(This is a weekly article on Student Union sports covering the most ridiculous stat lines of the week)
EA Sports: It’s in the Game.
It’s hard not to get fired up hearing those words rattle off the walls of your dorm room when you are starting up the NCAA Football video game series. Whether it’s after a hard study session at the library (yeah, right) or after all classes are done for the day (who can wait that long??), students everywhere love going into the virtual world of college football. The best part of these games was building a dynasty at your favorite school and signing that future Heisman-winning, 5-star QB that could put up stats nobody could touch in real life. These video game stat lines rarely happen in the real world, but when they do, they are a thing of beauty. Whether it’s the recent game by Conner Halliday for 734 passing yards and 6 touchdowns, old-school Johnnie Jackson with 3 pick-six’s in one game, or unheralded DB Antonio Perkins with 3 punt return touchdowns in one game, huge games can happen at any position for any player if in the right circumstances. Enjoy seeing these eye-popping stat lines and see who was really on-the-ball during the last week of college football:
Offense: QB Lamar Jackson, Louisville, and RB Kalen Ballage, Arizona State
Stats: Jackson: 20-39, 411 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 199 rushing yards, 4 TDs
Ballage: 13 rushes, 137 yards, 7 TDs, 2 rec, 48 yards, 1 TD
Alright, usually I pick only one player, but this was just too hard to call. Jackson was an absolute beast (just like last week), highlighted by his hurdle of a Syracuse player for the touchdown. The 411 passing yards and 199 rushing yards do not hurt his case either. But enough about the greatness of Lamar Jackson, how about that stat line from Kalen Ballage?? This man only got 13 carries (with a 10.5 ypc), but scored SEVEN rushing touchdowns. That means his rushes ended in the end zone more than they ended in the other 100 yards of the field. As if he did not score enough, he also pulled in a reception for a touchdown in the second quarter. Arizona State only won this game by 13 in a high scoring game, so Ballage made sure his presence was known.
Defense: DE Duke Ejiofor, Wake Forest
Stats: 7 tackles, 4 solo, 3 sacks, 2 forces fumbles, 1 fumble recovery
Ejiofor put up a stat line that sounds like the song “12 days of Christmas”. He was a huge difference maker in a Wake Forest win over Duke (which is a wee bit ironic because of his first name). He also made a huge difference off the stat sheet, as the Duke passing attack was firing on all cylinders (332 yards), while the rush game was bottled up all day (37 yards on 30 carries). That won’t show up in the stat sheet for Ejiofor, but it is just one more thing he did to help the Deacons pull off a win.
*Being a Cincinnati guy, I need to shout out Mike Tyson also, who registered 3 interception for the Bearcats*.
Special Teams: K Parker Davidson, New Mexico State
Stats: 4-4 field goals, 2-3 extra points
(I could not find a picture of Davidson kicking so enjoy this clipart)
No special teamer had a huge game this week, so Davidson gets the nod because of the pure difference he made in the game. The missed extra point does count against him, but in a game that his team won by a single point, it was all the other kicks that made the difference. He nailed field goals from 45, 41, 37, and 30. Even if he missed the 45 yarder, his team would have lost the game. Also, he contributed the last score of the game. After a touchdown to tie the game at 31, Parker hit the extra point and put his team up for good.
As always, I hope to see you back next week to find out who was On The Ball for week 3 of this already-exciting college football season!
