Fact or Fiction: Hendon Hooker could win the Heisman Trophy
In today’s Fact or Fiction national columnist Mike Farrell looks at three big recent topics in college football and decides whether each statement is indeed FACT or if it’s FICTION.
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1. Cincinnati is the team least likely to get back to the playoff.
Farrell's Take: FACT. I asked which team that has made the playoff in its infancy won’t get back anytime soon and, to my surprise, more people pointed to Florida State and Michigan than Cincinnati. But let’s be real, even in the Big 12 as a Power Five team the Bearcats are up against it. Why? We’ve seen elite teams from the Big 12 get left out in the past and things fell just right for the Bearcats last season. That’s not likely to happen again.
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2. Hendon Hooker could win the Heisman.
Farrell's Take: FICTION. I mentioned some underdog Heisman Trophy candidates a couple of weeks ago but didn’t include Hendon Hooker and I probably should have. He had 31 touchdowns and only three interceptions last season and ran for another five scores as well. Let’s say Hooker adds another 10 touchdowns to that total and the Vols win eight games? He could be in New York, although it's unlikely he would win with Alabama's Bryce Young and Ohio State's CJ Stroud returning in 2022. So Hooker probably still doesn’t have a chance.
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3. Caleb Williams is worth four wins for USC.
Farrell's Take: FACT. USC was 4-8 last season so four more wins would make it 8-4 this season. That’s a reasonable expectation. Of course, Caleb Williams won’t be alone in turning things around if that happens but he’s obviously a key addition to this team that had average quarterback play the last two seasons.
The Trojans would have beaten Arizona State and Cal last year with Williams and the games against Oregon State and Stanford would have likely been very different as well.