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The 2022 season

Georgia finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 15–⁠0 under Kirby Smart, after it beat TCU 65–⁠7 in the CFP National Championship. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 1 Georgia 27, No. 2 Tennessee 13 (Nov 5, 2022). One FBS team finished unbeaten. 74 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Caleb Williams, QB, USC, who also won the Maxwell and Walter Camp.

The Heisman vote: Caleb Williams 2,031 points, Max Duggan 1,420
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Caleb Williams QB, USC2,03154416863
Max Duggan QB, TCU1,420188357142
C.J. Stroud QB, Ohio State53937119190
Stetson Bennett QB, Georgia3493665111
Hendon Hooker QB, Tennessee226174781
Bryce Young QB, Alabama141172834
Blake Corum RB, Michigan12582551
Michael Penix Jr. QB, Washington11492047
Bijan Robinson RB, Texas7541239
Drake Maye QB, North Carolina423621

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1Georgia (63)Southeastern Conference
2TCUBig 12
3MichiganBig Ten
4Ohio StateBig Ten
5AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
6TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
7Penn StateBig Ten
8WashingtonPac-12
9TulaneAmerican Athletic Conference
10UtahPac-12
11Florida StateAtlantic Coast Conference
12USCPac-12
13ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference
14Kansas StateBig 12
15OregonPac-12
16LSUSoutheastern Conference
17Oregon StatePac-12
18Notre DameFBS Independents
19TroySun Belt Conference
20Mississippi StateSoutheastern Conference
21UCLAPac-12
22PittsburghAtlantic Coast Conference
23South CarolinaSoutheastern Conference
24Fresno StateMountain West Conference
25TexasBig 12

Biggest upsets

Sep 24, 2022Middle Tennessee 45, 25Miami 31Middle Tennessee +25.5
Nov 19, 2022South Carolina 63, 5Tennessee 38South Carolina +22.5
Oct 1, 2022Georgia Tech 26, 24Pittsburgh 21Georgia Tech +21.5
Nov 19, 2022Georgia Tech 21, 13North Carolina 17Georgia Tech +21
Sep 10, 2022Marshall 26, 8Notre Dame 21Marshall +20.5
Nov 12, 2022Arizona 34, 9UCLA 28Arizona +20
Sep 10, 2022App State 17, 6Texas A&M 14App State +18
Nov 12, 2022Boston College 21, 17NC State 20Boston College +18
Sep 10, 2022Washington State 17, 19Wisconsin 14Washington State +17.5
Nov 5, 2022Michigan State 23, 14Illinois 15Michigan State +16
Nov 19, 2022Navy 17, 17UCF 14Navy +15.5
Nov 26, 2022South Carolina 31, 7Clemson 30South Carolina +14

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

Most exciting games

Sep 1, 2022Akron 30, Saint Francis 23
Nov 26, 2022Texas Tech 51, Oklahoma 48
Nov 5, 2022Georgia Tech 28, Virginia Tech 27
Sep 1, 2022Florida International 38, Bryant 37
Sep 10, 2022Texas Tech 33, 25Houston 30
Sep 17, 2022UCLA 32, South Alabama 31
Sep 3, 2022Liberty 29, Southern Miss 27
Sep 10, 2022Holy Cross 37, Buffalo 31

By CollegeFootballData.com’s excitement index: how far each team’s chance of winning swung, play by play. Games with an FBS team, decided by 16 points or fewer.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 2022, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15FinalUtah: Wk 1 No. 7, Wk 2 No. 13, Wk 3 No. 14, Wk 4 No. 13, Wk 5 No. 12, Wk 6 No. 11, Wk 7 No. 20, Wk 8 No. 15, Wk 9 No. 14, Wk 10 No. 12, Wk 11 No. 13, Wk 12 No. 10, Wk 13 No. 14, Wk 14 No. 12, Wk 15 No. 7, Final No. 1010 UtahTulane: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 No. 25, Wk 9 No. 23, Wk 10 No. 19, Wk 11 No. 16, Wk 12 No. 21, Wk 13 No. 19, Wk 14 No. 18, Wk 15 No. 14, Final No. 99 TulaneWashington: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 18, Wk 5 No. 15, Wk 6 No. 21, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 unranked, Wk 10 unranked, Wk 11 No. 24, Wk 12 No. 15, Wk 13 No. 12, Wk 14 No. 9, Wk 15 No. 12, Final No. 88 WashingtonPenn State: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 No. 22, Wk 4 No. 14, Wk 5 No. 11, Wk 6 No. 10, Wk 7 No. 10, Wk 8 No. 16, Wk 9 No. 13, Wk 10 No. 16, Wk 11 No. 14, Wk 12 No. 11, Wk 13 No. 11, Wk 14 No. 8, Wk 15 No. 9, Final No. 77 Penn StateTennessee: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 No. 24, Wk 3 No. 15, Wk 4 No. 11, Wk 5 No. 8, Wk 6 No. 8, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 9, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 6, Final No. 66 TennesseeAlabama: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 8, Wk 14 No. 6, Wk 15 No. 5, Final No. 55 AlabamaOhio State: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 4, Final No. 44 Ohio StateMichigan: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Final No. 33 MichiganTCU: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 No. 17, Wk 7 No. 13, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 3, Final No. 22 TCUGeorgia: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Final No. 11 Georgia
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. TCUunranked → No. 2
  2. Tennesseeunranked → No. 6
  3. Penn Stateunranked → No. 7
  4. Washingtonunranked → No. 8
  5. Tulaneunranked → No. 9

Fell

  1. Texas A&MNo. 6 → unranked
  2. OklahomaNo. 9 → unranked
  3. BaylorNo. 10 → unranked
  4. Oklahoma StateNo. 12 → unranked
  5. Notre DameNo. 5 → No. 18

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

The College Football Playoff

Semifinal

National Championship

Champion: Georgia

National leaders

Passing yards

  1. 1Austin Reed Western Kentucky4,747 yds
  2. 2Michael Penix Jr. Washington4,641 yds
  3. 3Caleb Williams USC4,535 yds
  4. 4Drake Maye North Carolina4,321 yds
  5. 5Kyle Vantrease Georgia Southern4,246 yds

The NCAA’s official leader is Austin Reed (Western Kentucky), with 4,746 yds; our source has him at 4,747 yds.

Passing touchdowns

  1. 1Caleb Williams USC42 TD
  2. 2C.J. Stroud Ohio State41 TD
  3. T3Austin Reed Western Kentucky40 TD
  4. T3Clayton Tune Houston40 TD
  5. 5Drake Maye North Carolina38 TD

Rushing yards

  1. 1Brad Roberts Air Force1,728 yds
  2. 2DeWayne McBride UAB1,710 yds
  3. 3Mohamed Ibrahim Minnesota1,665 yds
  4. 4Chase Brown Illinois1,643 yds
  5. 5Carson Steele Ball State1,581 yds

Rushing touchdowns

  1. T1Israel Abanikanda Pittsburgh20 TD
  2. T1Mohamed Ibrahim Minnesota20 TD
  3. T3DeWayne McBride UAB19 TD
  4. T3Tyjae Spears Tulane19 TD
  5. 5Bijan Robinson Texas18 TD

Receiving yards

  1. 1Nathaniel Dell Houston1,398 yds
  2. 2Charlie Jones Purdue1,361 yds
  3. 3Rashee Rice SMU1,355 yds
  4. 4Malachi Corley Western Kentucky1,293 yds
  5. 5Jalin Hyatt Tennessee1,267 yds

Receiving touchdowns

  1. 1Nathaniel Dell Houston17 TD
  2. T2Jalin Hyatt Tennessee15 TD
  3. T2Zakhari Franklin UTSA15 TD
  4. 4Marvin Harrison Jr. Ohio State14 TD
  5. 5Charlie Jones Purdue12 TD

Tackles

  1. 1Jason Henderson Old Dominion179 tkl
  2. 2Cedric Gray North Carolina136 tkl
  3. 3Shaun Dolac Buffalo135 tkl
  4. 4Jackson Mitchell UConn133 tkl
  5. 5Bubba Arslanian Akron129 tkl

Sacks

  1. 1Tuli Tuipulotu USC13.5 sacks
  2. 2Jose Ramirez Eastern Michigan12 sacks
  3. 3Nick Herbig Wisconsin11 sacks
  4. T4David Perales Fresno State10.5 sacks
  5. T4Isaiah Foskey Notre Dame10.5 sacks

Interceptions

  1. 1Decorian Patterson Middle Tennessee7 INT
  2. T2Benjamin Morrison Notre Dame6 INT
  3. T2Clark Phillips III Utah6 INT
  4. T2Emmanuel Forbes Mississippi State6 INT
  5. T2Jason Taylor II Oklahoma State6 INT

FBS players; season totals from CollegeFootballData.com player statistics.

Conference champions

FBS

American Athletic Conference
Tulane
Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson
Big 12
Kansas State
Big Ten
Michigan
Conference USA
UTSA
Mid-American Conference
Toledo
Mountain West Conference
Fresno State
Pac-12
Utah
Southeastern Conference
Georgia
Sun Belt Conference
Troy

FCS

Atlantic Sun Conference
Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State (shared)
Big Sky
Montana State and Sacramento State (shared)
Big South
Gardner-Webb
Colonial Athletic Association
William & Mary
Ivy League
Yale
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Howard and North Carolina Central (shared)
Missouri Valley Football Conference
South Dakota State
Ohio Valley Conference
Southeast Missouri State and UT Martin (shared)
Patriot League
Holy Cross
Pioneer Football League
St. Thomas (MN)
Southern Conference
Samford
Southland Conference
Incarnate Word and SE Louisiana (shared)
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Jackson State
Western Athletic Conference
Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin (shared)

Division II and below

Gulf South Conference
West Florida

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

25 playersAll 10 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 2022 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 2022 All-America teams page.

The 2022 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

Georgia 78 on the staff list

  • Kirby Smarthead coach
  • Todd Monkenoffensive coordinator – quarterbacks coach
  • Will Muschampco-defensive coordinator
  • Glenn SchumannFain & Billy Slaughter co-defensive coordinator – inside linebackers
  • Bryan McClendonpassing game coordinator – wide receivers
  • Dell McGeerun game coordinator – running backs
  • Fran Browndefensive backs coach
  • Todd Hartleyassistant coach – tight ends
  • Stacy Searelsoffensive line coach
  • Tray Scottassistant coach – defensive line
  • Chidera Uzo-Diribeassistant coach – outside linebackers
  • Scott Cochranspecial teams coordinator
Support staff (66)

Analysts and quality control

  • Mike Bobo quality control – offense
  • Buster Faulkner quality control – offense
  • Eddie Gordon quality control – offense
  • Jes Sutherland quality control – offense
  • Montgomery VanGorder quality control – offense
  • Blake Lane quality control – offense
  • Pryce Tracy quality control – offense
  • Jacob Russell quality control – offense
  • Davis Merritt quality control – defense
  • Robert Muschamp quality control – defense
  • Adam Ray quality control – special teams
  • Kirk Benedict quality control – special teams

Strength and conditioning

  • Scott Sinclair director of strength & conditioning
  • Maurice Sims associate director of strength & conditioning
  • Tersoo Uhaa assistant strength & conditioning coach
  • Jordan Barber assistant strength & conditioning coach
  • Lonnie Brown assistant strength & conditioning coach

Operations and recruiting

  • Mike Cavan director of football administration
  • Jay Chapman director of football Management
  • David Cooper director of recruiting relations
  • Christina Harris director of recruiting administration
  • Jonas Jennings director of player development
  • Angela Kirkpatrick associate director, recruiting operations
  • Logen Reed associate director, recruiting operations
  • Kadeem Wise associate director of recruiting operations
  • Neyland Raper director of football operations
  • Tyson Street assistant director of football operations
  • Bryant Gantt director of player support and operations
  • Austin Chambers assistant director of player development
  • Juwan Taylor player development assistant
  • LeJacque Martin player development assistant
  • Matt Godwin player personnel coordinator
  • James Ellis player personnel coordinator
  • Michael Cogan football operations assistant
  • Hunter Parker football operations assistant
  • Anna Courson football operations and Travel coordinator
  • Hailey Hughes football operations coordinator
  • Ann Hunt administrative assistant to head coach
  • Sheldon Dawson player Connection coordinator
  • David Hill player Connection coordinator
  • Ryan Williams player Connection coordinator

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Ron Courson executive associate AD, director of sports medicine
  • Chris Blaszka associate athletic trainer
  • Brittany deCamp sr. assistant athletic trainer
  • Ryan Madaleno associate athletic trainer
  • Roger Velasquez sr. associate athletic trainer

Equipment

  • John Meshad director of equipment operations
  • Gage Whitten director of football equipment and Apparel
  • Wil Wells assistant director of football equipment

Video, communications and other staff

  • Collier Madaleno director of football performance nutrition
  • Cate Herrmans assistant director of football nutrition
  • Tyler Huntley head performance Chef
  • Ryan Cova performance Chef
  • Courtney Crawford Culinary Service manager
  • Roderick Hall Culinary Intern
  • Jeremy Klawsky director of football Technology
  • Ben Schmidt sports Science Data analyst
  • Mitch Bernardo director of football creative video
  • Chandler Eldridge co-director of football creative – design
  • Chad Morehead co-director of football creative design
  • Sam Schwartz assistant director of football creative
  • Kyle Lane video coordinator
  • Brayson Farmer video Intern
  • Jack Fiscella video Intern
  • Adam Hartwig video Intern
  • Drew Willson video Intern

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

The selection committee

  • Charlie Cobb | Georgia State athletic director; former NC State center
  • Chet Gladchuk U.S. Naval Academy athletic director
  • Gary Barta Iowa athletic director
  • Jim Grobe Former football coach at Wake Forest, Baylor, and Ohio
  • Kelly Whiteside Former college football reporter for Newsday, Sports Illustrated, and USA Today
  • Paola Boivin Former Arizona Republic reporter, then-current Arizona State faculty member
  • Rod West Former Notre Dame linebacker, former president of the Allstate Sugar Bowl
  • Warde Manuel Michigan athletic director
  • Will Shields Former NFL player and Nebraska All-American

The College Football Playoff committee that ranked the teams and picked the field in 2022, as Wikipedia lists its members by season (CC BY-SA). The list doesn’t name that season’s chair.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 16, 2022UAB 24, Miami (OH) 20Bahamas Bowl
Dec 16, 202223Troy 18, 22UTSA 12Cure Bowl
Dec 17, 2022Louisville 24, Cincinnati 7Fenway Bowl
Dec 17, 202217Oregon State 30, Florida 3Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 17, 2022Fresno State 29, Washington State 6LA Bowl
Dec 17, 2022Southern Miss 38, Rice 24LendingTree Bowl
Dec 17, 2022BYU 24, SMU 23New Mexico Bowl
Dec 17, 2022Boise State 35, North Texas 32Frisco Bowl
Dec 19, 2022Marshall 28, UConn 14Myrtle Beach Bowl
Dec 20, 2022Eastern Michigan 41, San José State 27Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Dec 20, 2022Toledo 21, Liberty 19Boca Raton Bowl
Dec 21, 2022Western Kentucky 44, South Alabama 23New Orleans Bowl
Dec 22, 2022Air Force 30, Baylor 15Armed Forces Bowl
Dec 23, 2022Houston 23, Louisiana 16Independence Bowl
Dec 23, 2022Wake Forest 27, Missouri 17Gasparilla Bowl
Dec 24, 2022Middle Tennessee 25, San Diego State 23Hawai’i Bowl
Dec 26, 2022New Mexico State 24, Bowling Green 19Quick Lane Bowl
Dec 27, 2022Buffalo 23, Georgia Southern 21Camellia Bowl
Dec 27, 2022Memphis 38, Utah State 10First Responder Bowl
Dec 27, 2022East Carolina 53, Coastal Carolina 29Birmingham Bowl
Dec 27, 2022Wisconsin 24, Oklahoma State 17Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Dec 28, 2022Duke 30, UCF 13Military Bowl
Dec 28, 2022Arkansas 55, Kansas 53Liberty Bowl
Dec 28, 202215Oregon 28, North Carolina 27Holiday Bowl
Dec 28, 2022Texas Tech 42, Ole Miss 25Texas Bowl
Dec 29, 2022Minnesota 28, Syracuse 20Pinstripe Bowl
Dec 29, 202213Florida State 35, Oklahoma 32Cheez-It Bowl
Dec 29, 202212Washington 27, 21Texas 20Alamo Bowl
Dec 30, 2022Maryland 16, 25NC State 12Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Dec 30, 2022Pittsburgh 37, 18UCLA 35Sun Bowl
Dec 30, 202219Notre Dame 45, 20South Carolina 38Gator Bowl
Dec 30, 2022Ohio 30, Wyoming 27Arizona Bowl
Dec 30, 20226Tennessee 31, 10Clemson 14Orange Bowl
Dec 31, 2022Iowa 21, Kentucky 0Music City Bowl
Dec 31, 20225Alabama 45, 11Kansas State 20Sugar Bowl
Dec 31, 20223TCU 51, 2Michigan 45Fiesta Bowl, CFP Semifinal
Dec 31, 20221Georgia 42, 4Ohio State 41Peach Bowl, CFP Semifinal
Jan 2, 202324Mississippi State 19, Illinois 10ReliaQuest Bowl
Jan 2, 202316LSU 63, Purdue 7Citrus Bowl
Jan 2, 202314Tulane 46, 8USC 45Cotton Bowl
Jan 2, 20239Penn State 35, 7Utah 21Rose Bowl
Jan 9, 20231Georgia 65, 3TCU 7CFP National Championship

Rule book changes

Every rule book

The 2022 NCAA rule book against the one before: 10 changed, 1 removed, 1 renumbered and 1 retitled articles.

Rule 1: The Game, Field, Players and Equipment

  • Changed Rule 1-1-4 Game Officials (General Provisions)
  • Changed Rule 1-4-1 Recommended Numbering (Players and Playing Equipment)

Rule 6: Kicks

  • Changed Rule 6-3-13 Fouls by Kicking Team (Scrimmage Kicks)

Rule 7: Snapping and Passing the Ball

  • Changed Rule 7-2-5 At Rest (Backward Pass and Fumble)
  • Changed Rule 7-3-12 Conduct During Legal Forward Pass Play (Forward Pass)

Rule 9: Conduct of Players and Others Subject to the Rules

  • Changed Rule 9-1-6 Blocking Below the Waist (Personal Fouls)
  • Changed Rule 9-1-15 Horse-Collar Tackle (Personal Fouls)
  • Renumbered Rule 9-3-5 Blocking in the Back (Blocking, Use of Hands or Arms) was Rule 9-3-6
  • Removed Rule 9-3-5 Use of Hands or Arms by Defense: Passing Downs (Blocking, Use of Hands or Arms)

Rule 12: Instant Replay

  • Changed Rule 12-1-1 Purpose (Purpose and Philosophy)
  • Changed Rule 12–⁠3 Reviewable Plays (Reviewable Plays)
  • Retitled Rule 12–⁠7 Overturning an On-Field Ruling (Overturning an On-Field Ruling)
  • Changed Rule 12-7-1 Criterion for Overturn (Overturning an On-Field Ruling)

Only the first sentence of each article is compared, so a change deeper in an article (most penalty clauses, the overtime procedure) doesn’t show here, and a change that shows may be rewording. No rule text is kept: only numbers and headings. Rule books: NCAA, via Pierce’s provision dataset (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).