Ranking the top 10 college football quarterbacks after Week 5 of the 2023 season.
It’s hard to believe but the 2023 college football season is almost at the mid-way point. That will come for most teams this week.
There are some huge games on the schedule and some marquee college football quarterbacks will go head-to-head highlighted by the Red River Shootout featuring Quinn Ewers of Texas and Dillon Gabriel of Oklahoma.
Before we look ahead to Week 6 of the college football season, we want to look back at Week 5 and update our rankings of college football quarterbacks.
10. Cameron Ward, Washington State
Ward and the Huskies had a bye last week. The Washington State signal-caller has been spectacular for the Cougars with 13 touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
Ward doesn’t run the ball much, but he can run it if he needs to. The Cougars are a real threat in the Pac-12 due to the former FCS transfer which looks like a future NFL quarterback in my book.
9. J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
McCarthy is back in our top 10 ranking of college football quarterbacks after a flawless couple of weeks. The Michigan quarterback was dynamic and ruthlessly efficient against Nebraska in a 45-7 win.
The junior has had a QBR of over 90 in four of five games this season. There was the three-interception game against Bowling Green but that was clearly an anomaly. McCarthy has announced for four touchdowns and zero turnovers in the past two weeks.
McCarthy was kissing his girlfriend in the third quarter instead of playing football, that’s how good he’s been. His numbers aren’t super gaudy, but he’s playing as well as any quarterback in college football right now.
8. Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma
The Oklahoma quarterback has been stellar and accounted for more than 400 total yards and five touchdowns in a win over Iowa State.
Gabriel’s Sooners are 5-0 right now. He also ranks in the top 10 in passing yards and touchdown passes. The former UCF transfer has been everything the Sooners thought they were getting in the transfer portal a season ago.
Saturday is the big game against Texas, but right now, the Sooners have to feel good about their quarterback at least.
7. Sam Hartman, Notre Dame
Notre Dame football nearly saw its dream season come to an end on Saturday night in Durham. Duke had the Fighting Irish on the ropes.
Notre Dame was looking at a 4th-and-16, with just one timeout remaining and the season on the line. Sam Hartman isn’t known as a runner, but he scrambled for 17 yards, getting a first down before the Irish scored a rushing touchdown to win the game 21-14.
Hartman wasn’t perfect. He completed just 15-of-30 passes for 222 yards and zero touchdowns. At one point, Notre Dame football missed 10 straight third-down conversion attempts.
But Hartman converted a third down on the winning drive, before running 17 yards for a first down on fourth down. That kept Notre Dame’s playoff hopes alive and kept him among our top 10 college football quarterbacks for another week.
6. Jordan Travis, Florida State
This list isn’t about all gaudy numbers. However, there’s no doubt in my mind that Jordan Travis has been one of the best college football quarterbacks in the 2023 season so far.
The Noles were off this week. Travis has 10 touchdown passes compared to just one interception. He also ran for two touchdowns and has wins over LSU and Clemson.
QB wins aren’t a stat. But quarterbacks are judged based on how their team plays and Travis has thrown eight touchdowns and zero interceptions in three Power-5 games away from home.
5. Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
Shedeur Sanders was spectacular last week in the loss to USC. The Colorado quarterback nearly rallied his team from a 28-point second-half deficit. Sanders threw for 371 yards and four touchdowns. He also looked better than he did against Oregon, but it should be noted that ESPN has him ranked just 36th in QBR.
Sanders does have a lot of intangibles and is second in the FBS in passing yards. He’s probably the biggest reason outside of his father that Colorado is 3-2 right now and he deserves a top-5 ranking among college football quarterbacks. He’s also completing 74 percent of his passes.
4. Bo Nix, Oregon
This list isn’t about where these college football quarterbacks are going to be drafted. It’s about how good they are for their team right now and few dudes are playing better than Bo Nix.
Nix doens’t get the credit he deserves, but the Auburn transfer has 15 touchdown passes compared to just one interception. Oregon didn’t have many problems with Stanford. Nix threw four touchdown passes and has at least three touchdowns in four of five games.
The win over Colorado got people talking about Oregon again, which is justified because the Ducks are a playoff contender.
3. Quinn Ewers, Texas
Color me impressed with Quinn Ewers. First, he went into Tuscaloosa and beat Nick Saban. Then, in a game in which Texas probably would have struggled in years past, Ewers was lights out, and Texas cruised to a win over 24th-ranked Kansas, which was 4-0.
Ewers completed 25-of-35 passes for 325 yards and a touchdown. He did throw an interception, but Ewers also rushed for two touchdowns in the win over Kansas, giving him five total.
Ewers had 10 touchdowns for the season, which doesn’t rank super high. But he’s 12th in QBR and is playing winning football. It’s going to be fascinating to watch him against Oklahoma.
The Longhorns feel like a playoff team and their quarterback is a huge part of that.
2. Michael Penix, Washington
It’s hard to argue with Penix at No. 2. The Washington Huskies signal-caller is tied for third in passing touchdowns. He leads the FBS in passing yards and is also ranked third in QBR.
Penix didn’t throw any touchdowns last week in a seven-point win over Arizona, but he threw for 363 yards. The former Indiana transfer is completing 74.7 percent of his throws and he’s on a path to New York for the Heisman ceremony if this production continues.
1. Caleb Wiliams, USC
Sanders stole the show a little bit on Saturday, but Caleb Williams has been fantastic. The USC quarterback has 21 touchdown passes, which includes six on Saturday.
Williams has played five games and accounted for 24 total touchdowns. He threw six on Saturday against Colorado, which prompted Joel Klatt to say that Williams would be an upgrade for some NFL teams this week.
The reigning Heisman winner has 21 touchdown passes and appears to have a great chance to repeat as the Heisman winner for the first time since Archie Griffin was the first in 1974-75.