Heisman Trophy rankings, Week 3: Milroe's big game, Ewers injured

Week 3 of the college football season may not have had the top matchups like last week, but it sure was eventful. This week alone, fans saw Alabama cruise to a blowout victory over Wisconsin, Arch Manning get meaningful playing time for Texas, and Georgia survive an upset attempt by Kentucky.

There is still a lot of season left, but that doesn't mean we can't look forward to the year-end awards. Perhaps the most followed competition will be for the Heisman Trophy. If this year has shown anything, it's that the field is wide open. But, who takes the top ranking after this week?

Let's look at our own Heisman Trophy power rankings after Week 3 of the 2024 season.

2024 Heisman Trophy Rankings after Week 3

The USC Trojans had a dominant 48-0 win over the Utah State Aggies last weekend. With that, USC had themselves a bye this weekend. With that, they won't return until Sept. 21 to take on the Michigan Wolverines

Through the first two games of the season, quarterback Miller Moss has shown that he can be effective in USC's offense. His job is certainly a lot easier with a stout defense, something that Caleb Williams didn't have last season. Even so, Moss is playing well on an undefeated team.

Moss completed 48-of-66 pass attempts for 607 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions.

We'll see how Moss plays when he takes on Michigan next weekend.

What a role the Nebraska Cornhuskers are on to start the 2024 season. Just last week, they beat the Colorado Buffaloes in convincing fashion. Now, they were 2-0, taking on the Northern Iowa Panthers on Saturday.

Quarterback Dylan Raiola made the most of his opportunity in Week 3, much like he's done throughout the season. On the opening drive, Raiola connected with Carter Nelson on a 24-yard touchdown pass to put Nebraska up 7-0.

After Northern Iowa picked up three points on the ensuing 16-play, 10 minute drive, Raiola threw his second touchdown pass of the game, this time an 18-yarder to Isaiah Neyor. From there, it was all Nebraska, with Northern Iowa unable to put any points on the board.

Raiola finished the night completing 17-of-23 pass attempts for 247 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.

Next up for Raiola and Nebraska are the undefeated Illinois Fighting Illini.

No player has been more electric in college football than Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. In the Broncos' first game of the season, Jeanty ran for 267 yards and six touchdowns in a 56-45 win over the Georgia Southern Eagles.

But then last week against the No. 7 Oregon Ducks, Jeanty showed Week 1 wasn't a fluke. Jeanty ran for 192 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries in the narrow 37-34 loss. That's right, Jeanty averaged 7.7 yards per carry against a CFP National Championship favorite. That's pretty good.

Boise State was on a bye this weekend, but they return on Sept. 21 to take on Portland State.

The Georgia Bulldogs were bulldozing their opponents through the first two weeks of the season. They beat the Clemson Tigers 34-3 in the season opener down in Atlanta, while destroying Tennessee Tech 48-3.

This week, the Bulldogs take on the Kentucky Wildcats on the road, and it was a battle for the offense and quarterback Carson Beck. Kentucky's defense didn't make life easy, as they stopped Georgia on 8-of-13 third down attempts. But when it mattered, Beck led Georgia on what turned out to be a game-winning drive.

Beck completed all three pass attempts for 22 yards and ran for three yards on the eight-play, 68 ard drive. The Bulldogs took a 13-9 lead after three-yard run by Branson Robinson.

Beck finished the game completing 15-of-24 pass attempts for 160 yards, zero touchdowns, and zero interceptions, while running for 18 yards on five carries.

Talk about an early night at the office. Goal? Beat Kent State. Well, Nico Iamaleava and the Tennessee Volunteers put the game so out of reach, that head coach Josh Heupel pulled the freshman quarterback midway through the second quarter. The score of the game? 51-0. Midway through the second quarter!

The damage by Tennessee was mostly done through the rushing attack, but Iamaleave put the team up 23- on his lone touchdown pass of the game — a 53-yard throw to Chris Brazzell II.

Iamaleava completed 10 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts, while running for 31 yards on five carries.

It took until the third game of the season, but Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss finally threw his first interception of the season. The opponent to accomplish this feat? The Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The thing is, it didn't help Wake Forest pick up a win.

The Rebels coasted to a relatively easy 40-6 victory. Dart showed off his toughness running the football, recording 36 rushing yards and one touchdown on six carries. That touchdown came on the following drive after his interception, where he ran up the middle of the field, powered his way through multiple defenders on his way into the end zone for 13 yard run.

Through the air, Dart recorded 26 completions for 377 yards and two touchdowns on 34 attempts.

Next up for Dart and the Rebls is Georgia Southern, who are 2-1 on the season.

Just last week, the Alabama Crimson Tide were on upset alert against the USF Bulls. But in the fourth quarter, Jalen Milroe helped lead Alabama on four touchdown drives to give them the 42-16 win.

This weekend, Alabama faced an undefeated team in the Wisconsin Badgers. While this was one of the more anticipated games on the Week 3 slate, it was all Alabama. It certainly didn't help that Wisconsin starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke suffered a leg injury on the first drive that knocked him out for the rest of the game.

Trailing 3-0, Milroe accounted for three first-half touchdowns — a 31-yard pass to Ryan Williams, a three-yard run, and a 26-yard throw to Germie Bernard. Even with the game seemingly out of reach, since Wisconsin's offense was in dire straits, Milroe piled onto the score with a 10-yard touchdown in the third quarter and a 37-yard touchdown pass to Josh Cuevas to clinch the 41-10 victory.

Milroe completed 12-of-17 throws for 196 yards and three touchdowns while running for 75 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

Last week, the Oregon Ducks were on upset alert against the Boise State Broncos. But, the Ducks were able to overcome a late 34-27 deficit to pick up the 37-34 victory. Dillon Gabriel didn't exactly carry the team on his back, as it was an all-around effort, but he did enough to lead the team to the win.

This weekend, Gabriel and the Ducks took on the in-state rival Oregon State Beavers. Let's just say it wasn't even close. Gabriel had a clean pocket for most of the game and he picked apart Oregon State's defense.

With the game tied 7-7, Gabriel gave Oregon a lead they wouldn't relinquish after a 54-yard touchdown run. The next drive, Gabriel connected with Traeshon Holden for a 20-yard touchdown to put Oregon up 22-7. The second half, Oregon was the only team that scored ponts, and left with a 49-14 win.

Gabriel, at one point, had 15 consecutive pass completions. Overall, the senior completed 20-of-24 pass attempts for 291 yards and two touchdowns while running for 64 yards and a touchdown on four carries.

This was an unfortunate week for Quinn Ewers. Facing off against the UTSA Roadrunners, Ewers was slicing and dicing the defense and put Texas up 14-0 in the first quarter. Ewers completed 14-of-16 pass attempts for 185 yards and two touchdowns.

The thing is, Ewers was banged up during the game. At various points, he was spotted holding his side. Eventually, after laying on the turf during a timeout, Ewers entered the medical tent on the sidelines, paving the way for Arch Manning to enter in relief. Ewers walked to the locker room with a towel over his head, and emerged later on in street clothes, signifying his night was done. At halftime, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian revealed that Ewers was diagnosed with a strained abdomen.

Ewers' status will be worth monitoring after Week 3.

The Miami Hurricanes were in need of a quarterback, and probably landed the best one in the transfer portal (sorry Florida State). Cam Ward made his way to Miami from Washington State, and he is not only takign the Hurricanes to the next level, but also his NFL Draft stock.

Through the first two games of the season, Ward threw 46 completions for 689 yards and six touchdowns on 61 attempts. This weekend, the Hurricanes took on the 1-0 Ball State Cardinals. The No. 10 team in the nation against a team from the MAC? Well, let's just say Ball State didn't do as well as Northern Illinois did against Notre Dame last week.

Ward led the Hurricanes to a 38-0 lead and was pulled from the game early in the third quarter. That's understandable, considering Ward threw five touchdown passes! Ward threw 19 completions for 346 yards on 28 attempts. Miami went on to win 62-0.

With the way Ward is playing so far, it will be hard for anyone to leapfrog him in the Heisman rakings now.