I played offensive line for eight seasons in the NFL, and before that I spent my Saturdays in Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, blocking for guys who ended up on lists like this one. So when I watch college football now, I watch for the stuff that signaled to me in the huddle whether a guy was for real. I'm picking the 10 players who impressed me most during the previous weekend.
Not just the gaudiest stat lines, but the performances that hold up when you turn the tape on. Some weeks, that'll be an edge rusher wreaking havoc. Other weeks, it'll be a lineman you've never heard of who didn't lose a rep all afternoon.
I have a soft spot for those guys. Let's take a look at this week's group. I try really hard to not include the same guys every week.
But how could I ignore what Jeremiah Smith did this weekend? With his 11 catches for 206 yards and two scores against Iowa, he became Ohio State's all-time leader in receptions (207), receiving yards (3,381) and receiving touchdowns (37). He is truly not from this planet.
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Another stud who makes my list again, Austin Simmons helped his Tigers win their first game against a top 10 team since Eli Drinkwitz became their head coach in 2020. Simmons was an efficient 23 of 30 for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Missouri had an offensive perfomance that ranked in the 93rd percentile in expected points added, and that was on the arm of Simmons.
John Curry led his Red Raider defense in tackles in a dominating performance by his group on Saturday. Colorado scored only seven points on their first drive of the game. Texas Tech forced four interceptions including a unique pick-six by Curry.
It was a zero-yard touchdown after Curry jumped to intercept an Issac Wilson pass in his own end zone. Heck of an athletic play. Flora had a monster game for Iowa State, with the Cyclones scoring 17 fourth quarter points to beat West Virginia.
The redshirt sophomore had 22 carries for 212 yards and three rushing touchdowns. He also completed two passes, both for touchdowns. That’s five touchdowns out of the six Iowa State scored on Saturday.
He joined Vince Young as the only players in Big 12 history with two passing touchdowns, two rushing scores and 200 rushing yards in the same game. An absolutely incredible performance. The Miami pass rusher had 2.5 sacks for the Hurricanes in their 41-13 blowout win against Clemson on the road.
The Missouri transfer was tied for third in the SEC last season with nine sacks, and has been a pressure machine for Miami this year. Xavier had three sacks and two forced fumbles in Georgia State’s win over Old Dominion. He’s now up to seven sacks this season, which has helped Georgia State sit with the third most sacks this season (19).
Esqillion ranks third in all of FBS with his seven sacks, trailing only Collin Simmons and Princewill Umanmielen. All Bear Bachmeier does is win. He was only 11 of 24 with 62 yards passing in BYU's win vs.
TCU, but he also added 66 rushing yards and two rushing scores. Since 2000, he has the fourth-best record of all Big 12 quarterbacks against unranked opponents at 14-0. He trails only Heisman runner-up Vince Young (21-0), and two Heisman winners— Jason White (21-0) and Eric Crouch (17-0).
Daniels has quietly been prolific for the Seminoles, already reaching 1,111 passing yards and 278 rush yards this season along with 15 total touchdowns. On Saturday, he went for a whopping five rushing touchdowns against Virginia, becoming just the second ACC quarterback to reach that mark in a game since 2000 (TaQuon Marshall in 2017). He led Florida State to a dominant 38-7 victory against Virginia as 1.5-point underdogs.
For offensive run game enthusiasts like myself, the Northwestern rushing attack on Friday night against Penn State was electric. Offensive play-caller Chip Kelly has implemented some single wing and veer concepts into the Northwestern playbook and they dominated the Nittany Lions. Komolafe had 25 carries for 188 yards while Himon had 10 carries for a whooping 162 rushing yards.
It was unbelievably fun to watch. Harvard had one final play on Saturday vs. Colgate— a 44-yard Hail Mary attempt to win the game.
Quarterback Charlie Smith launched the ball to his 6’6 tight end standing a few yards from the end zone. Pelletier caught the ball amongst a group of Colgate defenders who tried to wrestle him to the ground. Before that happened, he pitched the ball to Bailey who ran to the pylon to win the game for the Crimson!
