College football Week 13 QB rankings: It's Bryce Young, then everybody else with one week remaining in regular season

Michigan’s drubbing of Ohio State means trouble for C.J. Stroud’s odds of taking home the Heisman Trophy, which hit a new high after the Buckeyes’ lopsided win against Michigan State.

He may not have been the top Heisman contender on the field in Saturday’s loss. Instead, that honor may belong to Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who had three sacks and countless quarterback pressures.

In a year when no one player has run away from the pack, there may be a chance for a defensive player to make real Heisman noise. Joining Hutchinson in that conversation is Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis.

But after leading Alabama to an overtime win against Auburn, second-year quarterback Bryce Young remains the player to beat in the Heisman race. With one week left in the regular season, he tops the list of the best passers in the country.

1. Bryce Young, Alabama

He’s still sitting at 40 touchdowns and just three interceptions for one of the best teams in the country. He struggled for about 58 minutes against Auburn and then delivered a touchdown drive that’ll go down in Iron Bowl history to force overtime. Alabama’s got a shot at beating Georgia and getting back into the playoff. A win against the Bulldogs locks down the Heisman for Young, and it may not be too close in the final voting.

2. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh

Pickett is also in play for his production and the Panthers’ performance. With Pickett at the helm, Pittsburgh will reach the ACC championship game and play for a New Year’s Six bowl bid. Breaking Dan Marino’s single-season and career records is a nice selling point for his Heisman case.

3. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State

Last impressions matter, and while Stroud certainly can’t be blamed for the Buckeyes’ loss — he threw for 394 yards and two scores without an interception — that Ohio State was pushed around by Michigan could linger with voters. There’s also the notion that Hutchinson could steal some of his thunder among voters inside the Big Ten footprint.

4. Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati

Ridder has a chance to cement his place alongside the best quarterbacks in Group of Five history by leading Cincinnati to one more win and a spot in the College Football Playoff. The American championship game against Houston will easily be Cincinnati’s hardest test since Notre Dame. Ridder heads into Saturday having thrown multiple touchdowns in each of his last six games.

5. Matt Corral, Ole Miss

With an Egg Bowl win in the books and a New Year’s Six trip ahead, Corral is close to ending his Ole Miss career and heading into the NFL draft. The former five-star recruit has exploded under coach Lane Kiffin, shedding any thought that his recruiting hype was overblown to rank among the top passers in program history. (And there have been a few good ones to come through Oxford.) He’s very likely a first-round pick and one of the top quarterbacks off the board this spring.

6. Carson Strong, Nevada

Strong ended the regular season with one of the best games of his career, completing 17 of 22 throws for 288 yards and four touchdowns as Nevada demolished Colorado State 52-10. This was the sixth time this year Strong has completed more than 70% of his throws and his sixth game with four or more scores, while his 13.1 yards per attempt set a new career high.

7. Bailey Zappe, Western Kentucky

Zappe put up crooked numbers as WKU surged from a 1-4 start to the Conference USA championship game. Most of that credit goes to Zappe and this pass-happy system, which was imported from Houston Baptist and yielded one of the top offenses in the country. With two games left, Zappe leads the Football Bowl Subdivision with 52 touchdowns and has a shot at breaking Joe Burrow’s single-season record of 60 set in 2019.

8. Sam Hartman, Wake Forest

It’s been a bit of a dodgy November for Hartman as Wake’s schedule stiffened after a pretty smooth first two months. He came up big in Saturday’s must-win game against Boston College, however, with 236 yards through the air, another 51 on the ground and four total touchdowns as the Demon Deacons clinched the ACC Atlantic and a spot opposite Pittsburgh to decide the conference championship.

9. Jake Haener, Fresno State

With his former coach, Kalen DeBoer, off to Washington, don’t be surprised to see Haener follow suit and spend the 2022 season in the Pac-12. That would be a huge upgrade for the Huskies, who need competent quarterback play and will get one of the top players in the country. It would also send his career full circle: Haener signed with UW out of high school before transferring to Fresno State in 2019.

10. Hendon Hooker, Tennessee

Other options in this spot include Georgia’s Stetson Bennett III, Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong and UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Picking Hooker reflects on his growth from backup quarterback to one of the most overlooked passers in the Power Five. As the centerpiece of Josh Heupel’s offense, Hooker has nine games with multiple touchdowns, eight games with 200 or more yards and 10 games averaging at least 8.7 yards per attempt. Hooker has also helped Tennessee reach seven wins in Heupel’s first season.

Follow colleges reporter Paul Myerberg on Twitter @PaulMyerberg