It seems crazy that it is already past week 12 of the college football season and we are heading into rivalry week so soon. It seems like just yesterday I was counting down the weeks to the opening games. Now that we are this far into the season, the playoff picture is clear as mud. A lot of teams are dropping out of the running every week, but that bunches up the best teams at the top. It is becoming harder and harder to separate the teams that are in contention for the playoff.
Is Alabama the real #1? Will Wisconsin make the playoff? How is Ohio State going to weasel their way into the playoff like every other year? What team no one is talking about is going to sneak its way into the final conversation? I wish I had answers for you guys, but it will be very exciting to find out in the coming weeks. Pair this with the start of college basketball and all the in-season tournaments going on and I would say college sport fans are at our peak right now. As always, this article points out the guys who had peak weeks during the last set of games. Let’s take a look at who were the best performers this past week:
Offense: QB Mike White, Western Kentucky
Stats: 39-54, 485 yards, 5 TD
White is no stranger to having a big day like this; he has had two other 5 TD games this season alone. This game wasn’t necessarily better than any other, but he had the best stat line of the week on offense. He was efficient with a ton of yards, and he was responsible for every Western Kentucky touchdown during the game (which went to 3 OT!). This win also got Western Kentucky bowl eligible, so we get to see White’s exciting play continue for another game. I highly recommend you tune into whatever bowl WKU is a part of.
Honorable Mention: RB Shakif Seymour (Toledo), Stats: 12 rushes, 67 yards, 5 TD
5 rushing touchdowns was hard to leave out of this article, but he doesn’t get the very top spot because of the lack of anything else eye-popping
Defense: DL Hercules Mata’afa, Washington State
Stats: 8 tackles, 5 TFL, 3 sacks, FF, FR
This was a really tough one. Go for the guy who scored twice on defense or the guy who put up an all-around stat line. Well for me, I tend to lean towards the more well-rounded one, but decided to include Kelsey Douglas and his two pick-sixes as an honorable mention. Will I admit that part of the reason I chose Hercules was because of the name? Yeah, I will. It’s a cool name, I don’t think anyone can blame me.
Honorable Mention: DB Kelsey Douglas (Southern Mississippi), Stats: 2 tackles, 2 INT, 2 TD
Two touchdowns for interceptions definitely deserves a mention on this list
Special Teams: KR Jerrod Davis, Central Michigan
Stats: 4 returns, 206 yards, 1 TD
Davis returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and then averaged a healthy 35 yards on his other 3 returns. It’s always good to have a weapon like Davis taking your kickoffs back and giving your offense good field position. Central Michigan pulled off the victory, which got them to 7 wins on the season.
Check back next week for the Rivalry Week edition of On the Ball: Video Game Stats!