Oklahoma's Caleb Williams makes his debut in Week 7 college football quarterback rankings

Caleb Williams' first career start couldn't have gone much better for Oklahoma, which would've been handed an even greater quarterback quandary had the true freshman struggled against TCU.

Instead, Williams threw for 295 yards, ran for another 66 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in a 52-31 win that signals the end of Spencer Rattler's time as the Sooners' starting quarterback.

And it might be the sign of something even greater for Oklahoma, which struggled to meet expectations through five games but suddenly looks like a team capable of running the table in the Big 12 and returning to the College Football Playoff.

After his terrific debut as the starter, Williams joins this week's list of the top quarterbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

1. Bryce Young, Alabama

Young reclaims the top spot after completing 20 of 28 attempts for a career-high 348 yards and four touchdowns in Alabama's bounce-back win against Mississippi State. After a forgettable performance in the loss to Texas A&M, Young avoided an interception for the first time since the win against Florida on Sept. 18 and now leads all Power Five quarterbacks with 24 touchdown passes.

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2. Matt Corral, Mississippi

With his effectiveness as a passer limited by Tennessee's defense, Corral instead made his biggest impact as a runner, going for a career-high 195 yards on 30 carries to lift the Rebels to a 31-26 win. The pounding from that performance has lingered: Corral is questionable for Saturday's game against LSU, coach Lane Kiffin said.

3. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh

In terms of a Heisman push, there will be no bigger stage for Pickett than Saturday's game against Clemson. While the Tigers are more compromised on both sides of the ball than at any point since the early 2010s, putting up big numbers and leading the Panthers to a key ACC win would help Pickett close the gap on the two SEC quarterbacks at the front of the race.

4. Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati

Is Cincinnati's dominance of the American a problem for Ridder's Heisman chances? With a run of inferior competition up next — Navy, Tulane, Tulsa and South Florida — look for the Bearcats to keep cruising to an unbeaten season while Ridder spends more fourth quarters than not watching from the sidelines. That's good for Cincinnati's goal of reaching the playoff but not good for Ridder's ability to keep pace statistically with the other top passers in the country.

5. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State

With 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in his past two games, Stroud has been the driving force behind the most productive offense in the Power Five. And it's not even close: OSU is averaging 8.6 yards per play, well ahead of second-place Baylor (7.3). The Buckeyes are surging heading into four games against ranked teams in the second half.

6. Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina

McCall has nearly the same number of touchdown passes (14) as incompletions (22) at the midway point of the regular season, which gives some idea how explosive he and the CCU offense has been against opponents entirely unequipped to handle the Chanticleers' balance.

7. Caleb Williams, Oklahoma

The Sooners didn't top 430 yards of offense in their first four games against Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Since Williams took over against Texas, OU has gone for 662 yards and 525 yards on 8.5 yards per play. The improvement on offense joins an improved defense to finally justify the preseason hype around the Sooners' chances of winning the national title.

8. Brennan Armstrong, Virginia

After back-to-back close wins against Miami (Fla.) and Louisville, Armstrong and the Cavaliers had an easier time in a 48-0 win against Duke. After making 60 attempts against the Cardinals, Armstrong threw only 45 passes against the Blue Devils — which is still a lot, to be honest — and avoided throwing at least one interception for the first time since the season opener.

9. Sam Hartman, Wake Forest

Wake Forest looks to extend the program's best start since World War II during Saturday's road trip to Army, which will present an interesting contrast in styles: Army will try to control the clock and slow the tempo while the Demon Deacons look to get into a rhythm behind Hartman and run 70 or more plays. Pickett and Armstrong might squeeze Hartman out of All-ACC honors but his role in what is shaping up to be a magical season for Wake can't be denied.

10. Carson Strong, Nevada

After an inconsistent start, Strong has rallied to take over the top spot among quarterbacks in the Mountain West as the Wolf Pack make a run at the conference title. While his preseason goal of completing 80% of his attempts isn't going to happen, Strong has hit on 67.7% of his throws for 1,035 yards and nine touchdowns in Nevada's last three games.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caleb Williams debuts in college football Week 7 quarterback rankings