NCAAF Heisman Odds: A New Top Challenger to Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud

Quarterbacks Continue to Show The Way in Heisman Odds

When the season started, it was Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud leading the way in the NCAAF Football Heisman odds followed by fellow quarterbacks Bryce Young of Alabama and Caleb Williams of Southern California.

Stroud continues to be the front-runner. However, after engineering a rare win by Tennessee over Alabama, Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker is the closest competitor to Stroud heading into Week 8 of the college football season.

Hooker got very little Heisman hype a season ago even after throwing 31 touchdown passes with just three interceptions. It is a different story in 2022. After throwing for 385 yards and five touchdowns in a win over Alabama, Hooker now has the second-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy.

Keep on reading for more of the players trending both up and down in the Heisman Trophy race.

Bye Week Doesn’t Hurt Heisman Front-Runner

Heisman front-runner Stroud didn’t have a game over the weekend. Still, he is sitting pretty with even odds to win the Heisman according to the NCAAF football Heisman odds.

Stroud continues to be the national leader with a 207.57 passer rating. He is completing 70.6% of his passes for 1,737 yards with 24 touchdowns and three interceptions for the Buckeyes, the No. 2-ranked team in both the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association polls.

This week could be interesting as Stroud leads the undefeated Buckeyes against Iowa. The Hawkeyes are second in the Big Ten with an average of 154 passing yards allowed as well as a passer rating of 97.2. As if Ohio State’s offense isn’t powerful enough, more help could be on the way. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who led Ohio State in receptions and receiving yards a season ago, has missed four of the first six games of the season, but he is on the verge of returning to the field.

Hooker Continues to Make Move

Nothing like leading the way in a win over perennial national title contender to Alabama to change your national profile.

Hooker was not a factor in last year’s Heisman race despite having 31 touchdown passes and three interceptions in his first season at Tennessee. It was Hooker and not Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young of Alabama who led the SEC in passing efficiency a season ago. His passer rating has also improved as has his completion percentage, touchdown/interception ratio and yards per passing attempt.

Hooker’s Heisman Trophy odds are now priced at +500 and that is second only to Stroud. Hooker has thrown for 1,817 yards with 15 touchdown passes and one interception to go with 287 rushing yards and three more scores.

Williams isn’t far behind at +1000 while Young, who has been slowed by a shoulder injury over the last few games, is at +2000 even though he passed for 455 yards against the Volunteers.

Williams threw for 381 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions against Utah. However, the defense couldn’t stop Utah QB Cameron Rising, especially on a game-decided two-point play that gave the Utes the 43-42 victory.

Young’s odds are curious since they went from +1400 to +2000 despite a huge game against Tennessee.

Georgia’s Stetson Bennett, who is second in the SEC with 2,033 passing yards, is now at +4000.

California Quarterbacks Continue to Impress

Stroud and Young are not the only players with ties to California that figure prominently in the current Heisman odds.

Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who like Stroud and Young is a former California high school star, has theF Tigers off to a 7-0 start. He has thrown for 17 touchdowns with just two interceptions. It is a huge jump from a season ago when he had nine TD throws and 10 interceptions. He already has career-highs with 337 rushing yards and four TDs as his odds to win the Heisman are at +2000.

UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson hails from Nevada, but he is making headlines for his play with the Bruins. He is completing 74.8% of his passes for 1,510 yards with 15 TDs and two interceptions to go with four scoring runs. He is also at +2000 in the Heisman odds. He has a huge test coming up on Saturday when the ninth-ranked Bruins travel to meet No. 10 Oregon in the most intriguing of this week’s NCAAF matchups.

Corum Running to Glory

Michigan’s Blake Corum, the national leader with 13 touchdown runs, has four straight games with more than 100 yards after a bit of a slow start. His NCAA football Heisman odds are currently at +1200.

Chase Brown of Illinois is the leading rusher in the country and the only player with at least 1,000 rushing yards. However, it might take some searching to find him listed among Heisman candidates. It is a different story for another Big Ten runner.

Michigan’s Blake Corum, the national leader with 13 touchdown runs, has four straight games with more than 100 yards after a bit of a slow start. His NCAA football Heisman odds are currently at +1200.

The last running back to win the award was Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015, while the last running back to finish in the top three in the Heisman voting was Stanford’s Bryce Love in 2017.

With the way  Corum is trending, he could threaten to be among the top Heisman challengers. Michigan doesn’t play this weekend so there is some time for Corum to recharge and prepare for the stretch run for the undefeated Wolverines. Looking at the college football schedules, there are some challenging matchups coming up for Michigan and that includes the annual clash with Ohio State.

Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs is another running back to keep an eye on, even if his odds have moved from +2000 to +2200 after the loss to Tennessee. Gibbs is the only player with at least 600 rushing yards and 250 receiving yards.

Maye Emerging as Dark-Horse Candidate

The only players with better passing ratings than North Carolina redshirt freshman Drake Maye are Stroud and Hooker.

Maye has completed 70% of his passes with 2,283 yards to go with 24 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Maye is tied with Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders with Heisman odds priced at +3300. One thing that might hurt Maye is that no top-10 ranked teams are on the North Carolina schedule for the rest of the regular season.

Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

• NCAA Big Ten Roundup: Michigan, Ohio State Expected to Keep on Keeping On
• NCAA Independents Roundup: Cougars and Fighting Irish Meet for First Time Since 2013
• NCAA ACC Roundup: Florida State Has a Tough Road Trip to NC State
• NCAA SEC Roundup: After Wild Offseason, Alabama-Texas A&M Game Has Arrived
• NCAA Big 12 Roundup: Texas-Oklahoma Matchup Flying Under the Radar