College Football

College football 2022: Max Duggan, Blake Corum among season's top overachievers

Updated Dec. 13, 2022 3:13 p.m. ET

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Bryan Fischer

College Football Writer

Hard as it is to imagine, the calendar drawing close to Thanksgiving tells us that we have just one week left of regular-season college football. In no time at all, the coaching carousel will start spinning fast, the transfer portal will be open to unleash roster chaos, and the end-of-the-year awards will be handed out amid plenty of glitz and glamour.

Before we get to watching hardware changing hands, though, it's time to take stock in the sport right now and look at a few individuals who exceeded preconceived preseason expectations — and a few others who failed to even come close to hitting the bar we all expected.

RJ Young's Top 25: USC moves up to No. 5

RJ Young's top four teams remains the same, but following USC’s big win over UCLA, the Trojans are No. 5. See how the rest of his list lines up.

Thanks to a nearly complete sample size of regular season games, here's a look at who were the biggest overachievers in 2022 as well as those who fell flat relative to the early accolades and praise.

[Must-read: C.J. Stroud had a vision of greatness, and a mother to be 'that constant']

2022 ALL-OVERACHIEVER TEAM

QB: Max Duggan, TCU

It's hard to believe, but Duggan wasn't even the starter coming out of camp for the Horned Frogs. Yet here he is, keeping TCU undefeated with a string of second-half comebacks and clutch plays when the team needed them most. The veteran signal-caller is fifth in the country in passing efficiency and has thrown 26 touchdowns against just three interceptions.

RB: Blake Corum, Michigan

Many around the Wolverines expected Corum to be a big part of the offense this season but also saw him splitting time with Donovan Edwards much the way he did with Hassan Haskins. Instead, Corum has been the heart and soul of the Michigan attack and gone from very good player to "get invited to New York and win the Heisman" level great. He's taken a great deal of pressure off J.J. McCarthy and has the team on the doorstep of another CFP semifinal despite originally looking like a bit of a rebuilding campaign in Ann Arbor.

WR: Charlie Jones, Purdue

The sixth-year senior has shown what he can do once he's finally free of the Iowa offense. Now he ranks sixth in the country in receiving yardage and third in catches per game. His 11 touchdowns are five more than he had in his entire career prior to 2022 and more than double what the Hawkeyes have managed this year. Even in the Boilermakers' pass-happy system under Jeff Brohm, few could have seen this type of outing coming from Jones, and it just might be enough to get the team to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game, too.

OL: Joe Alt, Notre Dame

When discussing the Irish's offensive line back in August, you probably would have started with veterans like Jarrett Patterson or fellow tackle Blake Fisher. Yet it's been Alt who's become the leader up front, and the sophomore continues to look like a future top-10 pick if he plays at the level he's put on tape this season. According to the folks over at PFF, he's the highest-graded tackle in the country, too, and has been equally good at pass blocking as he is rolling over people in the run game.

DL: Tuli Tuipulotu, USC

Tuipulotu was one of the few bright spots during the Trojans' 4-8 campaign in 2021 and earned some All-Pac-12 recognition at the end of the season. Yet he's been at an entirely new level this season, helping the team move into the College Football Playoff picture and lock up a spot in the Pac-12 title game. His 11.5 sacks lead the country, and he's elevated himself from a good player few knew to potentially the best defender in college football by the time awards start getting handed out in December.

LB: Ivan Pace Jr., Cincinnati

Pace was a very good player at Miami (OH), but many wondered if he could keep up his relentless motor in moving up with the Bearcats defense. Safe to say he has, placing second in the country in tackles for loss, notching nine sacks, crossing the 100-tackle mark and generally putting together an All-American campaign for a top-25 team that could once again capture the AAC title.

DB: John Torchio, Wisconsin

It's hard not to see a lot of parallels between Torchio's rise from walk-on to All-Big Ten honors and that of his head coach/defensive coordinator Jim Leonard. The Badgers took in several transfers to boost the secondary over the offseason, and it wasn't even set that Torchio would end up as the full-time starter. Instead, he's wound up as the team's biggest playmaker and a real defensive leader in the process. After making just four starts in four seasons on campus, the senior has wound up with the second-most interceptions in FBS, taking two of them back for pick-sixes. In the process, he likely helped seal the deal for his coach to get the interim tag taken off as well.

Coach: Kalen DeBoer, Washington

Last season, the Huskies threw more interceptions than touchdowns and had the 72nd-ranked passing offense in college football. Oh, what a difference a year — and DeBoer's arrival — makes on Montlake. UW now leads the country in passing and is on pace to nearly double its total yardage from 2021. The Huskies also rank second in the Pac-12 in touchdown passes and have gone from 113th to 14th in yards per play. DeBoer did bring in some transfers like Michael Penix Jr. to help out, but a lot of it has simply been scheme and dialing up the right plays at the right time. Washington also beat rival Oregon and is in the running to make it to the Pac-12 title game, too, which few could have predicted when the head coach was hired from Fresno State.

Team: TCU

Could it be anyone else? The Horned Frogs are not just undefeated right now, they're undefeated after running through the toughest top-to-bottom league in the country at the same time. The bulk of the roster didn't even make a bowl game last year and was so poor that the guy who literally has a statue outside the stadium got run out of town. Now the Frogs are knocking on the door of a CFP semifinal. According to 247Sports' Team Talent Composite, TCU is 32nd in the country — one spot behind Missouri and two behind Georgia Tech. Yet, they're No. 4 in the eyes of the selection committee and the only rankings that really matter in the end.

Watch: TCU stays undefeated with a last-second field goal

Griffin Kell's 40-yard field goal lifted the Horned Frogs to a dramatic win over Baylor.

2022 ALL-UNDERACHIEVER TEAM

QB: Will Levis, Kentucky

There's always one player who works up a lot of NFL Draft hype after a merely decent season. This year that was Levis, who got bandied about as the potential No. 1 overall pick. While there's no denying the physical talent, it has not translated on the field quite as everyone thought it would in 2022. He leads the SEC in interceptions, is 10th in yardage, and is completing a lower percentage than last season. He's also been just so-so against major opponents and holds onto the ball a little too long.

RB: Tavion Thomas, Utah

Thomas was a 1,100-yard rusher and scored a school-record 21 touchdowns last season. Those numbers are all way down in 2022 as the junior has become less of a focal point in the offense. He's been in and out of the lineup due to a variety of issues and won't sniff any first-team honors as he did after bursting onto the scene as a JUCO transfer.

WR: Kayshon Boutte, LSU

While you could give the nod to Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba given the expectations surrounding his season, much of that is injury related. With Boutte, it's simply him becoming a nonfactor. Despite earning the label of being the next big thing out of Baton Rouge, he's caught just one TD pass and has just a single game of 100-plus yards receiving. The Tigers have surprisingly won the SEC West, but it hasn't been because Boutte has taken his star turn.

OL: Clark Barrington, BYU

Barrington garnered some All-American consideration last season as a mainstay of a pretty good offensive line. That hasn't been the case this year, however, as inconsistency has plagued both the senior and the rest of his unit.

DL: Collin Oliver, Oklahoma State

Oliver was a revelation for the Cowboys last season, earning Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and a host of other Freshman All-American honors after notching 11.5 sacks. The departure of DC Jim Knowles to the other OSU seems to have hampered his development as a sophomore, however, with numbers down across the board. He has had less of an impact than you would expect given his toolset. He's still shown flashes but just hasn't made the leap expected from a second-year player.

LB: Dallas Turner, Alabama

Any conversation about the Tide's defense is going to start with Will Anderson Jr. but many expected his opposite number to really break out in 2022 after a strong finish to last season. That hasn't happened as Turner's turned in a solid but unspectacular campaign so far. He's recorded just four sacks this year (8.5 in 2021) and has been less of a factor in applying pressure and filling gaps than expected. His most notable contributions to the team may have been knocking out QB Quinn Ewers in the Texas game and delivering another big hit on Jaxson Dart against Ole Miss. He's got the natural talent and has shown flashes, but so far Turner hasn't quite put it all together.

DB: Tony Grimes, North Carolina

The former five-star looked like an early bright spot when he enrolled a year early and was thrown to the fire as a true freshman. He continued to progress as a sophomore but has seemingly regressed as a junior. He's had a number of coverage busts, had issues in run support, and contributed to UNC having the worst pass defense in the ACC.

Coach: Nick Saban

Yeah, we'll say it: the Greatest College Football Coach of All Time has underachieved in 2022. The Tide were arguably a year ahead of schedule when they made it to the brink of the national title last season and were seemingly set up perfectly for a run at another golden championship. They used the portal to shore up some weaknesses and returned the best player on each side of the ball in Heisman winner Bryce Young and defensive terror Will Anderson Jr. Yet Alabama has lost two games, had a number of other close calls and generally looked as undisciplined as any Saban team has since he arrived in Tuscaloosa. The number of penalties is a particularly glaring issue that hasn't really been addressed, and there have been situational/game management issues that have cropped up this season that never would have been the case in previous editions.

Team: Texas A&M

The Aggies were one of the big stories in the offseason, inking the best recruiting class in internet history and making plenty of waves as a potential playoff participant given the talent on hand in College Station. Instead, the wheels have fallen off in downright unfathomable ways under Jimbo Fisher. The team looks destined to go from a top-10 team to 4-8 in 2022 and has gone nearly 13 months since scoring more than 30 points against an FBS team.

Make it Make Sense

Saturday Superlatives

Best Player: Caleb Williams (USC)

Team of the Week: South Carolina

Coach of the Week: Sonny Dykes (TCU)

Goat of the Week: Tennessee DC Tim Banks

Heisman Five: 1. Caleb Williams (USC), 2. Blake Corum (Michigan), 3. C.J. Stroud (Ohio State), 4. Drake Maye (North Carolina), 5. Max Duggan (TCU)

Tweet of the Week

Super 16

Here's how I voted in the FWAA/NFF Super 16 Poll this week:

1. Georgia
2. TCU
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. USC
6. Tennessee
7. LSU
8. Alabama
9. Clemson
10. Penn State
11. Washington
12. Oregon
13. Florida State
14. UCLA
15. Tulane
16. Kansas State

Just missed the cut: Utah

Best of the rest: Notre Dame, Oregon State, Coastal Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Cincinnati, Troy, Iowa

Pre-snap Reads

Michigan at Ohio State (Noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app)

"The Game" hasn't been this big since 2006, and it certainly felt like this past weekend's scares against Illinois and Maryland were a case of both sides looking ahead to this one at the Horseshoe. The Wolverines' ability to win this may come down to the health of Corum, so with that in question, the easy lean is toward the Buckeyes, as they extract a measure of revenge for last year's edition.

Notre Dame at USC (7:30 p.m. ET)

The Irish have quietly been rolling lately, winning five in a row. They've put up at least 35 points in each game during the win streak. Now, they head to L.A. hoping to take advantage of a suspect defense that will be coming down from playing a rival in an emotional game. Still, this group of Trojans doesn't flinch in the face of adversity and on the whole of the season are a better team. N.D. strikes first, but eventually USC pulls away to win comfortably as attention turns to Vegas.

Oregon at Oregon State (3:30 p.m. ET)

The artist formerly known as the Civil War has plenty of Pac-12 title game ramifications and could be just the type of moment that allows Jonathan Smith to get more national attention on what he's done in Corvallis. If the Beavers had better, more consistent QB play, they would be the pick in this home game, but something says the Ducks squeak out a close one with a key fourth-quarter score from Bo Nix.

Read more:

• Blake Corum's injury could be a problem for Michigan
• RJ Young's Top 25 rankings after Week 12
• Heisman Watch: Caleb Williams is on the rise
• Week 12: All the top plays from a busy day
• Outside world sees nepotism at Iowa, but recruits see family

Bryan Fischer is a college football writer for FOX Sports. He has been covering college athletics for nearly two decades at outlets such as NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Yahoo! Sports and NFL.com among others. Follow him on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.

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College Football

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Alabama Crimson Tide

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Max Duggan

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Tuli Tuipulotu

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Ivan Pace

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Bryan Fischer