Week 12 of the college football season is in the books. With that, there is one more week remaining before Conference Championship Weekend. With that, teams are scrambling to either compete for a championship, or to qualify for a bowl game.
With so little time left, the Heisman Trophy race is getting a little clearer. Will a Pac-12 quarterback take the award? Can Jayden Daniels' magical play-making ability have him hoist the award at the ceremony in New York?
Let's look at our Heisman Trophy power rankings.
Heisman Trophy Power Rankings 2023 Week 12 edition
Caleb Williams' Heisman chances tanked due to the USC Trojans' collapse late this season. Again, this wasn't Williams' fault. The defense crumbled at the worst possible times in the toughest games. With that, Williams has fallen to No. 10 spot in the power rankings.
The Trojans lost 38-20 to the UCLA Bruins, and with that, it is probably Williams' final game of his collegiate career before he becomes the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. USC entered halftime down 14-10, but the Bruins pulled away with back-to-back touchdowns.
Williams completed 31-of-42 pass attempts for 384 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
The Florida State Seminoles are set to face the Louisville Cardinals in the ACC Championship Game. Unfortunately, they may not have quarterback Jordan Travis.
Early in Florida State's game against North Alabama, Travis scrambled for a first down, but he was tackled awkwardly, injuring his left leg. Travis had to be carted off the field while wearing an air cast. His night finished by completing two of four passes for 21 yards, while running for once for 16 yards.
It's unknown what kind of injury Travis is dealing with and if he will miss any time for the rest of this season.
Dillon Gabriel and the Oklahoma Sooners are looking to stay afloat to make it to the Big 12 Championship Game. This week, they had to play the BYU Cougars with a chance to stay in the race for a spot in the conference championship game.
Gabriel left the game early after suffering what was an undisclosed injury. Redshirt freshman Jackson Arnold entered in relief, who threw for 33 yards while completing five of nine pass attempts. The Sooners held on for the 31-24 win to improve to 9-2 on the season.
Prior to leaving, Gabriel completed 13-of-21 pass attempts for 191 yards and two touchdowns.
The North Carolina Tar Heels have won two in a row, but will not be part of the ACC Championship Game. But he will be bowl-eligible, so there's that. Drake Maye is still playing at a high level and will be one of the first two quarterbacks selected in the NFL Draft in April.
Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, they lost their third game of the season, this time to the Clemson Tigers by the score of 31-20. Maye did have an impressive play in the first quarter, throwing a touchdown pass to J.J. Jones off his backfoot. But, his play wasn't enough to bring them to a victory.
Maye finished the day throwing 16 completions for 209 yards and a touchdown while throwing an interception on 36 attempts. Maye also ran for 67 yards on 10 carries.
J.J. McCarthy is going to get plenty of Heisman love, considering the Michigan Wolverines are undefeated. Yes, he doesn't exactly have to carry the team on his back to lead the team to a win like Caleb Williams, but he's got some really good statistics.
On Saturday, McCarthy and the Wolverines took on the Maryland Terrapins. It was a much tougher battle than Michigan anticipated, but they were able to hold on to get the 31-24 win.
McCarthy completed 12-of-23 pass attempts for 141 yards, while throwing one interception.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is going to be the first-position player selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. That's because he's showcased through his three years at Ohio State that he can be a legitimate difference maker on offense. While he's not putting up DeVonta Smith numbers when he won the Heisman in the 2020 season, he is easily the reason why Ohio State stays in games and ultimately wins.
On Saturday, Ohio State defeated Minnesota 37-3. Harrison didn't put up over 100 yards. Instead, he picked up 30 receiving yards on three receptions. But he did score a touchdown in the second quarter, catching a four-yard pass from quarterback Kyle McCord to put the Buckeyes up 27-0.
We'll see how Harrison performs next week in "The Game" against the Michigan Wolverines. Can he help lead Ohio State to victory and to the Big Ten Championship Game?
One of the biggest risers up our Heisman power rankings is Georgia quarterback Carson Beck. While he was a late addition, he played at a top-tier level in some of the most important games of Georgia's season. He put up great numbers last week against the Ole Miss Rebels, and did the same in Week 12.
Facing the No. 18 Tennessee Volunteers, Beck and the Bulldogs picked up a convincing 38-10 victory.
Up 10-7, Beck helped pull away in the second quarter with a nine-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dillon Bell and a three-yard touchdown throw to tight end Brock Bowers to extend Georgia's lead to 24-7. Returning from halftime, Beck made sure there was no comeback for Tennessee, as he threw a eight-yard touchdown to wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint to increase their lead to 31-10.
Overall, Beck completed 24-of-30 pass attempts for 298 yards and three touchdowns.
Beck hs one more game in the regular season -- vs. Georgia Tech. From there, they play the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game. If Beck continues to play at a high level for the final two games this season, he could very well receive an invitation to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
It is yet another week in which Jayden Daniels put up numbers you would see in "Madden NFL" video game on rookie difficulty. Last week, Daniels made history, becoming the first player in college to throw for over 350 yards and run for over 200 yards in a single game. How would he follow that up?
Facing off against the Georgia State Panthers, Daniels scored eight touchdowns. Daniels completed 25-of-30 pass attempts for 413 yards and six touchdowns while running for 96 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.
Daniels may not have helped LSU make it to the SEC Championship Game, but without him, they wouldn't be as good as they are. While the team has three losses to its record, it's hard to deny just how valuable Daniels is to that team. Not to mention, he's a legitimate threat for defenses.
Michael Penix Jr. and the Washington Huskies are now one more week away from going undefeated for the second time ever in a regular season (1991). They had to battle against the No. 11 Oregon State Beavers in Week 12, so it was no easy feat for the Huskies.
Penix accounted for all three of Washington's touchdowns in the 22-20 victory. But perhaps his most impressive play didn't result in points. Rather, it was a third-and-three play with under two minutes left in regulation. Penix connected with wide receiver Rome Odunze on a 19-yard catch. That converted the third down and gave the Huskies the victory, as Oregon State had no timeouts remaining.
The senior quarterback completed 13-of-28 pass attempts for 162 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 22 yards and a touchdown on three carries.
While Penix kept Washington in it, he does fall one spot in our power rankings. The No. 1 spot goes to a name Penix is familiar with.
The Oregon Ducks have been a team on a mission following their loss to the Washington Huskies. They have dominated the competition, Nix being one of the top players lighting up defenses.
On Saturday, the Ducks faced off against an Arizona State team that gave Washington a fight not too long ago. Yet, the Ducks made easy work of the Sun Devils, leading 42-0 at halftime! All of those points came courtesy of touchdown passes from Nix. That's right, six touchdown passes through the first two quarters.
Nix was given the rest of the night off early on in the second half, with Ty Thompson filling in. He completed 24-of-29 pass attempts for 404 yards and six touchdowns. Yes, Nix had more touchdowns than incompletions.
It's hard to overlook Nix any longer. He is playing like the favorite to win the Heisman.
