Notre Dame helped Caleb Williams in a big way in Week 1
Yes, it’s only Week 1, and we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves here … BUT: Caleb Williams’ Heisman Trophy odds went way up this week.
Maybe those Heisman odds will go way down after a bad performance in a future game (we’ll just have to wait and see), but one can see a much clearer path to the Heisman for USC’s star quarterback after just one weekend of the new college football season.
It’s not very hard to understand. Not at all.
Notre Dame’s defense put the clamps on C.J. Stroud and Ohio State’s offense. Yes, Stroud was patient against Notre Dame. He didn’t make a big game-defining mistake. He got out of the way and allowed Ohio State’s defense to win the game. Stroud played a mature game, and for that, he deserves a lot of credit.
At the same time, he and his offense were still kept in check by Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame defense.
Ohio State scored 48 points in its previous game, but you saw Utah’s defense look outmatched by an elite quarterback once again. Stroud smoked the Utes in the 2022 Rose Bowl. Anthony Richardson ran Utah ragged in Week 1 of the new season on Saturday in Gainesville.
Notre Dame, unlike Utah, has an elite defense. Stroud being unable to post big numbers (which were expected, by the way — Ohio State was a 17-point favorite and the over-under was 59.5, with most bets going to the over in that game) is not a massive hit to his Heisman candidacy, but it’s not the big start which could have catapulted him to the top.
When we then consider the point that Bryce Young is unlikely to be voted the Heisman winner this year, simply because back-to-back winners need to be absolutely dominant and transcendent in order to receive that unique level of recognition, it becomes apparent that Caleb Williams might have the best current Heisman odds of any quarterback in the United States.
When we then realize that the Heisman is generally a quarterback-centric award, Williams has a great path, especially if Stroud fails to perform brilliantly in the other big games on Ohio State’s schedule. Stroud’s margin for error has clearly gone down, not up.
Also: Because Notre Dame’s defense showed how good it is, let’s keep this point in mind: If the Heisman is up for grabs at the end of the season, Caleb Williams — if he can outplay Notre Dame’s defense — would get a massive late-season boost in a high-visibility TV game.
You can see how all the pieces fit for Caleb Williams in the Heisman race. We’ll see if they keep fitting as the season goes on.
Thank you, Notre Dame. You just helped USC.
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