College football can be amazing at times. Week 11 of this season is clear evidence.
So what did we learn this past week? We learned that Alabama is well, Alabama. While we have been fully aware of that notion, we witnessed potentially altering upsets across the entire scope of college football covering the ACC (Pitt over Clemson), Pac-12 (USC over Washington), Big Ten (Iowa over Michigan), and SEC (Georgia over Auburn, Ole Miss over Texas A&M).
Upsets aside, the Ohio State Buckeyes ran roughshod over another Big Ten opponent, the Oregon Ducks continue to bury themselves deeply in the depth of the Pac-12, the Colorado Buffaloes are developing a magical carpet ride of the 2016 season, and the LSU Tigers moved on from a bitter loss to Alabama a couple of weeks ago.
Now that we have a quick recap of this past week in college football, let’s focus on some of the top performers from this past week.
Pittsburgh QB Nathan Peterman – 22/37, 308 yards, five TDs: The 43-42 upset by Pittsburgh against the Clemson Tigers was arguably the biggest upset of the day and while Pittsburgh running back James Connor had a significant day, the Panthers victory was greatly aided by Peterman and his highly efficient outing. Peterman started off the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass on the game’s opening drive. He also completed a huge 21-yard play with 41 seconds left to set up the game-winning field goal.
LSU RB Derrius Guice – 21 carries, 252 yards, two TDs: Tigers running back Leonard Fournette gets the headlines but Guice is an elite talent as well and his talent was on full display in a road contest against Arkansas. Guice clearly outplayed his teammate and capped off his incredible night with a 96-yard touchdown run to truly ice the 38-10 win for the Tigers.
Alabama QB Jalen Hurts – 28/37, 347 yards, four TDs, INT, 11 carries, 100 yards, TD: The true freshman has already impressed the masses so far this season but his production against Mississippi State was the best he has looked all season. Hurts passed for a career-high in yards and touchdowns while also torching the Bulldogs defense with another 100 rushing yards and a score. It’s noteworthy that Hurts became the first Alabama player in the school’s history with 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in the same contest.
Utah DE Hunter Dimick – Nine tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, five sacks: The Utah defense totaled an excellent amount of sacks with 11 in their 49-26 win over Arizona State and Dimick in particular , lived in the Arizona State backfield. Dimick entered the game with seven sacks on the season and the senior defensive end nearly totaled that in one contest and made a living attacking Arizona State QB Manny Wilkins.
Georgia Tech QB Matthew Jordan – 2/7, 34 yards, 32 carries, 121 yards, and two TDs: Jordan filled in for an injured Justin Thomas and got the job done in a reserve role. Jordan made his first career start and orchestrated a 30-20 Georgia Tech upset over #14 Virginia Tech.
Boise State QB Brett Rypien – 18/22, 338 yards, four TDs, rushing TD: A 52-16 rout of Hawaii by Boise State was large in part due to Rapine’s five total touchdowns. Rypien’s fifth touchdown came early in the third quarter and extend a massive Broncos lead to 41-3 in that period.
Oklahoma LB Jordan Evans – Nine tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, two pass deflections: In a game with 69 total points, it was a defender who had the most impact in the game as Evans was truly everywhere for the Sooners defense. His two interceptions were 2/3 of the total turnovers forced by the Sooners defense in a 45-24 victory over Baylor.
