SALT LAKE CITY — In case you missed #HuntleyForHeisman on Twitter, the University of Utah started a Heisman campaign this week for senior quarterback Tyler Huntley.

On the surface, Huntley is a longshot for the award given to the nation’s “most outstanding player,” in particular because he lacks the gaudy numbers required to win the award. And in a year where quarterback play has been taken to the next level, LSU’s Joe Burrow remains the favorite to win the award.

Burrow has led his team to the No. 1 overall spot in the College Football Playoff rankings and an undefeated 10-0 record that includes wins over four Top 10 teams, and his season completion percentage is a phenomenal 78.6%, which would break the all-time NCAA record if it remains.

So why would Utah invest in a campaign for the former Florida Gatorade Player of the Year with just two weeks left in the regular season?

The decision to start the campaign ultimately fell upon the program’s public relations arm of the athletic department. And since Huntley remains a contender for several postseason awards — the Davey O’Brien Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award — the department felt a Heisman campaign was in order.

“First of all, you've got to play at a certain level, obviously,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “I've said it for a lot of weeks now that Tyler, in our opinion and I think in the nation's opinion now, is an elite player, elite quarterback.”

Huntley, for his part, has played at an elite level this season and is, statistically, one of the best quarterbacks in the country.

The Utah signal-caller is ranked in the top five in the country in several passing statistics and is one of only three quarterbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision to rank in the top five of each of those categories. He’s ranked No. 2 in completion percentage (74.2%), No. 2 in passing yards per attempt (11.47 yards), No. 2 in TD/INT ratio (13.0), and No. 5 in QB rating (190.1).

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Already up by two touchdowns in the second quarter, backup quarterback Jason Shelley replaced Tyler Huntley on the field for one play. Utah was on California’s 1-yard line and another score seemed imminent.

And while those numbers alone show an impressive season, when you dig deeper it shows the level at which Huntley is playing this season.

Huntley’s single-season completion percentage currently ranks fourth all-time in the NCAA record books, just behind the record holder in former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy (76.7% in 2008) and former Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore (74.3% in 2011). The leader, should his numbers remain, is Burrow at 78.6%, which would mean two current players rank inside the top five all-time — Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts currently ranks 10th all-time with a 73.0% completion percentage.

The senior quarterback is also currently ranked third all-time in passing yards per attempt. He’s behind the NCAA leader in former Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, who finished last season with 11.6 yards per passing attempt. Hurts currently ranks No. 1 overall at 12.3. And again, four current quarterbacks rank in the Top 10 all-time.

Huntley also ranks 10th all-time in QB rating and is one of five quarterbacks currently playing that rank in the Top 10 — Hurts leads at 209.1, Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa at 206.9, Burrow at 202.7 and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields at 191.8.

In short, college football is having an explosion of fantastic quarterback play this season and Huntley is part of the equation. Adding Huntley to the Heisman ballot made perfect sense for Utah, given his success this season.

The odds are greatly stacked against Huntley to win the Heisman, but his nomination to the award would recognize his part in a historic season not only for Utah football, which is looking to earn a berth to the College Football Playoff, but also in college football as a whole.

And for the Florida native, it’s more that his great season and hard work he’s put into the four years at Utah is being recognized, not that he needs it. Huntley has always been driven as the underdog, the one that is being overlooked. He’s the undisputed leader at Utah.

“His preparation is outstanding, and he prepares — we're in the pregame locker room, and he's still in his book preparing right up before kickoff, looking for that last little advantage or thing that he can do to help us play,” Whittingham said.

Despite his great play on the field, Huntley’s always praised the people around him — more than he’ll ever publicly talk about his own accolades even though they’re immensely important to him. Even Saturday, after Utah defeated UCLA 49-3, Huntley said he’s got “more confidence than I've got in myself — and I’ve got a lot of confidence.”

“It ain't about me, it's about us winning — us going out and winning,” Huntley said earlier in the season. “And that's putting our team in the best position to have a good season, going out and being 1-0 each week.”

Amid Utah’s pursuit of its second-consecutive South Division title, Utah is telling Huntley it is about him; and there’s few, if any, on the team that would disagree.

“He means so much to this football team,” Whittingham said. “He's one of the elite quarterbacks in the country — I'll stand by that.”

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