted into Heisman Trophy favorite status following the first full weekend of the 2026 college football season.
Mensah, the Duke transfer, threw for 401 yards and five touchdowns in the Hurricanes' 45-6 season-opening rout at Stanford on Friday night. That led to sportsbooks slashing his Heisman odds and moving him ahead of several other marquee quarterbacks.
That includes at BetMGM, where Mensah opened at +1300
but is now the +650 favorite and saw his odds shorten to as low as +550 over the weekend. He's now ahead of Notre Dame's CJ Carr and Texas' Arch Manning at +1100 and Ole Miss' Trinidad Chambliss at +1300. Manning and Ohio State counterpart Julian Sayin (+1500) will face off when the Buckeyes travel to play the Longhorns in Austin, Texas on Saturday night.
While Mensah was a big hit in his Miami debut, Hurricanes wide receiver Malachi Toney had a record-setting performance with 234 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 12 catches. The sophomore receiver opened as a +4000 Heisman longshot but his current +1400 odds are the sixth-shortest at BetMGM.
Mensah also is the new Heisman favorite at DraftKings, where he is being offered at +600 ahead of Manning (+950), Smith (+1000), Carr (+1100) and Toney (+1250). Moore and Chambliss are each +1300 ahead of Sayin at +1400.
"The Hurricanes are the most bet team to win the National Championship since Friday, and Toney is the most bet player during that time to win the Heisman after scoring three touchdowns in the opener," BetMGM trading manager Seamus Magee said.
Toney has the second-shortest odds among non-quarterbacks behind Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith at +1200.
Mensah is now BetMGM's biggest liability in the Heisman market as he leads the way with 19.4% of all money wagered backing him to win the trophy. The second biggest liability is Carr, who still leads with 9.3% of the total bets placed ahead of Manning at 9.0%.
The other big mover over the weekend was Keelon Russell. Alabama's new starting quarterback has moved from +8000 to +3000 after throwing for 249 yards and adding another 86 on the ground in the Crimson Tide's opening win over East Carolina.
HEISMAN TROPHY ODDS* PLAYER, POS, SCHOOL, OPENING ODDS, LAST WEEK, CURRENT Darian Mensah, QB, Miami (+1300) (+1200) (+650) CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame (+750) (+750) (+1100) Arch Manning, QB, Texas (+800) (+800) (+1100) Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State (+1400) (+1400) (+1200) Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ole Miss (+900) (+1400) (+1300) Malachi Toney, WR, Miami (+4000) (+4000) (+1400) Julian Sayin, QB, Ohio State (+1100) (+1200) (+1500) Dante Moore, QB, Oregon (+1000) (+1100) (+1500) Sam Leavitt, QB, LSU (+1400) (+2500) (+1700) Jayden Maiava, QB, Southern Cal (+1100) (+2000) (+2000) Josh Hoover, QB, Indiana (+1200) (+1500) (+2500) John Mateer, QB, Oklahoma (+2500) (+2500) (+3000) Keelon Russell, QB, Alabama (+8000) (+2500) (+3000) Gunner Stockton, QB, Georgia (+1500) (+2000) (+4000) Marcel Reed, QB, Texas A&M (+2200) (+3000) (+4000) LaNorris Sellers, QB, South Carolina (+4000) (+4000) (+5000) *BetMGM
(--Field Level Media)
