Clearly, Caleb Williams took last week’s Last Word On College Football Heisman Rankings personally. A week after Michael Penix, Jr. took over the lead of our poll, Williams turned in a majestic six-touchdown performance on the road — in a 10 a.m. local time start nonetheless — to reclaim the top spot in this week’s rankings.
2023 LWOCFB Heisman Rankings Week Five
Our poll this week features the same five players as last week, with a switch at the top. It’s still a two-player race at this point, however, with the lead pack continuing to separate themselves from the rest of the group.
Here are the top five Heisman Rankings for Week Five from our panel of 15 voters.
1. Caleb Williams, USC (64) [Previous: 2 (61)]
USC quarterback Caleb Williams regained the top spot in this week’s poll of Last Word writers after a sensational performance against fellow Heisman hopeful Shedeur Sanders and Colorado. The Trojan signal caller was 30-40 (75%) passing with 403 yards and a ridiculous six touchdowns. Williams clearly outdueled Sanders, although the Buffaloes mounted a spirited comeback.
Williams will have a chance to take firm control of the Heisman race over the next six weeks with games against tenth-ranked Notre Dame in two weeks, a stout Utah defense after that, a matchup with his top competitor Michael Penix Jr. the first week of November, and against Oregon the following week. He’ll have a national focus for the next six weeks and if he can get a little help from the Trojan defense, he likely controls his own fate for a second consecutive Heisman.
2. Michael Penix, Jr., Washington (55) [Previous: 1 (69)]
Michael Penix, Jr. drops out of the top spot this weekend after a “pedestrian” game in Tucson. All Penix did was complete 30-of-40 passes (75%) and throw for 363 yards against a decent Wildcat defense. While Penix still leads the nation in passing yards his zero-touchdown performance on Saturday allowed Williams to move ahead in that category.
The Huskies are off this week but have a huge showdown with Bo Nix and an Oregon defense that absolutely shut down Colorado a few weeks ago. While he doesn’t have the national stage that Williams does over the next month, he will certainly have some opportunities. He’ll have to come up big in those chances if he wants to regain the top spot in the Last Word poll.
3. Bo Nix, Oregon (34) [Previous: 3 (36)]
After a slow start in placid Palo Alto, Bo Nix got back to business with a 27-for-32 (84%) performance with 290 yards in the air and four touchdowns. The Ducks rode a strong third quarter to roll the Cardinal 42-6.
Like the Huskies, the Ducks are off this week before their big matchup in Seattle in two weeks’ time. It won’t get any easier for Nix’s squad. They’ll face Washington State and Utah in consecutive weeks after their showdown with the Huskies.
While Nix doesn’t have the vote totals to match Penix and Williams yet, he leads the nation in completion percentage and is tied for fourth in touchdowns. He can absolutely ride those stats to a Heisman win if Oregon can finally make some noise in the College Football Playoff.
4. Jordan Travis, FSU (19) [Previous: (4) (30)]
Jordan Travis and the Seminoles were off this week, although Travis was able to stay at fourth in our poll. Travis has struggled for several weeks after his break-out performance against LSU during Week One. With LSU slipping, and their defense looking quite suspect, Travis won’t be able to ride that one game much longer.
Unfortunately for Travis, he doesn’t have many marquee matchups coming up. He gets Virginia Tech and Syracuse the next two weeks before hosting Duke. The Seminoles will play only one more ranked team (Miami) for the remainder of the season. In a race of West Coast quarterbacks, Travis is in serious danger of falling out of contention.
5. Shedeur Sanders, Colorado (15) [Previous: 5 (8)]
It didn’t start well, but Shedeur Sanders was able to lead Colorado back against USC in Boulder last week. The Buffaloes scored with less than a minute to go to close within a score, but a failed on-side kick sealed their fate. Sanders was able to impress in the loss, however. The Buffs quarterback was 30-for-45 (67%) with 371 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. Sanders added 50 rushing yards and another rushing touchdown as well.
Sanders is second nationally in passing yards, tied for fourth in passing touchdowns, and sixth in completion percentage. For a quarterback with little help on the offensive line and minimal success in the rushing attack, Sanders has clearly carried this Buffalo offense. He might not win the Heisman, but there’s a case to be made that there’s no more important player to any team than Sanders is to Colorado.
Others Receiving Heisman Rankings Week Five Votes:
Quinn Ewers, Texas (9), Brock Bowers, Georgia (9), Jayden Daniels, LSU (3), Drake Maye, North Carolina (3), Ray Davis, Kentucky (1).
