1. Geno Smith QB West Virginia

West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith led the Mountaineers to a thrilling 48-45 road victory over Texas last week. Smith had four touchdowns, increasing his season total to 24 with no interceptions.

The Heisman favorite has nearly 2,000 passing yards and is completing over 81 percent of his passes. West Virginia is undefeated and ranked in the top 5 and Smith is the main reason why. With big games against Kansas State and Oklahoma remaining on the schedule, Smith will have an opportunity to validate his Heisman candidacy.

Now that the first week of the 2012 college football season is in the books, the debate for the Heisman can take form. Preseason hopefuls like Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson struggled against defending national champion Alabama’s suffocating defense in a 41-14 rout at Cowboys Stadium. Other favorites performed as expected . Players stock will potentially rise and fall from week to week but there are five players CLA believes will lead the way as the race unfolds.

1. Matt Barkley (USC, QB)

The time has come. The 2012 college football season kicks off Thursday with a good set of games to get the ball rolling.

The only ranked team on the slate are #9 South Carolina who opens the year on the road against Vanderbilt in an early season SEC clash.

Another intriguing story line is the debut of Brett Hundley as UCLA starting quarterback in head coach Jim L. Mora’s first game at the helm.

In the battle of the Cougars, Washington State travels to Provo to take on BYU in Mike Leach’s inaugural game as WSU head coach.

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