While the Heisman Trophy has never felt decided in 2022, the race is officially wide, wide open in November.
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud dealt with intense winds at Northwestern, missing a prime stat-padding day. His counterpart at Tennessee, Hendon Hooker, had a quiet game in a loss to Georgia. Had he put together an impressive stat line in a UT win, Hooker would've become the clear favorite.
They're the front-runners. But they absolutely can be caught.
Along with Michigan running back Blake Corum, Pac-12 quarterbacks Bo Nix (Oregon) and Caleb Williams (USC) remain the players best positioned to overtake Stroud and Hooker.
Grayson McCall, QB, Coastal Carolina: Since the Chanticleers keep winning, McCall is sticking around. They're now 8-1 behind the dual-threat star, who's thrown for 2,314 yards and 21 touchdowns with a single interception. McCall also has 165 yards and four scores on the ground.
Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas: As always, it's worth noting the longtime trend of Heisman voters not choosing a player on a team with three-plus losses. Robinson, though, has continued to put up great numbers. He just posted a season-best 243 total yards in a win at Kansas State and ranks second nationally with 1,443 yards from scrimmage this season.
Cameron Rising, QB, Utah: In his return from a one-game absence, Rising managed 151 passing yards and a touchdown in a win over Arizona. He's mostly still in this category because of a tremendous night against USC and a mid-November clash with Oregon. Rising won't win the Heisman, but he has a shot to steal a respectable number of votes.
Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington: Ditto for Penix, only his showdown with Oregon is happening this weekend. Penix leads the country with 3,232 passing yards and has put up 23 touchdowns to five picks. He's authored an impressive turnaround, lifting a Washington program that finished 4-8 last year to 7-2 so far this season.
Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama: Although he piled up 163 scrimmage yards, Gibbs' candidacy took a sizable hit because of Bama's second loss. It'd take an epic LSU collapse for Gibbs to seriously get back in the discussion, but that's at least plausible—even while unlikely—heading into Week 11.
Bryce Young, QB, Alabama: Obviously, the same sentiment applies to Gibbs' teammate Young. Against LSU, he threw for 328 yards and oversaw a few critical scoring drives in the fourth quarter. However, the Crimson Tide fell in overtime and heavily damaged Young's chances of becoming only the second two-time Heisman winner.
Chase Brown, RB, Illinois: Brown also needs a bit of a miracle. He put up more than 100 yards on the ground for the ninth time in nine games, but Michigan State toppled Illinois on Saturday. Barring a regular-season upset over Michigan and another big upset over either the Wolverines or Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game, the nation's leader in scrimmage yards will be relegated to landing scattered votes.
Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee: You're probably noticing a theme here: Alabama, Illinois and Tennessee all lost this weekend. Hyatt reeled in six passes for 63 yards, failing to score a touchdown for the first time since September. He wouldn't win the Heisman anyway—that honor would go to Hooker—but Hyatt's potential to steal votes has dipped considerably.
Stetson Bennett, QB, Georgia: Bennett inched back into the second tier thanks to UGA's marquee win over Tennessee. He threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns, adding a third score on the ground. Nevertheless, it's tough to see a quarterback with 1.9 total touchdowns per game winning the Heisman in this stat-filled era.
Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU: Daniels, meanwhile, rose rapidly after leading LSU to the upset over Alabama. Highlighted by his winning touchdown run and two-point conversion pass, Daniels totaled 277 yards and three scores in the overtime win. He's posted 1,994 yards as a passer and 619 on the ground and has accounted for 24 touchdowns to help LSU shockingly take the pole position in the SEC West.
Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina: As the Tar Heels clipped Virginia 31-28 on Saturday, Maye tallied 367 total yards and three scores. He has gaudy numbers—3,477 offensive yards and 35 touchdowns for an 8-1 team—but UNC lacks a signature moment. If the Heels win the ACC title, though, he's in the mix.
Max Duggan, QB, TCU: The decline of TCU's best competition to date (think: Oklahoma State) is stinging Duggan's resume. Probably unfair, but it's reality. The good news is Duggan has a trip to No. 18 Texas in Week 11. This is a solid opportunity to reignite his Heisman upside, given that TCU is, you know, still freaking unbeaten.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, QB, UCLA: In a road victory at Arizona State, Thompson-Robinson threw for 169 yards, scampered for 120 and put up four total touchdowns. DTR is quietly hanging out in the second tier with a massive game against rival USC looming in two weeks.
5. Bo Nix, QB, Oregon: Nix was expected to wreck Colorado. That means he doesn't get a boost for his five touchdowns, no matter the entertainment value of scoring twice as both a passer and runner and once as a receiver. On the other hand, an upcoming back-to-back against ranked teams Washington and Utah provides exactly that kind of opportunity.
4. Blake Corum, RB, Michigan: When running for 109 yards and two touchdowns against Rutgers is a modest day, you know that player is doing something right. Corum is fourth nationally with 1,187 rushing yards and tied for the FBS lead at 16 scores on the ground. The 3-6 Nebraska Cornhuskers are up next.
3. Caleb Williams, QB, USC: As with Nix, Williams ripped apart the box score opposite Cal. He totaled 398 yards and five touchdowns in a slightly uncomfortable win. Williams has fantastic overall numbers, totaling 3,029 offensive yards and accounting for 32 scores with a single interception. Oh, and he gets 1-8 Colorado this week.
2. Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee: The rocket-fueled rise dropped some energy in Week 10. UGA limited Hooker to a season-low 195 yards and zero touchdowns while grabbing a rare interception. Now that he's unlikely to play for a conference title—and the remaining slate of Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt won't help much—Hooker could use a bit of chaos elsewhere to help his candidacy.
1. C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State: Nuance is key. Even in terrible conditions, Ohio State's talent should've a better day against a bad Northwestern team. At the same time, expecting much from Stroud in those winds would've been foolish. He threw for 76 yards and rushed for another 79. To quiet any lingering criticism, he needs a bounce-back game against Indiana.