USC’s Matt Barkley goes from 1st to tied for 7th in Heisman poll

USC quarterback Matt Barkley is no longer the prohibitive favorite to win this year’s Heisman Trophy.

In fact, he’s not even the leading USC candidate in his own huddle.

Barkley, who threw two interceptions in Saturday’s 21-14 loss at Stanford, fell from first to tied for seventh in the latest HeismanPundit poll.

West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith, who threw five touchdowns last weekend against James Madison, takes over Barkley’s top spot in this week’s poll.

Smith leads with 24 points. Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller is second with 10 points, followed by Oregon’s De’Anthony Thomas.

USC receiver Marqise Lee and Stanford running back Stephan Taylor are tied for fifth, while Barkley drops into a five-way tie for No. 7 with running backs Johnathan Franklin (UCLA) and Marcus Lattimore (South Carolina), Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray and Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o.

The HeismanPundit panel is comprised of 10 sportswriters across the country and Chris Huston, a former USC assistant sports information director and the publisher of HeismanPundit.com.

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