Top 25 QB rankings entering Week 3 of college football

There is not a ton of movement atop the On3 Top 25 QBs after Week 2 and heading into Week 3. A few alterations throughout the Top 10, but much of the movement is further down the list.

A number of quarterbacks slipped or made up ground in the rankings, with a trio falling out of the Top 25 to be replaced by some newcomers. All told, the conference breakdown is as follows: Seven SEC quarterbacks, six from the Pac-12, four each from the Big 12 and ACC, two from the Big Ten and one each from the Group of 5 and Notre Dame. Once again, no SEC quarterbacks made the Top 10.

See the full On3 Top 25 QB list heading into Week 3 of the college football season.

1. Caleb Williams, USC

Williams finally faced some Power 5 competition in Week 2 — USC’s third game, having played in Week 0 — and was nonplussed. He continued his unrivaled run of play.

Against Stanford, Williams went 19-for-21 for 281 yards and three touchdowns passing, plus one run for 21 yards and a touchdown. He and another quarterback on this list are hurtling towards an exciting matchup at the end of September.

2. Drake Maye, North Carolina

Maye didn’t have a lights-out statistical performance, taking some time to get going against an Appalachian State team that forced double overtime against the Tar Heels. Even still, Maye is comfortably No. 2 on the list.

He didn’t have a passing touchdown on Saturday but did add a score with his legs at the North Carolina running game churned along. He finished 21-of-30 for 208 yards, and added 57 on the ground.

3. Michael Penix Jr., Washington

Penix is prolific. There’s not a whole lot more that needs to be said to explain his inclusion high on this list: The Washington signal caller is tearing it up.

In a blowout win against Tulsa in Week 2, he shined. Penix finished 28-fo-38 for 409 yards and three touchdowns, but did throw an interception.

4. Shedeur Sanders, Colorado

One of the few quarterbacks with more production than Penix, Sanders continues to dazzle early in his FBS career. He’s currently the national leader in passing yards per game with 456.5.

Sanders led an impressive win against Nebraska in a renewed rivalry for Colorado, putting up 393 yards on 31-of-42 passing, handling the constant pressure from the Corhuskers deftly. His showdown with Williams on Sept. 30 in Boulder will be appointment television.

5. Bo Nix, Oregon

But before Sanders faces Williams, he’ll face Nix. After going on a tear in 2022 and starting 2023 off much the same way, Oregon hit a speed bump on the road at Texas Tech.

But Nix did what top quarterbacks do: Led his team to a victory in a difficult road environment. Nix completed 32-of-44 pass attempts for 359 yards and two touchdowns while adding 46 rushing yards.

6. Jordan Travis, Florida State

Travis and the Seminoles might’ve been playing with a bit of a hangover after thumping LSU to start the season. Either way, a slow start didn’t hamper Travis or the Seminoles en route to a beatdown of Southern Miss.

It won’t be his best day as a passer, but Travis ended up getting the job done. He went 15-for-29 and totaled 175 yards and pair of touchdown.

7. Sam Hartman, Notre Dame

NC State has been Hartman’s bugaboo in his career. Not on Saturday, even with a long rain delay in the middle of the game.

All Hartman has done since putting on a Notre Dame uniform is efficiently chuck touchdown passes and he did more of the same on Saturday. He finished 15-for-24 for 286 yards and four TDs. He’s throwing a touchdown on basically every seventh pass attempt at his current rate.

8. Quinn Ewers, Texas

Ewers had as big a stage as he’ll have in his college career on Saturday night and didn’t squander his opportunity. The third-year signal caller was nothing short of spectacular when needed as Texas soundly beat Alabama, 34-24, in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

And the Longhorns did it on the back — or right arm — of Ewers. He completed 24-of-38 for 349 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair of beautiful deep balls to Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell.

9. J.J. McCarthy, Michigan

Through two games, McCarthy has almost as many touchdowns (five) as he does incompletions (seven). He’s been near perfect as Michigan has played inferior competition.

He’s got a favorite target in Roman Wilson, who has caught all five of his touchdown passes. Against UNLV, McCarthy put in a 22-for-25 passing performance good for 278 yards and his two scores to Wilson. He also rushed for 38 yards on three carries.

10. Drew Allar, Penn State

The starting sample size is small, but Allar hasn’t put a foot wrong yet as the Penn State signal caller. After a sterling debut, it was more of the same as Penn State cruised against Delaware.

Allar went 22-of-26 for 204 yards and a touchdown, plus added 27 yards and a score rushing. Penn State let the ground game work against the Blue Hens, keeping the passing volume low in an efficient outing.

Quarterbacks No. 11 through 25

11. Jayden Daniels, LSU
12. Spencer Rattler, South Carolina
13. KJ Jefferson, Arkansas
14. Jalon Daniels, Kansas
15. Tyler Van Dyke, Miami
16. Devin Leary, Kentucky
17. Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
18. Michael Pratt, Tulane
19. Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma
20. Will Howard, Kansas State
21. Joe Milton, Tennessee
22. Riley Leonard, Duke
23. DJ Uiagalelei, Oregon State
24. Cameron Ward, Washington State
25. Will Rogers, Mississippi State

Allar rose into the Top 10 this week and Pratt fell from No. 9 to No. 18 after not playing due to injury against Ole Miss. Milton slipped from No. 11 to No. 21 following a tough showing against Austin Peay. The new entrants in the Top 25 are Daniels (No. 14), Van Dyke (No. 15) and Ward (No. 24). Falling out of the Top 25 were Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik and Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa.