QB State of Play: Mississippi has best college football duo. Who is next? - USA Today

Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss and Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor have emerged as two of the best quarterbacks in college football this season, and just so happen to attend schools in the same state.

Chambliss and Taylor’s success at in-state rivals brings up the question: How do they stack up against the other top quarterback duos in their respective states?

It’s impressive what the Bulldogs and Rebels have built offensively in recent years, and the Egg Bowl after Thanksgiving this season is shaping up to be quite the quarterback matchup. 

Tennessee narrowly makes the list thanks to having two of the highest-upside quarterbacks in college football. Curtis and Brandon, both five-star true freshmen, have already shown why they were so highly rated as high school prospects.

The pair of former top-10 ranked prospects nationally have flashed some crazy talent this season, paired with mistakes fans might expect from a true freshman. Both quarterbacks are likely a year away from being among the best in the sport, but the flashes are too good to ignore on the top-10 list.

Kienholz and Minchey were multi-year backups at Ohio State and Notre Dame, respectively, before moving to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. They’ve been nice finds for their new programs.

Kienholz has 10 total touchdowns with no turnovers this season, and has led the Cardinals to at least 38 points scored in each game, including a near-upset win over Ole Miss in Week 1. Minchey, meanwhile, bounced back from a rough showing against Alabama in a big way in Week 3, completing 14-of-18 passes for 252 yards with two touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 31-21 upset win over Texas A&M on the road.

It’s only been a few games for both quarterbacks, but it has been enough to make the top-10 list.

Russell is coming off his best game of his early college career, gaining 376 total yards with four total touchdowns in Alabama’s Week 3 win over Florida State. The young phenom is paired with Brown, a multi-year starter with past success.

Russell is getting better every week, and looks like he’ll be one of the faces of the sport heading into the 2027 season. Brown, meanwhile, should be a solid starter come SEC play, especially with his four previous seasons of starting experience at USF.

Moore is holding up the state of Oregon as a projected first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, but Atkinson has been a pleasant surprise for the Beavers this season.

Atkinson, an FCS transfer from Mercer, leads FBS in passing yards per game (374), while ranking second nationally in passing yards only behind USC's Jayden Maiava, who has played four games this season to Atkinson’s three.

Moore has struggled at times this season but still hasn’t thrown an interception and has 849 passing yards with nine touchdowns in three starts. He was stymied by Oklahoma State in Week 2, though, as he was held to 14-of-29 passing for 191 yards. 

Moore might be underachieving and Atkinson might be overachieving, but it’s still enough from both quarterbacks of complete-opposite backgrounds to make the top 10.

UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava almost made the list, but ultimately Sagapolutele earned the nod next to Maiava thanks to Sagapolutele’s ceiling as a passer.

JKS hasn’t quite built on his promising true freshman season yet, although he still has 866 passing yards with seven touchdowns through three games as a second-year starter. Maiava, meanwhile, ranks first nationally in passing yards (1,173) and passing touchdowns (12), and has learned under arguably the best quarterbacks coach in college football in Lincoln Riley. The duo makes up one of the most-talented pairings in the country.

Mensah is a Heisman frontrunner right now, and is helping keep Florida inside the top five of the rankings. Philo, though, has been a pleasant surprise in his first season as a starter.

Mensah has more touchdown passes (11) than incompletions (8) this season, as he’s completing a ridiculous 89.9% of his attempts through Miami’s first three games against Stanford, Florida A&M and Wake Forest. Philo, a first-year transfer from Georgia Tech, followed his former offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner to the Gators and has been very efficient this season, with 721 passing yards with eight total touchdowns to six interceptions on a 73.4% completion rate.

Philo doesn’t have the highest ceiling unlike Mensah, but is running Florida’s run-heavy offense well.

How about a pair of underrated quarterbacks at No. 4? Returning starters Dampier and Bachmeier are dual-threat signal callers for top-15 ranked teams and Big 12 championship contenders.

Both quarterbacks also limit turnovers and are completing over 71% of their passes so far this season. Dampier has 43 total touchdowns to six interceptions in his 15 games with the Utes, while Bachmeier has 34 touchdowns to eight interceptions in his 17 career starts. 

The two rivals face off on Nov. 7, with potential huge College Football Playoff implications on the line.

Manning hasn’t put up crazy numbers this season — 59-of-96 passing (61.5%) 661 passing yards with seven touchdowns to two interceptions — but he’s still a proven commodity that has led the Longhorns to numerous big-time wins. He rises in big moments, as made evident by Texas’ 20-point comeback win over Ohio State in Week 2.

Jennings, who’s likely the school’s greatest quarterback already, is a veteran starter that has 989 passing yards with nine touchdowns to four interceptions in 2026. 

Houston’s Conner Weigman and Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed were also considered.

Hoover and Carr haven’t been tested yet this season, but both are among the most efficient passers nationally and their teams will contend for a national championship.

Hoover has 10 touchdown passes to no interceptions this season and ranks fifth nationally with an 89.4 QBR. Carr has six touchdown passes to no interceptions while ranking eighth nationally in QBR (87.8)

Hoover and Carr have similar archetypes, as both have good size, accuracy, decent mobility and could emerge as Heisman contenders thanks to playing for national title favorites.

Taylor has broken out in a big way as the full-time starter, with 832 passing yards and 11 touchdowns to one interception this season, also ranking sixth nationally in QBR (88.9). He’s also 8-for-8 passing for 192 yards with two touchdowns against pressure this season, while averaging 6.6 yards per carry on the ground.

Chambliss, meanwhile, went from heartwarming story as a former Division II starter to potential No. 1 overall pick consideration in 2026. He’s coming off a 363-yard passing performance in Ole Miss’ 32-24 win over LSU in Week 3 and might just be the Heisman Trophy frontrunner right now.

Just missed: Oklahoma (John Mateer and Drew Mestemaker), Arizona (Noah Fifita and Cutter Boley), Pennsylvania (Rocco Becht and Mason Heintschel).