(This is a weekly article on Student Union Sports covering the most ridiculous stat lines of the week)
If only there were some noteworthy games that were worth mentioning in this opening paragraph. Unfortunately, this was a very uneventful and upset-lacking week, so we will just skip straight to the top stat lines of the week:
Just kidding, this was one of the craziest weeks of college football I can remember upset-wise. Let’s take a tally of the teams that lost this weekend: #2, #3, #4, #8, #9, #14, #25. The craziest part of this is that the first college football playoff rankings just got blown up in the second week of its release. Every team in the top 4 other than juggernaut Alabama lost this week. There is going to be some madness in the last couple weeks of the season and it is going to be very exciting to watch. A handful of teams will be jostling for position in the playoff and conference championship week should be a blast. We also will get to see a couple more weeks of out-of-this-world performances as players take the motivation of a possible playoff appearance (and a spot in the NFL Draft) to put up ridiculous numbers. Let’s take a look at the guys who put up those numbers this past week:
Offense: QB Quinton Flowers, USF
Stats: 24-29, 263 yards, 2 TDs, 20 rushes, 210 yards, 3 TDs
Dual-threat QB Quinton Flowers has been putting up a quietly solid season for the USF Bulls. With 19 touchdowns to 5 interceptions and 13 rushing touchdowns on top of that, he has led the Bulls to an 8-2 record and tied for the top spot in the AAC East (they hold the tiebreaker over Temple if it stays as is). His game against Memphis was just another solid performance, as he stayed efficient through the air and ran wild on the ground on his way to a 49-42 win over the Tigers. While some games Flowers can disappear in the passing game (5-14, 160 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT against Florida State), he stays consistent on the ground (9 straight games with 10+ rushes and 50+ yards). Flowers probably won’t catch on in the NFL as a quarterback, but as Terrelle Pryor is showing, he can still make a big impact with his legs if given the chance.
Defense: LB Jordan Evans, Oklahoma
Stats: 9 total tackles, 2 sacks, 2 INT, 2 passes defended
Everyone knows that Oklahoma is one of the most storied college football programs in the country and as such, it is hard to break any record they have. Jordan Evans did just that, becoming the first player in Oklahoma history to have two interceptions and 2 sacks in a single game. He also added in 9 tackles and 2 passes defended in a 45-24 win over the Baylor Bears and their always prolific offense. Evans only had 2 career interceptions leading up to this game and only had 0.5 sacks so far on the season. He’s always been a great player and his performance against Baylor was the icing on the cake. Evans also earned Big 12 defensive player of the week honors for his performance.
Special Teams: K Gary Wunderlich, Ole Miss
Stats: 3/3 field goals, 2/2 extra points
Wunderlich did not have a mind-blowing day, but he made his kicks when they counted. Ole Miss came into this game with a freshman QB starting his first game playing at the #8 team in the country. Granted, Shea Patterson was a highly touted recruit and thought to be the future of Ole Miss football (also a fun fact, I played baseball with Shea in middle school for the Sylvania Copperheads), but he would not have won this game had Wunderlich not made a high pressure kick with 37 seconds left in the game. Making a kick with 103,000 people yelling at the top of their lungs is not easy not matter how short the kick is. Don’t get me wrong, Patterson put Ole Miss in position to win the game, but Wunderlich booted them home. Now Ole Miss just needs to beat one of Vanderbilt of Mississippi State to make a bowl game, whereas a loss would have put their backs against the wall for two much needed wins.