Heisman Power Rankings 2023, Week 2: Shedeur Sanders hype grows, Quinn Ewers makes statement
- Shedeur Sanders proves Week 1 was no fluke
- Quinn Ewers skyrockets up rankings after Texas' win over Alabama
- Caleb Williams is, surprise, still Caleb Williams
By Scott Rogust
Bo Nix falls just one spot in this week's rankings, as there was one quarterback who made quite the statement in Week 2. But that's not to say that Nix had a bad performance in Week 2.
The Oregon Ducks had a much tougher time than anticipated in Week 2, as they faced off against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. At one point, the Ducks were down 30-28 to Texas Tech but were able to take a late 31-30 lead on a 34-yard field goal by Camden Lewis. Nix helped the Ducks get into field goal range, leading the offense from their 20-yard line to Texas Tech's 18-yard line.
Nix made some great plays on Saturday. There was his huge 72-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin to tie the game up at 7-7 in the first quarter, to keeping his balance on his 13-yard run to pick up a huge first down.
Nix threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns while completing 32-of-44 pass attempts. Additionally, the quarterback ran for 46 yards on nine carries.
Next week, Nix gets to make a case to climb back up the rankings with a strong showing against Hawaii.
The biggest riser in the Heisman Power Rankings for Week 2 is none other than Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.
Last week, the Longhorns offense struggled early on against Rice but picked things up in the second half. With that, the pressure was on Ewers to have a better showing in arguably their biggest game of the year -- Week 2 on the road against Alabama. Ewers understood the assignment, and he thrived in the spotlight.
Ewers thrived throwing the ball downfield. The quarterback had two touchdown passes go longer than 30 yards. There was his 44-yard dime pass to Xavier Worthy in the end zone for the touchdown and the 39-yard touchdown pass to Adonai Mitchell in the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 34-24. Sure enough, that last pass helped secure the victory for the Longhorns.
If you have a great performance and beat Alabama in the same game? You deserve to skyrocket up the rankings. Now, we wait and see if Ewers and Texas can carry this momentum throughout the season.