Heisman Trophy Power Rankings, Week 6: Ward's comeback, Jeanty dominates again

Just when you thought it would be hard to follow Week 5 of the season, Week 6 delivered and then some. Perhaps the biggest story to come out of this weekend is No. 1 Alabama, who just beat Georgia last week, losing 40-35 to Vanderbilt in a massive upset. Not only that, but the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks, and the Washington Huskies got revenge on the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines in a CFP National Championship Game rematch.

As is the case every week, we look at the performances of the top players in college football and see how this affects their stock in the Heisman Trophy chase. Here is what the Top 10 power rankings look like for the Heisman after this week.

Heisman Trophy Power Rankings after Week 6

The Big Ten conference is absolutely stacked, and with 12 College Football Playoff spots available, there are only so many schools who can qualify. The USC Trojans are in their first year in the Big Ten after leaving the Pac-12, and it has been a mixed bag. They lost a nail-biter to the Michigan Wolverines, while easily beating the Wisconsin Badgers.

On Saturday, the Trojans took on the Minnesota Golden Gophers and it wasn't a pretty game for them and quarterback Miller Moss. It's not entirely shocking, considering Minnesota is one of the better teams against the pass in the nation.

Moss threw an interception in the third quarter when at Minnesota's own 35-yard line while up 17-10 on the scoreboard. The Golden Gophers immediately responded with a five-yard touchdown run by Max Brosmer to tie the game at 17 points apiece.

Once Minnesota took a 24-17 lead, Miller was unable to lead the team to a game-tying touchdown to force overtime. Instead, Moss threw it into double coverage in the end zone to clinch the loss for USC.

Moss threw 23 completions for 200 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions on 38 pass attempts.

The Tennessee Volunteers returned from their bye week after soundly defeating the Oklahoma Sooners back in Week 4. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava has played well enough to keep the team undefeated, but he wasn't putting up numbers like fellow quarterbacks Jalen Milroe or Cam Ward.

This week, Iamaleava took on an Arkansas Razorbacks team that hadn't won a big game in quite some time. Well, Tennessee allowed them to do just that, picking up a 19-14 upset victory.

Iamaleava couldn't really do much in the first half, but in the second half, he set up two touchdown drives capped off by running back Dylan Sampson reaching the end zone.

But with the team down 19-14, Iamaleava had the opportunity to create a Heisman moment. Starting at Tennessee's 25-yard line, Iamaleava connected with Dont'e Thornton Jr. on a 42-yard pass. But with not much time left on the clock and one play realistically left, Iamaleava ran across the line of scrimmage and...ran out of bounds.

Iamaleava completed 17-of-29 pass attempts for 158 yards, zero touchdowns, and no interceptions.

There is a new name to add to our Heisman Trophy rankings, and that is Ohio State freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. So you're probably asking why Smith makes it into the Top 10 at the No. 10 spot. Well, he plays for the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes, and is one of their main contributors on offense.

On Saturday, Smith caught four passes for 89 yards and a touchdown in Ohio State's 35-7 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes. Smith was able to catch that touchdown with one hand.

On the year, Smith has 453 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns on 23 catches. Smith also has a rushing touchdown, which arrived in last week's game against Michigan State. Smtih has never recorded less than 70 receiving yards in a game this season.

Once Ohio State's schedule gets a bit tougher with more enticing matchups for the viewing audience, Smith is a player to keep an eye on.

Cade Klubnik always had big shoes to fill at Clemson. After Trevor Lawrence left for the NFL and D.J. Uiagalelei didn't pan out, all eyes were on Klubnik, one of the top quarterback recruits in the country out of high school in 2022. Last year, Klubnik had his fair share of struggles. Then, in the season-opener, Klubnik and the entire Clemson offense laid an egg against Georgia.

However, Klubnik has played much better and is leading Clemson to victories and into contention in the ACC. Entering Week 5, Klubnik threw for 984 yards, 12 touchdowns, and two interceptions.

On Saturday, Clemson defeated the Florida State Seminoles 29-13. Klubnik connected on two touchdown passes in the first quarter (a 57-yarder to Antonio Williams and a 23-yarder to T.J. Moore) to put Clemson up 17-0. From there, kicker Nick Hauser cleaned things up with four fild goals in the second half.

Klubnik ended the day completing 19-of-33 pass attempts for 235 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 62 yards on 11 carries.

Jaxson Dart and the Ole Miss Rebels entered Week 6 coming off of a massive upset loss at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats. Credit to Kentucky and their defense, which limited Ole Miss' top-ranked offense in the nation. With that, Ole Miss' chances of making the College Football Playoff took a massive hit. All they had to do was return and win-out the rest of the season to kep their chances alive.

On Saturday, Dart led the Rebels to a blowout 27-3 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks. Dart didn't account for a passing touchdown or a rushing score, but he did have a relatively efficient game. Dart completed 14-of-27 pass attempts for 285 yards, zero touchdowns, and no interceptions, while running for 44 yards on eight carries.

Next week, Dart will have quite the challenge, as he takes on the LSU Tigers.

The Oregon Ducks are still undefeated on the season after six weeks. Oregon played on Friday night against the Michigan State Spartans in their second conference game of the season, but their first against a Big Ten mainstay.

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel had a rough start to the game. In two of Oregon's first four offensive drives, Gabriel helped lead the Ducks into the red zone, and it ended with him throwing two interceptions. One of those picks was on Michigan State's own one-yard line.

However, Gabriel did account for three total touchdowns in the team's 31-10 victory over Michigan State. Gabriel completed 20-of-32 throws for 257 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 22 yards and a touchdown on three carries.

Those two interceptions were brutal, despite the win. However, Gabriel does not rank inside the Top 4 of the Heisman Rankings, and probably won't for the rest of the year.

Last week, Jalen Milroe had a star-making performance for Alabama in their thrilling 41-33 win over Georgia. With that, he was locked into a Top 4 spot on our rankings list, and he improved his NFL Draft stock. All Milroe had to do was keep it up for the rest of the year, and he could make a legitimate case to win the Heisman.

But in Week 6, Milroe and Alabama fell for the trap game. The Crimson Tide took on Vanderbilt on the road in what was supposed to be an easy win on paper. But the Commodores came to play, and made an immediate statement in the first quarter.

Vanderbilt went up 13-0 early, and Milroe played a big role in it, throwing a brutal pick-six.

In the fourth quarter, Milroe fumbled possession after getting sacked from his blindside with Alabama trailing 33-28. Vanderbilt capitalized seven plays later on a six-yard touchdown pass from Diego Pavia to Kamrean Johnson. Milroe did lead the Crimson Tide to a touchdown on the ensuing drive, but it was too little, too late, as Vanderbilt held on.

Milroe completed 18-of-24 pass attempts for 310 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Milroe also ran for 10 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.

With this showing, Milroe drops down to the No. 4 spot.

No one raised their stock more this college football season than Miami quarterback Cam Ward. He played like the early Heisman favorite

The Colorado Buffaloes had a bye week, and they are currently 4-1 on the season, rebounding nicely since their Week 2 loss to the Nebraska Cornuskers. Regardless of how the season goes for Colorado the rest of the way, it's become evident that Travis Hunter is one of the best college football players in the country.

This season, Hunter has showcased why he should be in the running for the first-overall pick in the draft. It's not easy to play two different positions on opposite sides of the line of scrimmage, but Hunter does so at an elite level.

As a wide receiver, Hunter has recorded 46 receptions for 561 yards and six touchdowns. As a cornerback, Hunter posted16 combined tackles (11 solo, five assisted), three passes defended, two interceptions, and one forced fumble.

Hunter and Colorado will face the Kansas State Wildcats in Week 7.

Sometimes, college football players can prove their worth as a Heisman Trophy candidate by overcoming some adversity on the field. For the Miami Hurricanes and quarterback Cam Ward, they looked to be on the verge of a disastrous upset in a week filled with them.

Ward and the Hurricanes looked lost and had no answers for the California Golden Bears. By the third quarter, Miami trailed 35-10, with Cal looking liek they weren't letting their foot off the gas pedal. Ward contributed to one of the Golden Bears' touchdowns in the form of a pick-six.

But then, Ward helped orchestrate a gigantic comeback. Ward threw a 18-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Horton, ran for a 24-yard touchdown, and connected with Elijah Arroyo on a go-ahead five-yard touchdown to pull the Hurricanes to a 39-38 victory.

Ward finished the game completing 35-of-53 pass attempts for 437 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.

This was a tremendous performance by Ward, but there is one player that played even better in Week 6.

The Boise State Broncos may have the most dominant player in all of college football in running back Ashton Jeanty. This season, Jeanty has been running all over opposing defenses and putting up numbers like you would playing on rookie mode in the Madden NFL video game.

This weekend, Jeanty put up another dominant showing, this time against the Utah State Aggies. Boise State cruised to a 62-30 victory, Jeanty only had 13 carries in the game, and he made the most of them. Jeanty put up 186 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 14.3 points per game.

Jeanty's first carry of the game? A 75-yard touchdown.

Perhaps most impressively, as The Athletic's Dane Brugler points out, Jeanty reached 1,000 rushing yards on the year before even logging 100 carries. He did so on 90.

At this stage, Jeanty is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, just like everyone predicted heading into the 2024 season.