Take Two: Is McKenzie Milton a legit Heisman contender?

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

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UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton had a huge season opener where he completed 24 of 32 passes for 346 yards and five touchdowns in a 56-17 blowout of UConn.

Former UCF coach Scott Frost might be at Nebraska now but first-year coach Josh Heupel has the Knights’ offense humming and Milton could be in for a monster season again.

The question is, though, should Milton - a quarterback at a non-Power Five school - be seriously considered for the Heisman Trophy or should that be reserved almost exclusively for players in those conferences?

Milton could put up huge numbers and UCF could have another undefeated season, but the last time a non-Power Five player won the coveted award was in 1990 with BYU quarterback Ty Detmer. The year before that the winner was Houston QB Andre Ware.

Should Milton have a shot this season if he continues to put up major stats and UCF keeps winning or is it unlikely he can win the Heisman?

“Absolutely. Milton is one of the best players in college football and his numbers back that up. Last year's sophomore stats placed him near the top nationally of most statistical categories including passing efficiency (2nd), yards per attempt (2nd), total offense (4th), passing touchdowns (4th), completion percentage (4th), yards per completion (5th) and passing yards per game (7th).

“Milton was an eighth-place finisher in the 2017 Heisman voting, which was of course prior to UCF's Peach Bowl victory against Auburn, capping off the perfect season. He's one of only three returning players to receive Heisman votes last year and among those, the only quarterback.

“His junior year got off to a great start last Thursday at UConn with Milton completing 24 of 32 passes for 346 yards and five touchdown passes, earning him AAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. UCF was the nation's leader in scoring last season and that pace is expected to continue under Heupel.

“Milton is an elite player at any level and UCF as a program has proven itself to be on par if not better than many Power Five teams. UCF may not get the big paycheck from being a member of one of those conferences, but certainly has the talent to play with anyone.

“For Milton to have a chance, UCF needs to pull off another perfect season with Milton's numbers dwarfing other contenders. Even so, the schedule won't do him any favors as there's no guarantee of a top-25 opponent the rest of the way. The non-conference schedule includes North Carolina, FAU and Pittsburgh and UCF does draw Memphis from the American's West Division.

“After week one, the Heisman frontrunners should ironically be the two quarterbacks from Hawaii - Milton and Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa. The latter may be hard to dethrone if Alabama continues to dominate, but there isn't a player who is more valuable to his team than Milton.”

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“He should be considered. If he puts up crazy numbers every week and they go undefeated again or come close to going undefeated, he should be considered for it for sure.

“The way the Heisman works is you have to be on a team that’s in contention for the national title. Last year, they weren’t really in contention for the national title even though they claim themselves as champs, but based on last year’s performance and the hype surrounding last year’s team, if they go undefeated or 11-1 and he puts up big numbers, then he should be considered for the Heisman.”