Week three of the college football season is in the books and the race for the 2012 Heisman Trophy has been dramatically altered.

USC's Matt Barkley is the latest preseason favorite to stumble badly in the early going after he had a bad outing in a loss to Stanford.

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1. Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia -- Smith is off to a great start so far this season, with 734 passing yards and nine touchdown passes (with no interceptions) in his first two games. He is completing an amazing 88 percent of his passes and has an efficiency rating of 209. He is on pace to run and pass for 60 touchdowns. Granted, he is putting up these numbers against awful competition, but we all know he's a very good quarterback playing in a passer-friendly system. It's going to be difficult to for him to maintain this level against Big 12 competition, but he'll still be very productive.

As with Robert Griffin III last year, he's not expected to lead his team to an undefeated season and so Heisman voters will look to his overall numbers and how well he performs against Big 12 traditional powers like Texas and Oklahoma to gauge his worthiness. Given his solid name recognition, his potential for an elite statistical season and his odd status as a Mid-Atlantic player competing in the Southwest, he's at the top of this Watch...for now.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/20205571/week-3-heisman-watch-geno-smith-leads-wide-open-race-as-matt-barkley-falters