College football betting: Hendon Hooker, Blake Corum's Heisman odds shoot up

Entering Week 7 of the college football season, we knew the outcomes would impact the national landscape. Alabama was facing a real road test in Tennessee. Clemson faced a tough road test against Florida State. USC also had to go on the road in a tough environment against Utah. Penn State and Michigan met in a big matchup in the Big 10 East. TCU and Oklahoma State met in a battle of Big 12 undefeated teams.

The drama delivered. Tennessee pulled off the upset against Alabama in the final seconds, winning 52-49 as an 8.5-point underdog. Utah used a late two-point conversion to beat USC. TCU erased a 24-7 deficit and won an overtime thriller. Clemson and Michigan sent strong messages, handling a pair of good teams comfortably.

At this point, it's not too early to look at the Heisman race. Two players in particular had strong games that led their teams to big wins, and oddsmakers took notice.

Hendon Hooker and Blake Corum shooting up

Entering Saturday, Alabama had defeated Tennessee 15 straight times dating back to 2006. Nick Saban never lost to the Volunteers as the head coach of the Crimson Tide. Tennessee looked impressive to begin its season but still closed as an 8.5-point home underdog against Alabama.

However, Tennessee pulled off the upset, winning 52-49 on a last second 40-yard field goal from Chase McGrath. While McGrath sealed the deal, that was all made possible by a pair of big-time throws from Hendon Hooker. After Alabama missed a potential go-ahead field goal, Hooker had 15 seconds to get the Vols in range.

He completed an 18-yard pass and then a 27-yard pass to set up the game-winning field goal. Those throws were the two big ones, as McGrath needed all 45 of those yards as his kick barely made it through the uprights that are now in the Tennessee River. On the game, Hooker went 21-for-30 for 385 yards and five touchdowns. He added 56 yards on the ground. On the season, Hooker is completing 70% of his throws and has a 15-to-1 TD-INT ratio.

Hooker opened the season with 66-to-1 odds to win the Heisman. Entering this past weekend, Hooker was 14-to-1. After his big upset victory against Alabama, Hooker is now +600 to win the Heisman. Those are the second-best odds in the country behind only C.J. Stroud, Ohio State's quarterback.

While Tennessee and Hooker were the big story of this past weekend, Michigan was a bit under the radar in terms of how dominant they were against Penn State. The Wolverines won 41-17 and the game might not have even been that close.

Blake Corum had 28 carries for 166 yards and two touchdowns against Penn State on Saturday. Corum now has 13 touchdowns on the season, which leads college football. He ranks second in yards behind only Chase Brown of Illinois. Corum now has four straight games where he's gone over 120 yards on the ground.

Corum opened the season at 80-to-1 to win the Heisman. He entered last week with 20-to-1 odds. After yet another dominant game on the ground, Corum is now just 12-to-1 to win the Heisman. Those are the fourth-best odds in the country behind only Stroud, Hooker and Caleb Williams.

The rest of the Heisman odds

Ohio State had the weekend off, but C.J. Stroud is still the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy at -110. His odds actually decreased this weekend after some impressive performances by other contenders. He was -155 entering the week. On the season, Stroud is completing over 70% of his passes and his 24 touchdown passes are tied for the most in the country with Drake Maye of UNC, who has played one more game.

Caleb Williams has the third-best odds to win the Heisman at +700 after another impressive performance for USC in their loss against Utah. Williams is certainly putting up Heisman numbers but the question becomes team success. USC's loss to Utah might just be enough to knock them out of playoff contention. Lamar Jackson is the only player in the playoff era to win the Heisman on a team that didn't make the playoffs.

Alabama's loss was despite the best efforts of Bryce Young as he threw for 455 yards and was constantly making plays out of nothing. However, his Heisman odds took a hit. Young is now 18-to-1 to win the Heisman which are the fifth-best odds in the country. He opened as the betting favorite to win the award at +250.

Here's the top-15 Heisman contenders according to the betting odds at BetMGM:

1. C.J. Stroud (Ohio State) -110

2. Hendon Hooker (Tennessee) +600

3. Caleb Williams (USC) +700

4. Blake Corum (Michigan) 12-to-1

5. Bryce Young (Alabama) 18-to-1

6. DJ Uiagalelei (Clemson) 25-to-1

7. Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA) 25-to-1

8. Jahmyr Gibbs (Alabama) 25-to-1

9. Adrian Martinez (Kansas State) 30-to-1

10. Spencer Sanders (Oklahoma State) 30-to-1

11. Drake Maye (UNC) 30-to-1

12. Sam Hartman (Wake Forest) 50-to-1

13. Stetson Bennett (Georgia) 50-to-1

14. Max Duggan (TCU) 50-to-1

15. Bo Nix (Oregon) 66-to-1