Heisman rankings after Week 9: Kenneth Walker III delivers his moment, Sam Hartman lurking

The Heisman Trophy race is shaping up heading into the final week of the college football season and we have a favorite taking control of the rankings.

Whenever the Heisman Trophy race is brought into the discussion, particularly with just one month left in the regular season, the talk is often about players having their “moment”. You know, the game and the performance that separates players from the pack.

In such a wild season, we haven’t seen many of those moments — but we did in Week 9 of the college football season. But before we get to that moment, it’s worth noting that two much-discussed names won’t be featured in the top five of our Heisman rankings: Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams and Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral.

For Williams, if he had a full season of what he’s doing right now for the Sooners, he’d be a shoo-in for the Heisman race. But the fact of the matter is that he’s not going to have the overall numbers to be seriously considered. And in the case of Corral, his injuries have hurt him (as did the loss to Auburn in which he faltered a bit) and taken him out of the rankings.

So who are the top five in the Heisman Trophy race after Week 9? Let’s take a look.

Heisman Trophy rankings after Week 9

5. Sam Hartman, QB, Wake Forest

Sooner or later, we’re going to have to start recognizing both Sam Hartman and Wake Forest. The Deacs moved to 8-0 with a 38-point win over Duke and the quarterback continued to wow as he threw for 402 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for 61 yards and two scores in the win.

Hartman is now ninth in the country in both passing yards (2,475) and touchdowns (22) with only three interceptions. He also has added 207 rushing yards and six more scores. Doing this for an unbeaten Demon Deacons team, that’s something special we just can’t ignore.

4. C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State

At the end of the day, C.J. Stroud and the Buckeyes are going to take the victory. However, the fact is that the Ohio State quarterback was good not great in the anxiety-inducing win over the Nittany Lions. He finished 22-of-34 for 305 yards and a touchdown.

Those numbers put Stroud at 2,270 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns and only three interceptions for the year. However, you want to see guys in contention for the award have the best games in the biggest moments and the quarterback was merely good against Penn State.

3. TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State

In the win over Penn State, narrow as it was and with Stroud’s fine but not outstanding showing, TreVeyon Henderson took a step ahead of his quarterback in the Heisman race. He was phenomenal as he went for 152 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries to go with a seven-yard reception.

Henderson now has 107 carries for 845 yards and 12 touchdowns to go with 175 receiving yards on only nine catches and three more scores. He’s going to shatter Maurice Clarett’s Ohio State freshman total touchdowns record and keep making his case for this award.

2. Bryce Young, QB, Alabama

Alabama was off in Week 9 but Bryce Young still remains heavily in the mix. He’s top-10 in passing yards with 2,453 while tying for fourth in passing scores (26) and only having thrown three picks on the year. He also has two rushing touchdowns to his credit.

What Young can really do to solidify his Heisman candidacy is have his own moment. As good as he’s been, can you really pinpoint the moment where you thought: That’s a Heisman winner? I haven’t seen that, meaning that forthcoming games against LSU and Auburn in the Iron Bowl offer big opportunities for him to truly state his case to win the award.

1. Kenneth Walker III, RB, Michigan State

With Sparty’s back against the wall and their perfect season in danger, Michigan State turned to Kenneth Walker III to pull them out of the mud and into the winner’s circle. He answered the call with a true Heisman moment, taking 23 carries for 197 yards and five touchdowns to beat the rival Wolverines.

Walker has been undeniably outstanding this season, rushing for 1,194 yards and 14 touchdowns for the undefeated Spartans, adding a receiving touchdown to the mix for good measure. This feels like a year where we could be handing out a narrative-based award and the transfer running back leading MSU to an undefeated season behind remarkable production is the right story to tell.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.