Heisman Trophy Power Rankings: Caleb Williams seizes his Heisman moment

The Ohio State Buckeyes had far from the easiest game in Week 12, as the Maryland Terrapins put up a hell of a fight against them. But, the Buckeyes were able to stand tall, and quarterback C.J. Stroud played a role in that, by making minimal mistakes.

Stroud threw the ball 30 times on Saturday afternoon, completing 18 of them for 241 yards and one touchdown. That touchdown happened on the opening drive of the game when he connected with running back TreVeyon Henderson on a 31-yard pass.

The Buckeyes were able to walk out of Maryland with the 43-30 victory. Now, they get to face Michigan in their huge regular-season finale, with the winner earning a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game.

There’s a new player atop the power rankings, and it’s USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

Throughout his first season in Los Angeles, Williams has played consistently great throughout the year. Even in the team’s loss to Utah earlier in the year, Williams put up solid numbers. If there was ever a Heisman moment, it was against the UCLA Bruins.

Williams did his part in keeping the Trojans ahead of the Bruins. They trailed 21-10 at one point, and Williams helped put them ahead 27-24 with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison. From there, the Trojans kept pulling away from the Bruins, despite the latter answering back multiple times.

The Trojans would pick up the Victory Bell after defensive end Korey Foreman intercepted Bruins quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Not only that, but they clinched a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

In the game, Williams completed 32-of-43 pass attempts for 470 yards and two touchdowns, while throwing an interception. Williams also ran for 33 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

On the year, Williams accumulated 3,480 passing yards, 33 passing touchdowns, three interceptions, 316 rushing yards, and seven rushing touchdowns.

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