Just Another 'Normal' Weekend in College Football (Or Was It?)
Lone Star Player of the Week Candidates
Auburn RB Jarquez Hunter - 23 carries for 278 yards, two touchdowns, four receptions for 19 yards in a 24-10 win at Kentucky.
Texas A&M DB B.J. Mayes - He picked off LSU star QB Garrett Nussmeier twice and added two tackles in the Aggies’ impressive 38-23 win over #8 ranked LSU.
Ole Miss DE Suntarine Perkins - Ole Miss came up with ten sacks of Oklahoma quarterbacks and Perkins led the way with 4.0 sacks, 5.0 TFL and 11 tackles. Perkins’ sack total was the most for a Rebel defender in 31 years.
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Week nine in college football might have been the most normal week of the entire season. Well, with the exception of winless Kennesaw State beating undefeated Liberty…and well, Houston knocking off Utah on a last second field goal…and, okay, there was North Carolina upsetting Virginia by 27 in Charlottesville.
So, okay, maybe it was a bit more abnormal than I first thought. Let’s go back and review what a great weekend it was and then look ahead to week 10, highlighted by a massive game in Happy Valley.
Texas Bowl Team of the Week - Texas A&M - It was THE game of the weekend in College Station and it wasn’t going well for the Texas Aggies. At the half, OC Collin Klein’s offense was mired in muck and QB Conner Weigman was struggling mightily. Head coach Mike Elko and Klein made a change at QB and the game turned immediately. QB Marcel Reed, who led the Aggies to three consecutive wins when Weigman was injured, stepped into the lineup and the game flipped. He threw just two times but he completed both. However, it was his running that changed this one - nine attempts for 62 yards and three touchdowns. The Aggies defense harassed LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier all night long, forcing three interceptions and racking up 2.0 sacks. Elko’s Aggies went on a 31-6 2nd half scoring binge to beat #8 ranked LSU 38-23.
Texas Bowl Honorable mention Team of the Week - Houston - It’s been a bit of a rocky season for the Cougars, but the last second 17-14 win over Utah will be one that head coach Willie Fritz can build off of for the remainder of this season. The Cougars beating a pre-season Big 12 favorite will do nothing but build the confidence of this team. K Jack Martin nailed a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give Houston its third win of the season.
Texas Bowl Player of the Week - Auburn RB Jarquez Hunter - The Tigers season had been heading south rather quickly. Even as they prepared to play feisty Kentucky in Lexington, head coach Hugh Freeze flew separately to the game due to illness. As such, it looked to be a rough day for Auburn yet again. Enter Hunter. He went OFF. He set a career high with 278 yards, which also set the mark for the highest single-game total for an FBS ball carrier this year (yes, even Ashton Jeanty hadn’t hit that mark). Hunter also broke Bo Jackson’s school record for rushing yards in a half with 214 in the second half in Auburn’s much needed 24-10 win over Kentucky.
Texas Bowl Honorable mention Player of the Week - Texas A&M DB B.J. Mayes - He picked off LSU star QB Garrett Nussmeier twice and added two tackles in the Aggies impressive 38-23 win over #8 ranked LSU. The Aggies defense played one of the best halves of football over the last 30 minutes of game action to secure a big win over LSU. Mayes was a big reason why, attacking the ball in the air, and the Tigers receivers, throughout the night.
National Team of the Week - Kennesaw State - The odds of Kennesaw State, 0-6 entering the game, beating undefeated Liberty were so astronomical that even Kevin Malone from The Office wouldn’t have felt comfortable betting on the Owls. Yet, after two Austin Welch field goals in the fourth quarter, the Owls led C-USA conference leading Liberty 27-17. A late Liberty TD only cut the final margin, but it didn’t stop the Owls from earning their first ever win over an FBS opponent…that just so happened to be the undefeated, playoff seeking Liberty Flames.
Honorable Mention National Team of the Week - SMU - The Mustangs set a record on Saturday and it’s one that they hope to never accomplish ever again. FBS teams were 124-1 THIS CENTURY when +6 in turnover margin. Make that 124-2 because SMU somehow found a way to beat formerly 6-1 Duke IN DURHAM after throwing three interceptions and losing three fumbles to Duke’s zero turnovers. The Mustangs kept coughing up that win in Durham, but forced an incompletion on a two point attempt in overtime to finally win 28-27. The #22 ranked Mustangs are now 7-1 with their only loss coming to undefeated Big 12 leader BYU. RB Brashard Smith ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns to lead SMU to a massive ACC win.
National Player of the Week - Indiana DB D’Angelo Ponds - Washington came to Bloomington, IN telling everyone that would listen that it wasn’t coming for autographs. The Huskies also didn’t intend for Ponds to ruin the game, but he did. The IU star picked off a tipped double pass attempt and took it 65 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring. Then, he had an interception in the second quarter that led to another IU TD in Indiana’s 31-17 victory, the 8th in a row in 2024 and with GameDay in attendance.
Honorable mention National Player of the Week - North Carolina DE Kaimon Rucker - I’ve been a fan of Rucker’s for a while, but the University of Virginia isn’t after what he did to them this past Saturday. In one of the best games of his career, he finished with eight tackles, 3.0 sacks, 3.5 TFL and an interception in the Tar Heels big 41-14 win over UVa.
Quick Kudos
…to Sam Houston and head coach K.C Keeler for a sixth win to become bowl eligible in only the second year in FBS play. It wasn’t pretty but a 10-7 win over FIU did the trick.
…to undefeated Pitt for one of the best halves of football in CFB this year - the defense had THREE pick sixes in the FIRST HALF in a 41-13 win over Syracuse.
…to Louisville for coming back from a 20-0 deficit to win on the road in Chestnut Hill over Boston College 31-27
…to Penn State QB Beau Pribula for replacing star QB Drew Allar and leading the Nittany Lions to a big road win over Wisconsin 28-13.
…to Texas S Michael Taaffe for a six tackle, one INT performance in a 27-24 win over Vandy in Nashville.
…to BYU for staying undefeated after being an underdog to 3-4 UCF
…to Alabama for becoming Alabama again.
…to Ole Miss’ defense for one of the most dominating second halves I’ve seen in a 26-14 win over Oklahoma.
…to Memphis. Don’t look now but the 33-28 win over Charlotte took the Tigers to 7-1 on the season. GOOD football team!
…to Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson who threw for 222 and three tuddies, plus ran for 73 yards and one touchdown in Baylor’s win over Oklahoma State. Dave Aranda’s Bears have won two in a row beating Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, averaging 47 points in the process.
Finally…to Coach Prime, Shedeur, Travis and the Colorado Buffs for winning a sixth game to make them bowl eligible for the first time in a full season since 2016. Congrats Buffs!
Week 10’s Big games
#4 (6-1) Ohio State at #3 (7-0) Penn State - The Buckeyes have made a habit out of ruining perfectly good seasons for the Nittany Lions and another Buckeyes’ win would do the exact same thing. Penn State’s QB Drew Allar’s status is still up in the air for this game and that makes it REALLY interesting in Happy Valley.
#18 (7-0) Pitt at #20 (7-1) SMU - This is the most important football game that SMU has played in Dallas in decades. The surprising Pitt Panthers and QB Eli Holstein are on the way to take on SMU star QB Kevin Jennings and the Mustangs. Both teams are undefeated in conference play but the winner will make a serious playoff statement with a win.
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