Tag: max duggan

Heisman Odds: Can former Sooners QB Caleb Williams overcome C.J. Stroud to win the Heisman?

It’s safe to say that the 2022 Heisman Trophy will go to one of two players: Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud or USC quarterback Caleb Williams. The latter is someone Sooners fans know all too well. When Lincoln Riley departed, he took players and …

It’s safe to say that the 2022 Heisman Trophy will go to one of two players: Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud or USC quarterback Caleb Williams. The latter is someone Sooners fans know all too well.

When Lincoln Riley departed, he took players and coaches with him to Los Angeles. None are more valuable to the Trojans than former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams. If there was an MVP award in college football, Williams would be a shoo-in. The issues on the defensive side of the ball that plagued the Sooners for years have followed Riley and Williams to USC.

Funny, that.

USC’s offense has put up 40 points or more in each of their last five games, most recently in a 48-45 win against No. 16 UCLA. Williams is good. He’s very good.

When you’re doing things like this, it’s hard not to see him doing it on Sundays.

I might never forgive Jeff Lebby for not convincing Williams to stay if that was indeed on the table for Williams.

The oddsmakers over at BetMGM have Williams at +125 to win the Heisman. That’s second only to C.J. Stroud.

While Williams and USC winning football games this early in Riley’s tenure, it’s understandable that Sooners fans might be a bit upset. While I completely understand hoping that Lincoln Riley fails, Caleb Williams is his own man.

Williams fulfilled his commitment to OU. He doesn’t owe the school or the fanbase anything. Would I have preferred that he stayed in crimson and cream for two more years? Of course. He’s the best player in college football. I would’ve very much liked for the best player in college football to be a Sooner.

Caleb Williams will win the Heisman. If not this year then next. Eventually, he’ll be a top-three pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Will he win a national championship at USC? I wouldn’t go that far.

Let’s take a look at the odds for the other players in the Heisman race, numbers courtesy of BetMGM.

Oklahoma on the rise in updated Big 12 power rankings after big Bedlam win

After their strong performance in Bedlam, the Sooners climbed a few spots in this week’s Big 12 power rankings. From @john9williams

Make no mistake about it, the Oklahoma Sooners dominated a pretty good Oklahoma State team. The Cowboys may have been reeling of late, but they had their starting quarterback, and he seemed well enough for the Pokes to have him drop back to pass 80 times and throw 67 passes.

There shouldn’t be any excuse for the Cowboys regarding the health of their quarterback. He played well, but not well enough, throwing for 381 yards, but also throwing four interceptions.

Oklahoma State has wins over Baylor, Texas Tech, and Texas on the year. They’re on the verge of winning eight games for the fourth-straight season and in 13 of the last 15 years.

Oklahoma hasn’t played well all year, but that was as good of a performance as we’ve seen, especially from the defensive side of the ball. They pressured Sanders on 40% of his drop backs and could have doubled the four interceptions as they forced Sanders to make some poor decisions.

While the offense wasn’t able to do anything in the second half, Oklahoma’s defense provided a glimpse of what’s to come from a Brent Venables defense. After an up and down season, they have a chance to finish 2022 on a high note.

Oklahoma on the rise in updated Big 12 power rankings after big Bedlam win

After their strong performance in Bedlam, the Sooners climbed a few spots in this week’s Big 12 power rankings. From @john9williams

Make no mistake about it, the Oklahoma Sooners dominated a pretty good Oklahoma State team. The Cowboys may have been reeling of late, but they had their starting quarterback, and he seemed well enough for the Pokes to have him drop back to pass 80 times and throw 67 passes.

There shouldn’t be any excuse for the Cowboys regarding the health of their quarterback. He played well, but not well enough, throwing for 381 yards, but also throwing four interceptions.

Oklahoma State has wins over Baylor, Texas Tech, and Texas on the year. They’re on the verge of winning eight games for the fourth-straight season and in 13 of the last 15 years.

Oklahoma hasn’t played well all year, but that was as good of a performance as we’ve seen, especially from the defensive side of the ball. They pressured Sanders on 40% of his drop backs and could have doubled the four interceptions as they forced Sanders to make some poor decisions.

While the offense wasn’t able to do anything in the second half, Oklahoma’s defense provided a glimpse of what’s to come from a Brent Venables defense. After an up and down season, they have a chance to finish 2022 on a high note.

Georgia’s Stetson Bennett among Golden Arm award contenders

Who are the top five remaining contenders to win the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award?

Who are the top five remaining contenders to win the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award? Georgia’s Stetson Bennett is among the five finalists.

Former Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett won the Golden Arm award in 2021. The Golden Arm award is given annually to the nation’s best upperclassmen quarterback.

No Georgia quarterback has ever won the award since it began recognizing players in 1987. Who are the top five finalists?

Top 4 remain unbeaten, Oregon stumbles: College Football Power Rankings after Week 11

The top four teams in college football remained undefeated, while Oregon saw their playoff hopes dashed in their 37-34 loss to Washington. From @john9williams

Entering the home stretch of the college football season, there’s little margin for error for the nation’s top teams.

The Oregon Ducks saw their playoff hopes dashed at the hands of border rival Washington in a 37-34 loss that was arguably the best game of the weekend. Bo Nix and Michael Penix went blow for blow, but an untimely illegal touching penalty killed Oregon’s attempt to get into field goal range and send it to overtime.

Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan won in blowout fashion; their average margin of victory was 33 points. TCU played a close defensive battle on the road with the Texas Longhorns and looked on their way to a 14-point win before Texas picked up a botched mesh-point handoff between [autotag]Max Duggan[/autotag] and [autotag]Kendre Miller[/autotag]. The Longhorns returned it for a touchdown. Still, the Horned Frogs showed a defensive element that they hadn’t leading into their matchup with Texas.

Tennessee continues to make a strong case for inclusion in the College Football playoff with its 66-24 win over Missouri. However, with four undefeated teams in front of them, they’re going to need some help. That could come when the Buckeyes and Wolverines go to battle in two weeks, but a close game between the Big Ten rivals could spell doom for the Volunteers.

LSU clinched a berth in the SEC title game and looks headed for a showdown with top-ranked Georgia. Could the Tigers throw everything into disarray and make a case for playoff inclusion even with two losses?

USC had an impressive win over Colorado, but its strength of schedule took a hit with UCLA’s loss to Arizona.

We’re in for another fantastic finish to the season. Let’s take a look at this week’s power rankings.

TCU stays undefeated with win over Texas: Big 12 Power Rankings after week 11

How do this week’s Big 12 power rankings look after week 11 action?

The Big 12’s College Football Playoff hopes stayed alive with TCU’s impressive road win over the Texas Longhorns.

It wasn’t an impressive margin of victory, but its ability to slow Bijan Robinson was impressive. The offense is what helped the Horned Frogs get to 9-0, but it was the defense that gave them their 10th win.

They held Texas to 199 total yards and 28 net rushing yards in the game. If they can get consistent defensive efforts from that side of the ball, they’ll be hard to beat in Big 12 play and should cement themselves as a College Football Playoff team in a month.

They stayed at No. 1 in this week’s power rankings, but what about the rest of the Big 12?

Bo Nix holding steady in this week’s Heisman Poll

This week’s Heisman Poll is all about the quarterbacks, two of which hail from the Pac-12.

The calendar has turned to November, which means we have just one month left in the regular season.

Through nine weeks of college football action, we have a pretty good idea of who will likely be the top contenders for the Heisman Memorial Trophy. Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker and Ohio State’s CJ Stroud are leading the pack each week in our Heisman Poll.

Joining the top guys are a pair of transfers from Power Five programs who opted to join new coaches on the West Coach. Caleb Williams followed Lincoln Riley to Southern California and Bo Nix joined Dan Lanning in Eugene. The two quarterbacks have combined for 58 touchdowns this season.

But can they give the top guys a run for their money?

Each editor picked their top three choices with the top candidate receiving five points, the second choice receiving three points, and the final choice receiving one point.

We break down how each of our 15 candidates fared in the poll, ties are listed in alphabetical order.

Big 12 power rankings: TCU rolls in Morgantown, Cowboys trounced by Kansas State

TCU continues to roll and Oklahoma State fell flat in week nine against Kansas State. How did this week’s Big 12 power rankings turn out? from @john9williams

After nine weeks of play, there’s a clear frontrunner for the Big 12 title after the TCU Horned Frogs stayed undefeated in their win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. Though it was just West Virginia, this is the same team that put 43 points up on the Baylor Bears two weeks ago before falling flat against Texas Tech last week.

While TCU stayed the course, Oklahoma State was crushed by Kansas State, who rebounded nicely after their first Big 12 loss a week ago to TCU. Will Howard was in complete control and the Wildcats defense played their best game of the season, shutting down Spencer Sanders and an explosive Oklahoma State offense.

The Big 12 has been an entertaining league through the first nine weeks of the season and the final stretch will provide a lot of drama for the conference on the way to Arlington. Let’s take a look at this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

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We have a two-horse race in this week’s Heisman Poll

The Heisman picture is continuing to become more clear by the week.

It is becoming clear that we have a two-horse race in the College Wire’s Heisman Poll with Hendon Hooker (Tennessee) and C.J. Stroud (Ohio State) jockeying for the top spot.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix is slowly working his way up the charts with his 2,191 yards of total offense and 25 touchdowns. The top six are all quarterbacks, as we know this has essentially become a quarterback award over the years. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule with Alabama’s DeVonta Smith winning in 2020 and Derrick Henry in 2015.

This week’s Heisman Poll saw Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs and Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei falling off after their Week 8 performances.

Each editor picked their top three choices with the top candidate receiving five points, the second choice receiving three points, and the final choice receiving one point.

We break down how each of our 12 candidates fared in the poll, ties are listed in alphabetical order.

Big 12 Week 7 predictions: Horned Frogs host Cowboys in pivotal matchup of unbeatens

The Horned Frogs host the Cowboys as the Longhorns return home to face Iowa State. Here are our Week 7 Big 12 predictions.

The race for the Big 12 championship is on. This week, we have matchups that could very well be the difference between a trip to Arlington and third place in the conference.

With Oklahoma and Iowa State having three conference losses each, those two programs are out of the running while the remaining eight jockey for position.

Three teams are undefeated in conference play thus far. How many will remain after Saturday? Let’s find out.