Each week this college football season, BetFTW will take a look at the 2022 Heisman Trophy race and break down the contenders. Check back each Monday as the best college football players in the country jockey for position with both oddsmakers and bettors. Preseason odds can be found here and Week 9 here.
Hendon Hooker’s time atop the the Heisman odds leaderboard has already ended. A week after dethroning Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, the Tennessee quarterback has swapped places with the Buckeyes’ star once again.
And all it took was an absolute mauling at the hands of Georgia’s defense to make it happen.
Hooker’s Heisman campaign is far from over, but we said last-week the No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Georgia matchup was a resume-building moment for the Vols’ leader. Now he’s going to have to make up for the 27-13 loss.
Here’s how the leaderboard looks after Week 10.
8
Alabama QB Bryce Young (+3300)
Bryce Young’s odds didn’t move from Week 9 to Week 10. That’s not necessarily a good thing. Not after No. 6 Alabama suffered a stunning 32-31 loss at No. 10 LSU.
Young passed for 328 yards and one touchdown, but completed just half of his 51 pass attempts and got picked off as well.
So it comes down to this: if Alabama can sneak back into the College Football Playoff, Young is probably the reason why and a likely lock to reach the Heisman ceremony again. Anything short of that is probably the end of the QB’s campaign to go back-to-back.
7
Georgia QB Stetson Bennett (+1600)
Bennett didn’t put up incredible numbers on Saturday, but he didn’t really have to. Georgia’s defense was good enough to keep the Vols’ offense from doing, well, anything, which is how you get a 257-yard, three total touchdown performance to look like an absolute beatdown.
6
North Carolina QB Drake Maye (+1200)
Maye’s stellar season has completely revitalized UNC. He passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns on 26-for-37 passing against Virginia while running for another 74 yards and a score on 16 carries.
He may not win the Heisman this year, but he’ll probably have the public all over his odds in 2023.
5
USC QB Caleb Williams (+800)
All Caleb Williams does week in and week out is tear apart the Pac 12 and all college football oddsmakers do is find reasons not to make him the favorite.
Williams’ latest performance: 36 yards and four touchdowns passing with another 38 yards and a score on the ground. If only it came against a better opponent than a 3-6 Cal team.
4
Oregon QB Bo Nix (+800)
Much like USC against Cal, there’s not much oddsmakers or Heisman voters are going to learn about Bo Nix tearing up a Colorado program that may very well be the worst team in the Power 5.
But boy did Nix pad his stats well: 20-24 passing, 274 yards, two touchdowns and another two scores rushing. Oregon beat Colorado 49-10 and honestly the fact the Buffs scored in double digits might be the most impressive part of the day.
3
Michigan RB Blake Corum (+600)
The only running back to appear among the Heisman favorites, Michigan tailback Blake Corum will attempt to do what his quarterback J.J. McCarthy could not—remain near the top of the board.
It certainly helps that Corum’s head coach is already campaigning for him.
Jim Harbaugh says he would “bet my truck” that Blake Corum is on pace with other backs who won the Heisman Trophy. He mentions coaching Heisman runner up Toby Gerhart at Stanford and says Corum is having an even better season.
— Austin Meek (@byAustinMeek) November 7, 2022
But, again, Corum got to face a Rutgers team in Week 10 that’s, well, still Rutgers. The tailback carried the ball 20 times for 109 yards and two scores as Michigan demolished the Scarlet Knights, 52-17.
2
Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker (+300)
One (relatively) bad game won’t ruin Hooker’s chances, but it’s a setback for sure.
Until Week 10, Hooker had been carving up every defense in his path. Then he went down to Georgia and mustered just 195 passing yards on 33 attempts, no touchdowns and one interception. He was credited with 18 carries for 17 yards.
Not ideal, but given the competition, it could’ve been a lot worse. This may be a situation where bettors buy the dip, or just let it ride.
1
Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud (+175)
Absolutely no one is saying Stroud isn’t a revelation at quarterback or unworthy to lead the Heisman favorites.
But if we’re going to knock some of the other contenders for beating up on weak opponents, we have to do the same for the Buckeyes star. Ohio State has just two wins against ranked programs on its resume this year. The ugly weather in Evanston sure played a huge role in Stroud’s performance on Saturday, but there’s no getting around how bad the offense looked overall.
Stroud finished with 76 yards passing on 26 attempts and 79 rushing yards on six carries. He didn’t register a touchdown or a pick and made sure Ohio State remained unblemished.
