| Who’s Hot on the Maxwell Award List
QB Joey Aguilar, Tennessee
Aguilar propelled Tennessee to an early lead over Kentucky that it would never relinquish. The Volunteers coasted to a 56-34 win in Lexington to remain in the College Football Playoff race. In Aguilar’s most efficient effort of the season, he went 20-of-26 for 396 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers. He had five Big Time Throws and his PFF passing grade of 93.1 led all FBS quarterbacks in Week 9.
QB Blake Horvath, Navy
Memphis beat South Florida to grab the pole position in the race for the Group of Five playoff berth. But Navy is the American’s last undefeated program. The Midshipmen handled Florida Atlantic, 42-32, in their final tune-up before a wicked stretch against North Texas, Notre Dame, South Florida, Memphis, and Army. FAU could not slow Horvath who threw for 83 yards on 8-of-12 passing while also rushing for 174 yards and four touchdowns. It was his fifth straight game over 100 yards rushing and the second 4-TD game of his career.
RB Quinton Jackson, Rice
Rice snapped red-hot UConn’s four-game winning streak with a 37-34 win to keep the Owls in the bowl hunt in Scott Abell’s first season. Jackson was electric in the upset, pinballing off Husky tacklers as the focal point of the run-heavy attack. He rushed for 168 yards and three scores, including the clincher in double-overtime, and also caught three passes for 80 yards and a fourth touchdown.
QB Avery Johnson, Kansas State
For the first time since 2009, Kansas State was the underdog in the Sunflower Showdown. Yet, the Wildcats still maintained their generational dominance Saturday afternoon with a 42-17 rout, their 17th straight victory in the rivalry. Johnson outdueled his Jayhawk counterpart Jalon Daniels with 248 total yards and four touchdowns, two on the ground and two through the air.
QB Haynes King, Georgia Tech
The Yellow Jackets continue to roll as one of the last remaining unbeaten programs. Now 8-0 for the first time since 1966, Georgia Tech tuned out its press clippings on Saturday and dismantled Syracuse, 41-16. King ignited the offense with his arm and his legs. He threw for 304 yards and three scores on 25-of-31 passing while also rushing for a game-high 91 yards and two touchdowns on a dozen carries.
QB Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
Opposing quarterbacks don’t often win night games in Baton Rouge. But with Reed at the controls, Texas A&M overpowered LSU Saturday, 49-25, for the school’s first 8-0 start since 1992. The sophomore from Nashville accounted for four touchdowns while showing off his myriad skills as a playmaker. Reed completed 12-of-21 for 202 yards, two touchdowns and two picks and also kept the Tiger D on its heels with 108 yards and two more scores on the ground.
QB Evan Simon, Temple
Temple is closing in on its first bowl game in six years. After going 3-9 for four straight seasons, the Owls moved to 5-3 with Saturday’s 38-37 defeat of Tulsa in overtime. Simon added another chapter to his pristine senior season, going 24-of-35 for 267 yards, five touchdowns and no turnovers. For the season, he has thrown 21 TD passes without a pick, and Temple is one of just two teams without an interception this season.
QB Conner Weigman, Houston
Houston quietly pulled one of the biggest upsets of Week 9, knocking off defending Big 12 champ Arizona State in Tempe. The Cougars are now 7-1 and one of four remaining teams with no more than one conference loss. Weigman outplayed Sam Leavitt and accounted for three touchdowns for the fourth time in the last five games. He completed 17-of-22 for 201 yards and TD while also rushing 21 times for 111 yards and two critical scores.
The Maxwell Football Club honors the nation’s best defensive player with the Chuck Bednarik Award. Here’s a look at last week’s standout defenders.
Who’s Hot on the Bednarik Award List
LB Xavier Atkins, Auburn
Atkins added another chapter to his breakout first season on the Plains. The LSU transfer spearheaded a defense that stifled high-scoring Arkansas in the second half of a 33-24 win. The 6-0, 210-pound Atkins, who covers ground like a safety and packs a big punch, bagged a career-high 13 tackles, four stops for loss, two sacks, and a forced fumble. It was his second four TFL effort of the year and his third multi-sack game.
LB Sam Brumfield, Memphis
Memphis faced two huge hurdles Saturday – rebound from a stunning loss to UAB and slow down South Florida. The Tigers cleared both with a 34-31 rally in a crucial American showdown. USF averaged 47 points over the previous four games but scored just seven in the second as the offense mounted its comeback. The well-traveled Brumfield, who’s at his fourth program, headlined the defensive stand. He had a Tiger-high 13 stops including 2.5 for loss and a sack of elusive Byrum Brown.
DT Kemari Copeland, Virginia Tech
The offenses shined Friday night at Lane Stadium, but Copeland’s impact in key moments did not go unnoticed in the Hokies’ 42-34 double-OT win. The 6-3, 283-pound junior was menacing in the trenches, beating Bear linemen with a combination of brute force and nonstop effort. His seven stops included three sacks, the first multi-sack game of his career and the most by a Virginia Tech interior lineman in 30 years.
LB Johnathan Hall, Utah
Playing without QB Devon Dampier, Utah put together a complete effort in a 53-7 clubbing of visiting Colorado. True freshman QB Byrd Ficklin was a revelation in his debut, and the defense held the Buffs to just 140 yards and a fourth quarter TD. The Utes dominated at the line of scrimmage with seven sacks and 12 stops for minus yards. Hall had two of those sacks and nine Total Pressures, tied for No. 1 among all Week 9 defenders according to PFF.
LB Anthony Hill Jr., Texas
There were plenty of heroes in Texas’ miraculous comeback win at Mississippi State which preserves playoff hopes. Arch Manning accounted for four scores, Matthew Caldwell came off the bench to throw the game-winner in OT. And Ryan Niblett’s 79-yard punt return with 1:47 left was legendary. However, no one on defense shined brighter than Hill. The All-American and Bednarik Award candidate had 10 tackles, 3.5 stops for loss, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and nine Total Pressures according to PFF.
ED Dylan LaBarbera, Nevada
It’s liable to get lost in an otherwise forgettable season in Reno, but LaBarbera has been a gem for the program. The Butte College transfer has been one of the Mountain West’s most consistent defensive players this fall. In Friday’s loss to Boise State, he had 10 tackles, seven stops and a sack. LaBarbera now leads the country with 15 tackles for loss and the conference with 6.5 sacks.
LB Jimmy Rolder, Michigan
The defense kept Michigan State under wraps, the ground game churned out 276 yards and four touchdowns, and Michigan once again beat its instate rival, 31-20. Rolder and ED Derrick Moore were the stalwarts of the front seven for the Wolverines. Moore had a pair of sacks while Rolder posted a game-high 10 tackles, two stops for loss, and a sack of his own.
LB Cade Uluave, Cal
Uluave plays with outstanding instincts and maximum energy on every down. Friday night in Blacksburg, his intensity and frenetic style of play jumped off the tape and in the final box score. Even in a double-overtime heartbreaker for the Bears, Uluave dominated with a career-high 19 tackles, 10 more than any player on either team. He also had three stops for loss and two sacks and currently leads the ACC with 81 tackles.
The Maxwell Football Club supports former Alabama and Seattle Seahawks star RB Shaun Alexander in annually naming the top college freshman.
Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award Player of the Week
QB Drew Mestemaker, North Texas
Mestemaker was a Mean Green record smashing machine Friday night in Charlotte. The redshirt freshman from Austin, Tex., who did not start a game in high school, had a night to remember in North Texas’ 54-20 win over the 49ers. Mestemaker completed 37-of-49, both season-highs, for 608 yards, four touchdowns and a pick. His 608 passing yards were school and American records and are second-most by a true or redshirt freshman in FBS history. Nevada’s David Neill threw for 611 in a loss in 1998.
Must-See Week 10 Games
Vanderbilt (7-1) at Texas (6-2)
Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ET (ABC)
Six SEC teams have just one conference loss. Two of them will square off Saturday afternoon in Austin.
After narrowly escaping Vanderbilt last year in Nashville, Texas gets to host the Commodores this weekend. The Longhorns have lived dangerously the past two weeks, with one-score escapes of Kentucky and Mississippi State. Meanwhile, top 10 Vandy is facing a ranked opponent for the fourth straight week, outlasting LSU and Missouri after falling to Alabama in early October. QB Diego Pavia is the face of the Dores right now, but he’ll get tested by a Texas defense whose stars are beginning to shine brighter as the regular season enters its final turn.
Georgia (6-1) vs Florida (3-4)
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Florida looks to play spoiler this week in Jacksonville as these rivals meet in the annual “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”.
After firing Billy Napier, the 3-4 Gators will play their first game under interim head coach Billy Gonzales. The program is in flux but is still very talented and will have no shortage of motivation. Meanwhile, Georgia comes out of the break 6-1, having won three straight since falling to Alabama on Sept. 27. QB Gunner Stockton is peaking, and the Dawgs control their own playoff destiny, but margin for error is slim in a conference flush with so many playoff-eligible contenders.
Oklahoma (6-2) at Tennessee (6-2)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel faces his alma mater in a game of tremendous significance to both programs.
At 10-2, both the Vols and the Sooners can make their playoff cases to the committee. With three losses, however, they’re cooked. Oklahoma will need to rebound in a hurry after suffering a crushing home loss last week to Ole Miss, its second defeat in the last three games. Even with a healthy John Mateer under center, the offense has been spotty. Tennessee’s losses were to Georgia and Alabama, and this is the team’s toughest opponent until the annual finale with one-loss Vanderbilt.
Cincinnati (7-1) at Utah (6-2)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Big 12 contender or pretender? We’re about to learn a lot about one-loss Cincinnati.
Since losing the opener to Nebraska, the Bearcats have won seven straight games. And QB Brendan Sorsby is a legit Maxwell Award contender with 20 TD passes and just a single interception. However, Cincy’s schedule is backloaded and its best wins are over Iowa State, which now has three losses, and Baylor this past Saturday. Rice-Eccles Stadium at night will be the program’s best measuring stick to date. Utah is coming off its most complete game of the year, pounding Colorado, 53-7, despite being without starting QB Devon Dampier. The Utes still have an outside shot of getting to the Big 12 title game, but they need help and a streak-busting win this weekend in Salt Lake City. |
This is the third time for SMU (6-3, 4-1 in the ACC) to receive the award by the FWAA and the first time since 2019 when it won at No. 22 Louisville, 34-27, the first weekend of October. SMU running back T. J. Harden ran in from a yard out in overtime for the game-winning score, setting off an on-field frenzy for players and fans coming out of the stands. But it was safety Ahmaad Moses who set up the dramatics with an interception on Miami’s possession to open overtime, also at the 1-yard line. Both plays helped SMU win its 13th consecutive home conference game, a program record.
