I guess you can go home again. Or, you can just return to a former job and reunite with people with whom you enjoyed a lot of success. That's what Minnesota offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca did by returning to the Golden Gophers program.
Ciarrocca originally arrived in Minnesota with P.J. Fleck off the Western Michigan staff in 2017. During the 2019 season, the Gophers went 11-2 thanks to a good running game, solid defense and a chemistry between Ciarrocca and quarterback Tanner Morgan that took the Gophers offense to another level. Morgan finished the season throwing for 3,253 yards and 30 touchdowns. His passing efficiency rating of 178.7 finished fourth nationally behind three guys currently starting for NFL teams: Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields. Morgan, however, remains in college because his numbers suffered after Ciarrocca left for Penn State following the 2019 season.
Ciarrocca also suffered without Morgan, though. After uninspiring stints at Penn State and West Virginia, he returned to Minnesota this season, reunited with Morgan and the two are making beautiful music together again. The Gophers are 4-0 as Morgan is completing over 77% of his passes for 11.2 yards per attempt with seven touchdowns and his passer rating of 198.14 ranks fourth nationally again. As a result, he's cracking our QB Power Rankings for the first time in the 2022 season.
Quarterback Power Rankings
| 1 | 
C.J. Stroud
Ohio State Buckeyes QB
|
| I get the sense that Ohio State coach Ryan Day wants his quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy this year. The Ohio State offense has remained in games longer than needed the last couple of weeks, and Stroud hasn't just been handing the ball off. Stroud's 16 passing touchdowns are tied for the lead nationally, but his TD rate of 14.3% is far ahead of both Drake Maye (12.4%) and Will Rogers (8.5%). He's been ruthlessly efficient, and as a result he's taken the No. 1 spot away from Bryce Young. (Previous Ranking: 2) | |
| 2 | 
Bryce Young
Alabama Crimson Tide QB
|
| Young falls out of the top spot for the first time in the history of these QB Power Rankings (this is the third iteration), but it's not necessarily for anything he's done. Young is playing very well, but he doesn't have the explosive playmakers around him that he had last season nor that C.J. Stroud does currently. It's impacting his ability to maintain the kind of numbers he needs to hold onto No. 1. (1) | |
| 3 | 
Drake Maye
North Carolina Tar Heels QB
|
| We still love Drake Maye around here. The Tar Heels might have lost to Notre Dame last week, but it wasn't Maye's fault. The same Irish defense that held Stroud to 223 yards and two touchdowns allowed 301 yards and five touchdowns to Maye last weekend. The kid is elite, and I can only imagine the numbers he'd put up if he got the chance to face the North Carolina secondary. (4) | |
| 4 | 
Caleb Williams
USC Trojans QB
|
| Williams had a rough performance against Oregon State, but I'm not dinging him too much this week. Still, he's on thin ice, and he'll need to perform better than the 16 of 36 for 180 yards and a TD he had against the Beavers. Oregon State played drop-eight coverage nearly the entire game, which puzzled Williams. Other defenses will follow suit, and if Williams doesn't adjust, well, there are plenty of guys below him I'd be more than happy to bump above him. (3) | |
| 5 | 
Grayson McCall
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers QB
|
| It feels odd to consider McCall to be some kind of grizzled veteran, but that's how I see him. I know what I'm getting from Grayson on a week-to-week basis. He's consistent and efficient, and there are a lot of coaches who would love to have that. (5) | |
| 6 | 
Hendon Hooker
Tennessee Volunteers QB
|
| It looks like Hooker took getting dropped from my last set of rankings personally because he was outstanding in Tennessee's 38-33 win over Florida. He threw for 349 yards and two scores while rushing for 112 yards and another touchdown. It was only the second 100-yard rushing performance of his career, and he has not thrown an interception in any of his last seven games. If Heisman voting took place this week, I think he'd finish third. (NR) | |
| 7 | 
Jalon Daniels
Kansas Jayhawks QB
|
| I've written about Kansas already this week. I #BelieveInKansas, and Jalon Daniels is a massive reason why. He's thrown for 890 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for 320 yards and four touchdowns. He's at the head of one of the country's most explosive offenses -- not just the Big 12, the country -- and he's helped get Kansas (FREAKING KANSAS!) off to a 4-0 start. (NR) | |
| 8 | 
Dillon Gabriel
Oklahoma Sooners QB
|
| Dillon Gabriel certainly isn't the reason Oklahoma lost to Kansas State, but some of his limitations were displayed in the loss. Gabriel finished with 330 yards passing and four touchdowns, but he is a boom-or-bust QB. When he's hitting the big plays, his teams are nearly unstoppable. He struggles when the big play isn't there, however, and you need him to string some singles together instead of home runs. He struggled to hit the singles against Kansas State. (6) | |
| 9 | 
Todd Centeio
James Madison Dukes QB
|
| Are you paying attention to James Madison yet? The Dukes are in their first season as an FBS program and they're 4-0. They came back from down 28-3 to Appalachian State to win 32-28 thanks to Centeio's arm and legs. He's thrown for 661 yards, rushed for 227 and has 12 total touchdowns without a turnover. (10) | |
| 10 | 
Tanner Morgan
Minnesota Golden Gophers QB
|
| While Morgan is new to the rankings, I am not a newcomer to the Tanner Morgan bandwagon. I included him in my Way-Too-Early Mock Draft for the 2021 NFL Draft following the 2019 season. While I don't think Morgan is a first-round pick anymore, he's the kind of player who will find a home on an NFL roster for a while. (NR) | |
No Longer Ranked: Garrett Shrader, Syracuse; Stetson Bennett, Georgia; Tyler Van Dyke, Miami
Also pinning these rankings in their lockers: Sam Hartman, Wake Forest; Devin Leary, NC State, Max Duggan, TCU, Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland; Michael Penix, Washington
