Fickle, thy name is Last Word Heisman voters. After surging in the rankings during the early weeks of the season, Shedeur Sanders finally dropped out of our poll this week even after another solid performance. The same can’t be said for Florida State’s Jordan Travis, who remains in the top five after another disappointing performance against 2-4 Virginia Tech (18-for24, 170 yards passing). And the nation’s passing leader, Michael Penix, loses more ground to Caleb Williams during a bye week.
2023 LWOCFB Heisman Rankings Week Six
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 Six from our panel of 14 voters.
1. Caleb Williams, USC (64) [Previous: 1 (64)]
USC quarterback Caleb Williams bailed out the Trojans once again. The Trojans needed overtime, at home, to beat Arizona. This time, Williams did most of his damage on the ground with three touchdowns, one of which was in overtime. Williams was 14-for-25 (56%) with 219 yards passing and one touchdown through the air. Williams also had the winning two-point conversion in the third overtime.
While Williams has put up impressive numbers thus far in 2023, one has to wonder how his candidacy will fare if the Trojan defense can’t find a way to stop five ranked teams in the next six games. The early November matchup against Washington and Michael Penix, Jr. is shaping up to be must-watch football.
2. Michael Penix, Jr., Washington (52) [Previous: 2 (55)]
Michael Penix, Jr. and his Washington Huskies had a bye week to prepare for their big matchup against Oregon this week. A Husky win over Bo Nix and the Ducks would likely vault Penix into the top.
Penix leads the nation in passing yards per game (399.8) by a handsome margin. Sanders is second at 336.7. He’s in the top five of all major passing statistical categories. If the Huskies keep winning — especially against USC in early November, it’s hard to imagine a situation where Penix doesn’t hoist the Heisman in early December.
3. Bo Nix, Oregon (28) [Previous: 3 (34)]
On the flip side, Oregon’s Bo Nix needs to have a big game against Washington to catch up to the lead group of Williams and Penix. He’ll get his chance at 3:30 on Saturday with a national broadcast on the road in Seattle. It’s the perfect situation for a player to have a Heisman moment.
Nix is leading the nation with a completion percentage of 80.4%. Much like with Penix, Nix’s fortunes are likely tied to his team’s ability to win. He gets a matchup with Penix and Williams and if those go well, he will be right there with the two leaders come the second Saturday in December.
4. Drake Maye, North Carolina (19) [Previous: NR (3)]
North Carolina’s Drake Maye had a banger of a game on Saturday against Syracuse going 33-for-47 (70%) with 442 passing yards and three touchdowns. It’s the performance we’ve been expecting from Maye all season. After showing up on our preseason lists, Maye has slipped in recent weeks.
Maye’s chances to make up ground on the West Coast trio is limited to Miami, Duke, and Clemson over the remainder of the season. It’s unlikely that any of those games will draw the national attention that Williams, Penix, and Nix will get when they face each other. An ACC schedule that omits a Tarheel-Seminole matchup will hurt both Maye and Jordan Travis’ chances, and Maye’s to a greater degree.
Maye is in the top ten of only one major statistical category, and with average stats, he’ll need something special to happen over the second half of the season to get back into the serious conversation about Heisman hopefuls.
5. Jordan Travis, FSU (18) [Previous: (4) (19)]
Jordan Travis is riding that big win against LSU about as far as you can ride one game. The Seminoles quarterback turned in another un-Heisman-like performance on Saturday with an 18-for-24 (75%), 170 yard and two touchdown stat line against a listless Virginia Tech team.
Much like Maye, Travis isn’t going to get too many more marquee national match-ups. Travis barely cracks the top ten in one major statistical category, passing touchdowns, in a 14-way tie for 19th nationally. Statistics are not the end-all, be-all for the Heisman Trophy, but playing in a relatively weak ACC and having second-tier stats means that Travis and the Seminoles have no room for error if he wants to stay in our top five.
Others Receiving Heisman Rankings Week Six Votes:
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado (9), Brock Bowers, Georgia (8), Jayden Daniels, LSU (6), Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma (6).
