Nearly 1,000 Heisman voters must be looking at their blank ballots right now trying to figure out who needs to be first, second and third. Mine is still blank with one day before the deadline.

Trying to figure out the Heisman frontrunner, or two, has been more difficult in 2022 than most seasons. USC quarterback Caleb Williams was the frontrunner heading into last weekend, but his Trojans lost, 47-24, to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship. Though Williams passed for 363 yards and three touchdowns on a gimpy leg, he threw an untimely interception and didn’t bring his team back to victory.

Preseason favorite C.J. Stroud, the quarterback at Ohio State, didn’t play this weekend. That took away an opportunity to wow voters one last time. His last outing was a 45-23 home loss to Michigan.

TCU quarterback Max Duggan led the Horned Frogs to overtime in the Big 12 Championship on Saturday. TCU got the ball down inside the 2-yard line on third down in overtime, and the Frogs went for it twice on two running plays, and neither was Duggan. Duggan could have perhaps had a Heisman moment with a score, but instead TCU was stopped. TCU lost, 31-28, to Kansas State.

Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett IV improved his stock Saturday with a 50-30 win over LSU in the SEC Championship. Bennett passed for 274 yards and four touchdowns with a 96.7 quarterback rating. Bennett was the MVP of last year’s national championship game and has the Bulldogs at No. 1 in the country heading into the College Football Playoffs.

Michigan running back Blake Corum got injured at an inopportune time this season, missing some marquee moments on a national stage. North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye lost three games down the stretch. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels had a bad loss at Texas A&M before the Georgia loss.

Last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, lost two games, which shuffled him out of the mix. No defensive players worked their way into the fray this season.

Texas running back Bijan Robinson could find himself in the Heisman mix along with Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, Washington quarterback Michael Penix, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and receivers Jalin Hyatt (Tennessee) and Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State).

There are many more candidates out there in 2022 who may or may not be legit contenders. It’s now up to the voters to decide.

The Heisman Trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Voting is comprised of 870 media members spread across six geographic regions, 58 living Heisman winners and one ballot from a collective fan vote.

Heisman voters get to choose their top three candidates (in order) for the most-coveted individual trophy in college football.

Heisman Trophy finalists for 2022 will be named on Dec. 5, which is the same day as the voting deadline. The ceremony will take place Saturday, Dec. 10 when the winner is announced.