Malachi Toney injury reshapes Heisman race as Jeremiah Smith, Darian Mensah gain momentum

Malachi Toney's injury will have a major impact on the college football season — from the College Football Playoff picture to the Heisman Trophy race.

As far as Toney is concerned, the Miami star receiver was destined for New York.

His absence opens the door for other contenders.

In a sick twist of fate, the Heisman candidate who benefits most from Toney's absence might be his Miami teammate, quarterback Darian Mensah.

The electric duo was going to split votes.

Now Mensah could make a push for the award while Toney is out, starting on Saturday night against No. 11 Notre Dame.

On the other side of that matchup, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr can assert himself against Mensah and finally push himself into that top tier of favorites to win the award.

Then there's Jeremiah Smith, the clear frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy until Julian Sayin's injury.

Now that Smith won't have to keep up with Toney's torrid pace, his path to college football's greatest individual honor is wide open, even with a true freshman at quarterback.

Here's a deeper look at how Toney's injury will impact the Heisman Trophy chase in November.

Mensah vs. Carr becomes critical

The stakes of Saturday night's showdown in South Bend were already sky-high.

They just became stratospheric for the quarterbacks.

Mensah is right there with Smith as one of the two clear favorites to win the award.

But what if he goes on the road against a national championship contender and pulls out a win without his top wide receiver?

Based on Miami's remaining schedule, they might want to get a jump on etching Mensah's name into the award.

Meanwhile, Carr has been holding steady behind the top tier of favorites for a while.

This is his chance to make a move.

To this point, Notre Dame's schedule hasn't done Carr any favors.

He hasn't really needed to post huge numbers to pick up wins.

The loss to BYU hurt his stock a bit.

That said, Carr has been efficient with 8.3 yards per attempt and 18 touchdowns to one interception.

This game against the Hurricanes may be his best shot to wow the Heisman voters.

North Carolina's Billy Edwards Jr. just exploded for 341 yards against the Miami secondary.

There are holes.

Can Carr find and exploit them?

One of these two quarterbacks will need a Heisman moment to win the game.

Whoever finds it may have the upper hand going into the last few weeks of the season.

Smith's path widens again

With quarterback Julian Sayin out indefinitely with an injury, Smith's situation looked uncertain.

Now, with Toney out, the picture has changed dramatically.

For most of this season, Jeremiah Smith has been the best player in college football.

He has been the only consistent part of Ohio State's offense this year.

Without him, the Buckeyes would have three or more losses.

He is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy because of how well he has played.

To this point in the season, Smith has 62 catches for 1,067 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Those stats are fifth, second, and second in the country.

Just a few days before taking on Oregon, his chances to win the Heisman have gotten better with the news of Malachi Toney being injured.

Jeremiah Smith is definitively the best receiver in college football with Malachi Toney going down.

While it was widely accepted that Smith is the best receiver in the country, there is no doubt about that now that Toney is hurt.

Toney suffered a high ankle sprain during practice that will require surgery.

He will be out for the rest of the regular season, although he could return for the CFP.

Toney plays for the number-one-ranked team in the country, Miami.

Playing for the Hurricanes was the main argument that Toney had over Smith.

He is on a team that is undefeated and that sits atop the CFP rankings.

Winning was Toney's best argument.

Now, he can't put up the requisite stats.

It sucks that Toney is hurt, but that does help the Buckeyes.

Toney is by far the best weapon that the Hurricanes have.

With him out, perhaps Miami will start to drop some games.

That could help Ohio State's argument for a higher seed in the College Football Playoff.