Heisman Trophy watch list: Top 5 candidates ahead of Week 8

Caleb Williams was No. 1 in these rankings a week ago. What a difference a week makes.

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner had just a horrid showing at Notre Dame last week in one of the ugliest losses by a playoff contender all season.

How bad was it? Williams passed for just 199 yards on 37 attempts and he had just one touchdown to three interceptions. That Notre Dame defense gave him everything he could handle and more. He was sacked six times and just couldn’t seem to get anything going all night as the Trojans were playing catch-up from the get-go.

While it was a really bad game, it doesn’t quite end his Heisman hopes. He still has plenty of opportunities in the second half of the season to make a statement. That’s the beauty of playing in a loaded conference. He’ll have opportunities to get the Trojans back in the playoff race.

I mean, Williams still leads the nation in passing touchdowns with 23 and 75 percent of his interceptions on the year came against Notre Dame. He’ll be back.