Just ahead of the first College Playoff rankings, we had a huge shakeup with some of the top teams in the nation. For all those people who just root for chaos leading up to the playoff, you got it this past week. Ohio State had a crazy comeback to beat #2 Penn State, #4 TCU got upset by sudden giant-killer Iowa State. Notre Dame picked up a huge win over NC State, which puts them in position to steal a spot in the playoff if they continue playing like they have been.
It’ll be interesting to see how things shake out towards the end of the season because there are a lot of questions to be answered. What will happen between (likely) Ohio State and (even more likely)Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship? If Wisconsin wins, will their SOS be enough to get them in? Can Georgia unseat Alabama as the #1 seed? I’m sure we all look forward to what is to come in college football, and let us enjoy it, because soon enough the season will be over and we will be back to counting the days until kickoff 2018.
Offense (1a): John Wolford, Wake Forest
Stats: 28-34, 461 yards, 5 TDs
Offense (1b): Devin Singletary, FAU
Stats: 36 rushes, 244 yards, 4 TDs
Offense (1c): Greg Dortch, Wake Forest
Stats: 10 catches, 167 yards, 4 TDs
Here’s the thing: I pride myself on being able to cut down the stat line of the week to just one person every week. Usually, one guy sticks out, or I can make a decision and stick by it. That was not the case this week. No matter how I look at it, all these guys went absolutely bonkers this past week and nothing separates one from the others. To make matters worse, they all play different positions so I couldn’t even directly compare them. Because of that, I will let you guys have three offensive players of the week, free of charge.
Defense: Genard Avery, Memphis
Stats: 8 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 3.5 sacks
Some guys just make it look easy. Gernard Avery was one of those guy for the Memphis Tigers this week. He was a force in the backfield the whole game, finishing with a ridiculous 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks (for perspective, only 4 schools average more than 3.5 sacks per game as a whole team). He only had 1.5 sacks on the season leading up to this game. Any quarterback who looks at their schedule and sees Memphis better watch out if Avery is going to start picking up some momentum, he’s going to be a force for the next few weeks.
Special Teams: Isaiah Harper, Old Dominion
Stats: 4 kick returns, 235 yards (58.75 per), 2 TDs
Much like stated above in Avery’s summary, some guys just have it. Harper seemed to be in a zone on kick returns this past week. He had four returns total and averaged a cool 58.75 yards per return, including two of returned for touchdowns. That is the kind of impact every returner hopes to have. The only problem is that his team still fell short. That was no fault of Harper, and if he continues returning like that the best he can do is keep his team in a position to win.
Check back next week for week 10’s edition of On the Ball Stats!