Forde-Yard Dash: With Two Weeks to Go, It’s a Wide-Open Heisman Race

Hendon Hooker’s injury is a blow to the QB’s chances in a crowded candidate field.

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (asbestos gloves sold separately in Fort Worth, where Sonny Dykes’s run play to set up the fire-drill field goal was playing with fire):

MORE DASH: Year 1 Coaches | The Game | Rivalry Week

Second Quarter

Resetting a Wide-Open Heisman Race

The Dash hated to hear the news about Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker (11) seeing his college career end with an ACL tear late in the loss to South Carolina. He’s an impressive young man who has had a spectacular season, and undoubtedly will still be on many Heisman Trophy ballots. (With 3,135 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, only two interceptions and another 430 yards rushing, his body of work is strong.) But a second loss, combined with being out of sight and out of mind for the final two weeks, could be costly in the Heisman race.

If Hooker doesn’t win it, add him to the list of Big Orange Almosts in Heisman lore. He’d go alongside Peyton Manning (runner-up to Charles Woodson in 1997) and Johnny Majors (runner-up to Paul Hornung in ’56).

Things may change in the next two weeks, but this has the feel of a wide-open Heisman race at this point. You could make a case for eight or nine players—and in some of those cases, the top candidates might not even be the best player on their own team. (Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, leading the nation with 15 touchdown receptions and the highest yards-per-catch among anyone with more than 55 receptions, could fit that role.)

Let’s run through the lead pack alongside Hooker and set the path to New York for the ceremony:

Caleb Williams (12), USC. Pros: the unquestionable star and leader of a Trojans team that has vaulted from 4–8 before he arrived to 10–1 and the thick of the College Football Playoff race. He’s got the stats: a 33–3 touchdown-to-interception ratio; a top-10 pass efficiency rating (167.59); 316 rushing yards and seven rushing TDs. He’s also produced a bevy of spectacular plays and kept the cardinal-and-gold train rolling despite injuries to significant backs and receivers. USC has committed the fewest turnovers of any team in the nation, and that always reflects well on the QB. Also, Williams has a couple of remaining high-profile games, taking on Notre Dame on Saturday and someone (perhaps Oregon) in the Pac-12 title game.

Cons: There are four or five other strong Heisman candidates who have better pass efficiency ratings. And he hasn’t faced a lot of great defenses.

C.J. Stroud (13), Ohio State. Pros: The nation’s leader by a healthy margin in efficiency at 183.30, seven points ahead of Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall. He’s also tied for the national lead in touchdown passes with 35, despite ranking 62nd in pass attempts. Stroud lost his No. 1 receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, early in the season, and it hasn’t slowed him down at all. He hasn’t thrown an interception since early in the Iowa game Oct. 22. His team is undefeated and has a massive showcase game Saturday against Michigan; play well and get the win, and there will be a lot of Stroud buzz heading into December.

Cons: Is he Ohio State’s best player, or is it breakout wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.? Stroud is a nonfactor in the running game, other than one big scramble against Northwestern—a game in which he played poorly (76 passing yards) in miserable conditions. He also wasn’t great against Maryland on Saturday.

Blake Corum (14), Michigan. Pros: He’s fifth nationally in rushing yards per game (132.45) and tied for second nationally in rushing touchdowns (18). He’s had eight straight 100-yard rushing games, a streak he kept alive despite playing only two snaps of the second half Saturday against Illinois. His 5.95 yards per carry leads the nation among backs with 230 or more carries. Corum has a great blend of speed, agility and power, able to run away from defenders or run through them as the situation dictates. He’s the centerpiece of a Michigan offense that has needed his production due to the pedestrian nature of the passing game. Like Stroud, he and Michigan are undefeated and heading into a huge game in Columbus on Saturday.

Cons: It’s still not clear whether Corum will play against the Buckeyes after injuring his knee against the Illini. Corum told the Detroit News on Sunday, “It’s good. I’ll be fine. I’ll be back.” But he didn’t say when. Also: Is he even the best back in the Big Ten? Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim and Illinois’s Chase Brown both have more rushing yards than Corum.

Max Duggan (15), TCU. Pros: He’s led the Horned Frogs on a magic ride to 11–0, ranking fifth nationally in efficiency (170.08) with 26 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. More pertinently, he and the Frogs have had less margin for error—he’s had to be great to keep TCU winning. Their seven straight victories by 10 points or fewer is the longest such streak in 47 years, which means the QB has been clutch—and never more so than against Baylor on Saturday. Duggan completed seven out of nine passes and had some huge runs in the final two drives of that game to bring the Frogs back from the brink of defeat.

Cons: TCU running back Kendre Miller and receiver Quentin Johnston might actually be better players. Duggan is only 29th nationally in passing yards per game. Does Sonny Dykes’s offense make him look better than he’d be in a different system?

Drake Maye (16), North Carolina. Pros: Watch the freshman play, and you’ll come away believing that you’ve seen the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft. He has prototype size (6'5", 220 pounds), arm talent and athleticism. And he has the stats, too: leading the nation in total offense (382.8 yards per game); fourth in efficiency (173.09); third in touchdown passes (34); and with 597 rushing yards and five TDs on the ground. He’s carried the Tar Heels to a 9–2 record as a first-year starter.

Cons: The Heels have two losses and recused themselves from even remote Playoff contention with a bad loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday, a game in which Maye was not great (no touchdown passes and a season-low efficiency rating of 103.22).

Bryce Young (17), Alabama. Pros: The 2021 Heisman winner has arguably done more to prop up his team this year than he did last year. His receiving corps is pedestrian by Alabama standards, and Young has had to manufacture a lot of plays out of thin air. The Crimson Tide probably have at least one more loss—maybe two—without him.

Cons: Young’s numbers don’t compare to last year, and Alabama’s two losses have pushed the Tide into rare afterthought status in terms of Playoff contention.

Others who could earn votes: Bo Nix of Oregon; Michael Penix Jr. of Washington; Brock Bowers of Georgia; Quinshon Judkins of Mississippi; Bijan Robinson of Texas.

Production note: The Dash is mixing up some of the standard ordering of the column this week to accommodate content that is coming in later, so some Fourth Quarter staples are here instead of there:

Coach Who Earned His Comp Car This Week

Tom Allen (18), Indiana. Somehow, his team didn’t quit. The Hoosiers have had a miserable season and were having a miserable game Saturday in miserable weather, trailing 24–7 to Michigan State at halftime. Yet they rallied in the second half, tying the game at 31 and sending it into overtime and winning in double OT. That was a heck of a way to break a seven-game losing streak, at a time when other teams would have packed it in.

Coach Who Should Take the Bus to Work

Mike Gundy (19), Oklahoma State. His team has collapsed, losing three of its last four and losing them badly. Taking on the worst Oklahoma team in many years Saturday, the Cowboys fell behind 28–0 in the first quarter. The final margin was only 28–13, but the game was never close and never in doubt. Oklahoma State has averaged 12.3 points in its last four games.

Point After

When thirsty in greater Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, The Dash recommends a Cross Street Crush IPA from Ypsi Alehouse (20). Smooth and flavorful, it can help get you through the onset of grimly cold temperatures. Grab a pint and thank The Dash later.

MORE DASH: Year 1 Coaches | The Game | Rivalry Week