You remember how I said there was a big shakeup at the top of the playoff rankings last week? Well that pales in comparison to what happened this past week in college football. The playoff picture is getting a little bit more clear on who is going to be the real contenders to get in. A pair of big upsets helped with that picture and the Big Ten was the culprit of both of them. Iowa manhandled Ohio State, and it seems like that knocks them out of the playoff picture, barring a crazy last couple weeks. Penn State failed to capitalize on that upset as they were knocked off themselves against a solid Michigan State team.
The Big Ten wasn’t the only conference keeping things exciting this past week, as the Big 12 had some good games as well. Bedlam lived up to the hype, although not for the defensive-minded, especially in the first half. West Virginia knocked off a red-hot Iowa State team that looked like it was starting to make some noise in the rankings. And let’s not forget about the all time classic game between Baylor and Kansas as well. That game had everything you could ask for in a high-profile game like it was. We can only hope for the same kind of excitement next week, but for now, let’s look at the top performers for this past week.
Offense: Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
Stats: 24-36, 598 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INT, 1 rushing TD
We expected this Bedlam game to be a shootout, but this game even passed expectations. With all the offensive firepower in the game, it was a given that the top spot on the offensive side of the ball was just going to be whichever quarterback won that game. Mayfield’s team ended up pulling off the win and he gets the top spot in this article, as well as the top spot in Heisman odds. It is well deserved as he had almost 600 yards on just 24 completions (avg: 24.9 ypc). He is going to need to be on top of his game yet again if he wants to knock off TCU this upcoming week in a huge game for playoff implications.
*Special mentions to Rashaad Penny (20 carries, 234 yards, 3 TD) and Marquise Brown (9 rec, 265 yards, 2 TD)
Defense: Jalen Young, FAU
Stats: 4 tackles, 3 INT
This spot usually ends up going to a defensive lineman when they rack up some more counting stats, but I think Jalen Young deserves the spot for this week. He was a ball hawk this week, picking up three interceptions off of the Marshall quarterback. Although he didn’t add much more to his stat line past that, the interceptions alone were worthy of a mention on this list. He only had 2 interceptions in the other 8 games this season. His team needed each of those turnovers to pull of the win, as they had a close 30-25 win over the Thundering Herd.
Special Teams: JK Scott
Stats: 8 punts, 413 yards, 51.6 avg
As if Alabama needed any more weapons on their team, their punter is pulling off some crazy games as well. Arguably the most surprising part of this stat line is the fact Alabama had to punt 8 times. When he did punt he was booming the ball. Over 400 yards punting with an average of 51.6. That kind of punting is big in flipping the field to help your defense and Alabama capitalized to beat LSU and keep themselves firmly in the playoff picture.
Check in after next week to see who had a huge game for the slate in week 11!