USC QB Caleb Williams' Heisman odds rise as he proves to deserve award

USC Football QB Caleb Williams' Heisman odds have risen from 12/1 to 5/1 after his dominant, five touchdown (four passing) performance on Saturday against Cal, per BetOnline sports book. He now has the third-highest odds for the Trophy behind Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud (first at +225) and Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker (second at +325). Both of them saw their odds dip:

The reason Williams' odds rose is not just that he had five touchdowns. It was also because he threw for those 360 passing yards and ran for 38 on seven carries. He didn't turn the ball over once. The reason Hooker's odds dropped was because he only threw for 195 passing yards on 33 attempts this week, and didn't score any touchdowns (passing or rushing).

He threw a pick, too, and only had 17 rushing yards on 18 carries. It was a similar story for Stroud, who really struggled on Saturday, too. Stroud did get the win against Northwestern by 14 points (Hooker lost to Georgia by 14 points), but only completed 10 of 26 passes, and for just 76 yards. He didn't turn the ball over, but didn't score any TD's himself.

Williams' performance against Cal resulted in SC advancing to 8-1 on the season. That's tied with Tennessee's record, and just one game behind Ohio State's. Keep in mind that SC's one loss was a one-point loss that required horrible officiating to give currently-No. 14 Utah the edge. (Currently as in when these odds were released.)

USC Football QB1 Caleb Williams has now thrown 28 touchdown passes, and scored 32 total touchdowns.

Hooker trails USC Football signal-caller Caleb Williams in those departments, as he only has 21 passing touchdowns and 25 total touchdowns. He's also thrown two picks to Williams' one. Stroud may have Williams beat in pass TD's (29), but he's also thrown four picks, and is a non-factor with his legs. He has no rushing touchdowns to Williams' four. He's averaged just three yards per carry.

Williams has averaged four, which is also of course greater than Hooker's 3.9. He's been the better player than both of them, and he's doing it on a team that was 4-8 last year. Taking a 4-8 team to 8-1 through nine games tells quite a bit of the story as well. Clearly, there's nobody more valuable in the country than Williams.

Especially when Williams' performance hasn't dipped at all these past two weeks, when he's been without his top two wideouts in Jordan Addison and Mario Williams. Clearly, Caleb doesn't need anybody around him to shine at an elite level.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change