College Football

C.J. Stroud, Hendon Hooker highlight RJ Young's Heisman contenders

Updated Oct. 17, 2022 7:44 p.m. ET

With Week 8 of the college football season looming, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud continues to strengthen his case for this year's Heisman Trophy award, but other contenders are gaining ground.

Quarterback Hendon Hooker and the now-No. 3-ranked Tennessee Volunteers moved to 6-0 after upsetting Alabama in Week 7, 52-49, the program's first win over the Crimson Tide since 2006. Michigan running back Blake Corum continues to feast on Big Ten defenses, posting his fourth consecutive 120-plus-yard rushing game this past week against Penn State.

Out west, quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson's electric play has helped UCLA get off to a 6-0 start while Michael Penix Jr. is having a breakout season under center for Washington. Meanwhile, SEC quarterbacks Bryce Young (Alabama) and Stetson Bennett (Georgia) are making waves as well.

FOX Sports college football writer RJ Young revealed his top five Heisman Trophy contenders on the latest episode of his podcast, "The Number One College Football Show."

C.J. Stroud & Hendon Hooker are college football's top Heisman candidates

FOX Sports’ RJ Young shares his top five Heisman candidates after Week 7 of the college football season.

1. Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud

2022 stats: 1,737 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns, three interceptions.

Fun fact: Stroud is the only quarterback in the country to be averaging four-plus passing touchdowns per game. He's also one of just four quarterbacks to complete 70% of his passes and have 20-plus passing touchdowns.

What Young said: "C.J. Stroud has thrown for 10.9 yards per attempt this year. Last year, he threw 44 touchdowns and just six interceptions, had over 4,400 yards passing, and he threw for 10.1 yards per attempt. Now, he had over 400 passing attempts last year. I don't think he's going to get to that this year because he's only had 160 through six games so far because he gets the hook because they [Ohio State] go up. But he's had three performances where he's got six TDs – six passing TDs in a single game three times."

C.J. Stroud connects with Emeka Egbuka for a 51-yard touchdown

C.J. Stroud connects with Emeka Egbuka for a 51-yard touchdown in Ohio State's win over Arkansas State.

2. Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker

2022 stats: 1,817 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns, one interception, 287 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns.

Fun fact: Hooker is the only Power 5 conference quarterback to complete 70% of his passes and have a TD-INT ratio of 15 or higher. He's also one of two Power 5 conference quarterbacks to be averaging 300 passing yards per game and have accumulated at least 250 rushing yards.

What Young said: "Three 300-yard passing games, 15 TDs to just the one interception that he's thrown since Nov. 13, 2021. But he [Hooker] has also got three ranked wins, and he's got the best win all season. You got Alabama on your résumé as a win. I'm watching the broadcast and I hear Heath Shuler's name, and I'm going: ‘Lord, what year is it?' Are we about to start talking about Tee Martin here? Is that where we're going? And we should because the last time they looked to be this good was playing for national championships."

Tennessee, Hendon Hooker deserve respect after upset victory vs. Alabama

RJ Young reacts to the Tennessee Volunteers beating the Alabama Crimson Tide and why the Volunteers deserve respect.

3. Michigan RB Blake Corum

2022 stats: 901 rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns, seven receptions, 35 receiving yards.

Fun fact: Corum is the only player in the country with at least one rushing touchdown in every game this season and is one of just two players to have zero fumbles while averaging 125-plus rushing yards per game.

What Young said: "What if I told you we haven't seen the best Blake Corum yet? What if I told you he showed he still got juice left that he didn't use from 2021 that he can still use in 2022? And the way I get at this is in 2021, Blake Corum rushed for 952 yards in 12 games. That's behind Hassan Haskins, who was the bell-cow back. He had 144 rush attempts last year, averaged about 6.6 yards per carry. This year, he's rushed for 901. Seems like a lot, right, through seven games? But he's had 146 rush attempts. So think about that: he was a better tailback – if we're talking about carries, and we're talking about yardage last year – as the spell back than he has been this year on one of the four best teams in college football. What I'm saying is he's still got another level. This isn't even his final form."

Blake Corum gets his second TD of the day against Penn State

Blake Corum runs for a 61-yard score to put Michigan ahead by 14 over Penn State.

4. Georgia QB Stetson Bennett

2022 stats: 2,033 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns, one interception, 115 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns.

Fun fact: Bennett is the only quarterback in the country with a 70% completion rate, 2,000-plus passing yards and five or more rushing touchdowns. He's also one of two quarterbacks to have a TD-INT ratio of seven or higher while having 2,000-plus passing yards.

What Young said: "Bennett has three 300-yard passing games. He's had four games of 70% completion rate or better – I think a couple of those are even 80 – and he's over 2,000 yards passing seven games in. Seven TDs to one INT, but he ain't the dude that they're looking to go punch the ball in. They're handing that to the tailbacks. The most well-known player on the best team in the SEC not named Tennessee."

Stetson Bennett runs by defenders for a 64-yard touchdown against Auburn

Georgia QB Stetson Bennett turns on the jets and runs past defenders for a 64-yard touchdown against Auburn.

5. Alabama QB Bryce Young

2022 stats: 1,657 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns, three interceptions, 150 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns.

Fun fact: Young is the only Power 5 conference quarterback to finish a game with 100 rushing yards and five passing touchdowns this season. He's also one of only two SEC quarterbacks to have five 15-plus-yard rushes and at least 25 passes of 20-plus yards this season.

What Young said: "Bryce's doing this thing that's really starting to get on my nerves where he holds the ball, so I'm hearing people talk more and more about the hits he's taking. I'm going ‘throw the ball away, or make your read.’ Some of that's about line play, but the longer you hold the ball, the less that's on the line. You get two seconds to throw the football. After that, you're on your own. You keep getting hit like that, you're going to keep getting injured like you've been injured. Everybody knew he was going to wake up this morning bruised and hurtin' but still in my Heisman race because, well, he's the reigning Heisman winner. This is their [Alabama's] first loss this season – first loss since the National Championship Game – and they still have a road to the SEC Championship. It's just the [SEC] West is very tough."