Top Heisman Candidates Heading Into Conference Championship Weekend

USC’s Caleb Williams is among the candidates to take home the Heisman Trophy on December 10.

As the college football season nears its conclusion, as does the season-long race for the Heisman Trophy. For much of the campaign, the race to take home the sport’s most illustrious individual award was as wide open as it’s been in quite some time.

With the sport entering conference championship weekend, and the formal announcement of finalists just days away, here’s a list of five contenders for the award, which will be given on Saturday, Dec. 10 in New York City.

Stetson Bennett - Quarterback, Georgia

Stetson Bennett throws a pass against South Carolina on September 17 :: Jeff Blake/USA TODAY Sports

Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett entered his senior season with the Bulldogs with a newfound sense of respect across the sport for the throws that he made to clinch the school’s first national title in 41 years last season.

Bennett could have mailed it in this season after winning a championship. Instead, he got better.

Bennett posted career highs in passing yards (3,151) and completion percentage as a starting quarterback (67.0%) in the regular season for the top-ranked Bulldogs. The senior signal caller also notched a career-best seven touchdown runs.

The Bulldogs are odds-on favorites to repeat as national champions next month, and the play of Bennett is a key reason why.

Max Duggan - Quarterback, TCU

Max Duggan steps back to throw in TCU’s 38–31 victory against Kansas :: Jay Biggerstaff/USA TODAY Sports

Max Duggan’s play in 2022 has been a key reason for TCU’s spot amongst college football’s elites in Sonny Dykes’s first season at the helm in Fort Worth. The senior quarterback has completed a career-best 66.6% of his passes for 3,070 yards and 29 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Duggan’s best performances have come when the lights have been brightest. He delivered two of his top games of the year in a pivotal stretch in October at home against Oklahoma and on the road at Kansas.

Duggan completed 69.7% of his passes across those two games for 610 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. He also added 171 yards and three scores on the ground.

The quarterback has the chance to continue making his case to be a Heisman finalist as No. 3 TCU takes on No. 10 Kansas State in the Big 12 championship on Saturday at noon ET. 

Drake Maye - Quarterback, North Carolina

Drake Maye prepares to throw in UNC’s 35–28 win against Georgia State :: Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports

North Carolina concluded a 9–3 regular season on Black Friday with a rivalry game loss to NC State.

The Tar Heels struggled mightily defensively all season long, but were buoyed by a top 10 offense thanks to the play of redshirt-freshman Drake Maye. The Tar Heels quarterback completed 67.7% of his passes for 3,847 yards and 35 touchdowns to just five interceptions. 

When discussing players across college football who are most valuable to their team, Maye is right near the top of the list. Given North Carolina’s struggles defensively, excellent quarterback play and efficient offensive output were both necessary for the Tar Heels to reach nine wins in the 2022 regular season.

Maye & Co. now have to take on No. 9 Clemson on Saturday night for the ACC title. 

C.J. Stroud - Quarterback, Ohio State

C.J. Stroud delivers pass in Buckeyes’ 77–21 win over Toledo :: Jay LaPrete/AP Photo

After being named a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2021 and finishing fourth in the voting, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud entered the ’22 season as the favorite in several sportsbooks to win the award.

The third-year quarterback didn’t disappoint in Ohio State’s 11–1 season despite varying injuries to running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams and the loss of star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba who was never truly healthy after a hamstring strain suffered in the season opener against Notre Dame.

The one receiver that did stay healthy though was Marvin Harrison Jr., who is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award that is given to the top receiver in college football. Thanks in large part to the production of Harrison, Stroud still had a strong year under center as he completed 66.2% of his passes for 3,340 yards and 37 touchdowns, only throwing six interceptions.

Heisman voters will need to decide just how much the loss to Michigan in the regular season finale will hurt Stroud’s case. He threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns in the defeat, but also threw two interceptions that proved costly as the Buckeyes lost to their rival for the second consecutive season.

Caleb Williams - Quarterback, Southern California

Caleb Williams drops back to throw in 38–27 win over No. 19 Notre Dame / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

USC’s Caleb Williams was the top transfer portal prize for first-year Trojans coach Lincoln Riley. Riley left Oklahoma in one of several stunning moves across the sport following the end of the 2021 season.

It wasn’t long after Riley skipped Norman for Los Angeles that the former Sooners quarterback entered the transfer portal. The former five-star prospect ultimately joined his former Oklahoma coach at Southern Cal., where he has blossomed into one of the sport’s most exciting players.

Williams’s numbers both in the air and on the ground improved drastically from his freshman season at OU in 2021 to his time with the Trojans this season. Williams posted a 65.8% completion rate while throwing for 3,712 yards, 34 touchdowns and three interceptions. Williams has also rushed for 351 yards and 10 scores on the ground for the Trojans this season.

Under the bright lights of the Coliseum last Saturday against visiting Notre Dame, Williams carried the Trojans to victory in a Heisman-worthy performance. Williams solidified himself as a finalist, and potentially cemented the trophy, by completing 18-of-22 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown, in addition to accounting for three rushing scores in a 38–27 statement victory in Los Angeles.

The second-year quarterback will have one last opportunity to impress voters on Friday night in the Pac-12 championship game against Utah as the Trojans look to avenge their only loss of the season, a 43–42 defeat in Salt Lake City on Oct. 15.

Bryce Young - Quarterback, Alabama

Bryce Young steps back to throw in Alabama’s 63–7 win over Louisiana-Monroe :: Marvin Gentry/USA TODAY Sports

Bryce Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, put together another strong season under center for the Crimson Tide. However, his 3,007-yard, 27 touchdown to five interception performance pales in comparison to the year he put together in ’21. A year ago, the Alabama signal caller threw for 4,872 yards and 47 touchdowns to only seven picks, as he ran away with the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore.

It’s hard to win the Heisman Trophy twice. Only former Ohio State running back Archie Griffin has ever won multiple times when he won the award in 1974 and repeated in ’75.

No. 6 Alabama just concluded a 10–2 season with an Iron Bowl victory over Auburn, which is a great year for most teams. However, Alabama is not like most teams, and will miss out on the College Football Playoff in a year that has fallen well short of preseason expectations.

Two Other Candidates Before Injury

Blake Corum - Running Back, Michigan

The bell cow back in the Michigan offense was a big reason why the Wolverines put themselves in College Football Playoff contention for the second straight season. Corum had an outstanding regular season in Ann Arbor, rushing for a career-best 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also added one receiving touchdown as well.

In a year where the Heisman race is as wide open as it’s ever been, Corum was a serious contender to take home the trophy. However, a knee injury suffered in the win against Illinois led to him being extremely limited against Ohio State, as he only carried the ball twice for six yards in the 45–23 win. Now, Corum has been ruled out for the rest of the season as he will reportedly undergo surgery to repair his knee injury.

With Corum being ruled out of the Big Ten championship game, in addition to his lack of impact against Ohio State, it’s unlikely that he will win the award this year. However, it doesn’t discount his role in Michigan’s dominant rise this season.

Hendon Hooker - Quarterback, Tennessee

Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker looked like the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman after he torched Alabama to the tune of 385 yards and five touchdown passes in the Volunteers’ 52–49 victory on Oct. 15.

The Vols were right in the thick of the College Football Playoff race and were seen as serious national title contenders. However, a tilt with Georgia awaited Tennessee in early November in a game that would decide the SEC East. The Bulldogs defense suffocated the Volunteers offense, as Tennessee suffered its first defeat of the season, 27–13. Hooker was held to just 195 yards passing and one interception in the loss, which opened the Heisman race back up to other contenders.

The Volunteers still had a chance to play their way into the final four, but it would take impressive wins down the stretch and some help from teams in front of them. Tennessee’s best case scenario was an 11–1 record with no conference championship victory.

That ended up being all for naught when Tennessee was unexpectedly throttled by unranked South Carolina, 63–38, on Nov. 19. To make matters worse, Hooker tore his ACL in the second half of the game, ending his season and realistic chances of winning the prestigious hardware.

Hooker finished the 2022 season with impressive numbers nonetheless. In 11 games, he completed 69.6% of his passes for 3,135 yards and 27 touchdowns to two interceptions. He also added 430 yards and five scores on the ground.

The season may not have ended the way that Hooker or Tennessee envisioned, but the fifth-year senior quarterback has done enough to give himself an NFL chance next April.

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