Week 10 of the college football season featured plenty of highlights. The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions once again. The No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs survived a potential upset against the Florida Gators. The Louisville Cardinals defeated the #10 Clemson Tigers in convincing fashion. These are just a few examples of great games with College Football Playoff implications.

With this being a big week of games, it allows some of the top athletes to prove they deserve to be in contention for Heisman Trophy. Colorado Buffaloes superstar Travis Hunter was bye this weekend, meaning contenders had a chance to overtake him for No. 1 in our rankings.

Thanks to Cody Williams for filling in last week. Now, let’s take a look at the Heisman Power Rankings after Week 10.

The Ohio State Buckeyes picked up a huge win over the Penn State Nittany Lions to help boost their chances of competing in the Big Ten Championship Game. Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith had a fairly tame showing against Penn State as he hauled in four receptions for 55 yards in the 20-13 win. Regardless, Smith entered the weekend with 35 catches for 623 yards and eight touchdowns.

The Army Black Knights were without quarterback Bryson Daily this week due to an undisclosed injury and continued their undefeated season with a 20-3 win over the Air Force Falcons. Yes, Army won without Daily, but his numbers this season have been insane. Daily ran for 909 yards and 19 touchdowns on 138 carries while throwing for 629 yards and seven touchdowns on a 57.4 completion percentage.

The Alabama Crimson Tide had a bye this week. Jalen Milroe is a week removed from throwing for 215 yards and running for 50 against Missouri. Milroe looked like a surefire Heisman finalist early in the season. But now? Milroe continues to fall further and further down our rankings. There is still time for Milroe to turn the season around.

What a way for Jaxson Dart to return from the bye week. Dart and the Ole Miss Rebels defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 63-31 to improve to 7-2 on the season. Dart completed 25 of 31 pass attempts for an astounding 515 yards and six touchdowns. That’s right, Dart had as many passing touchdowns as incompletions. Dart also picked up 47 yards on 10 carries. It was a good outing for the Darts as the team tries to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.

It was a tough week for the Clemson Tigers, who had no answers for the Louisville Cardinals. Clemson’s defense had no answers for Louisville’s running game, which picked up 210 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik wasn’t at the top of his game Saturday as he completed 33 of 56 pass attempts for 228 yards and a touchdown in the 33-21 loss. Don’t let the final score fool you, as Louisville actually led 26-7 at the end of the third quarter.

Shedeur Sanders, like Travis Hunter, was bye this weekend. Exist. There’s no denying that Sanders is one of the best quarterbacks in the country and has some Heisman moments, most notably the comeback win over Baylor. This season, Sanders has thrown for 2,591 yards, 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. Colorado’s games for the rest of the year become that much more important as they are serious Big 12 contenders after losses to Iowa State and Kansas State this weekend.

While USC, Washington and UCLA struggle in their Big Ten conference debut, the Oregon Ducks thrive. Having great quarterback play along with electric complementary players and a solid scheme is a recipe for success. Dillon Gabriel was everything the Ducks could have hoped for, especially after losing Bo Nix to the NFL.

On Saturday, Oregon picked up another massive win over a Big Ten mainstay in the Michigan Wolverines. More precisely, it was. 38-17 explosive win. However, Gabriel didn’t light up the stat sheets like he did last week. Gabriel threw for 294 yards and a touchdown while completing 22 of 34 pass attempts and picking up 23 yards and a touchdown on three carries.

Being the quarterback of the #1 ranked team in the nation would propel them up the rankings. But for Gabriel, there were better performances this week, even with Travis Hunter bye.

Last week, Boise State quarterback Ashton Jeanty had a pretty “normal” performance against UNLV. And by that, we mean rushing for 128 yards and a touchdown while averaging 3.9 yards per carry. Jeanty returned to form last Friday when he faced San Diego State.

In Boise State’s 56-32 win, Jeanty had a big game, rushing for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries while catching two passes for 31 yards. While this was a good showing for Jeanty, doing it against San Diego State was always unlikely to increase his chances of winning the Heisman. Unless Jeanty goes against Nevada, San Jose State, Wyoming and Oregon State in the next four weeks or breaks Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing yards record, Jeanty may not win the most prestigious award individual of college football.

Cam Ward has become the rising star of college football and the 2025 NFL Draft. Miami and head coach Mario Cristobal look like geniuses for landing Ward from the transfer portal via Washington State. Ward showed his ability to put the team on his back, make great throws and lead the Hurricanes to win after win.

On Saturday, Ward had to face Duke, which boasted one of the best pass defenses in the country. At one point, Duke led Miami 28-17 early in the third quarter. But then Ward put the pedal to the metal and made sure the Hurricanes would take the lead and not look back. Ward threw three touchdown passes in the second half (three-yard, 66-yarder to Xavier Restrepo and a 49-yarder to Jacolby George) to lead Miami to a 53–31 victory.

Ward completed 25 of 41 pass attempts for 400 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Another impressive outing for Ward, who should undoubtedly receive an invitation to the Heisman Trophy ceremony at the end of the season.

Even after his bye, Travis Hunter still remains No. 1 in the Heisman rankings. What Hunter does both offensively and defensively is incredible. He is the college football version of Shohei Ohtani for his elite skills as a receiver and cornerback.

This season, Hunter recorded 60 receptions for 757 yards and eight touchdowns as a receiver while posting 20 total tackles (13 solo, seven assisted), seven passes defensed, two interceptions and a fumble forced.

Colorado’s games are becoming more important as they have a clearer path in the College Football Playoff. With that, there will be even more eyes on Hunter and more opportunity to make his case as the Heisman favorite.