Heisman Trophy Power Rankings: Max Duggan punches his ticket to NYC

Alabama was the talk of college football on Saturday due to their College Football Playoff status.

The Crimson Tide got all the help in the world to keep them alive, and received further help when the USC Trojans lost in the Pac-12 Championship Game, and the TCU Horned Frogs fell in the Big 12 Championship Game.  While the door is open, a berth is pretty improbable, albeit a shocking decision by the CFP selection committee.

One way or another, the college football world will watch quarterback Bryce Young play in a bowl game. Young didn’t have the statistics like he had when he won the Heisman last year, but he shined at the end of the season, specifically in the Iron Bowl against Auburn.

On the year, Young threw for 3,007 yards, 27 touchdowns, and five interceptions while completing 64.1-percent of his passes.

Young’s not winning back-to-back Heisman’s, but he did have some great performances throughout the year.

This season, the Tennessee Volunteers were one of the surprise teams. They defeated ranked teams such as Pittsburgh, LSU, Florida, and even Alabama in a thrilling mid-October game. These wins came in part from huge games from senior quarterback Hendon Hooker.

With each passing game, Hooker looked like the favorite to win the Heisman. He did, after all, have a clutch late drive to set up the game-winning field goal against the Crimson Tide. But, his stock did take a hit after being held without a touchdown by the Georgia Bulldogs defense. Then, on Nov. 19, Hooker suffered a torn ACL in the team’s loss to South Carolina.

In his final season with Tennessee, Hooker completed 69.6-percent of his passes for 3, 135 yards and 27 touchdowns while throwing two interceptions. Hooker also ran for 430 yard and five touchdowns on 104 carries.

It’s a shame that Hooker’s season ended the way it did, because it was a fantastic year for the quarterback.