College Football's All-Week 5 1st Team: Top Performers at Every Position
Week 5 of the college football season was a flirt, luring us in by staking Tennessee to an early lead against Georgia, NC State to an early lead against Florida State and Arkansas to a late lead against Texas A&M.
Alas, none of those would-have-been-major upsets came to fruition, and the result was the most boring week of results of the year. The only two teams from the Associated Press Top 25 that lost (Arizona State and South Carolina) were beaten by teams that appeared in the Week 6 rankings (UCLA and Missouri, respectively).
Fortunately, a ho-hum roll of results does not mean a lack of standout performances. Some players helped their highly ranked teams escape the week with a win. Some helped their lower-ranked teams threaten those highly ranked teams in the first place. And others were flat-out ridiculous despite not playing in a game with a near upset.
Before we begin, here is your weekly reminder that the main criteria for this list go beyond raw statistics. Big numbers matter, but they matter more against a good opponent than a bad one.
The selections that follow considered what each player did, whom they did it against and when in the game they did it.
Sound off below if I missed anyone.
Honorable Mention: Underclassmen Quarterbacks
1 of 12Quarterback is without fail the hardest position to pick for this team each week. He is the point guard of the offense, the player who touches the ball more than any other. Any team with a big offensive output against a viable opponent can trace that output back to its QB.
This week more than any other, though, deciding on the quarterbacks was tough. More than just that, it was tough because a group of four underclassmen—two sophomores and two true freshmen—led their teams to victories and put up gaudy numbers to boot.
A pair of upperclassmen beat them out for the real list, but it didn't feel right not to mention these four after what they did in Week 5:
Jared Goff, California
- 24-48, 458 yards, 7 TD, 1 INT; 3 carries, -12 yards
Brandon Harris, LSU
- 11-14, 178 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT; 5 carries, 36 yards, 2 TD
Kenny Hill, Texas A&M
- 21-41, 386 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT; 6 carries, 30 yards
Deshaun Watson, Clemson
- 27-36, 435 yards, 6 TD, 1 INT; 11 carries, 28 yards
You might want to write these names down. All four have been pegged as the future of their respective programs, and if last week was any indication, they all represent the present, too.
Goff and Hill in particular have enjoyed fine starts to the season.
Quarterback
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Brett Hundley, UCLA
18-23, 355 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT; 8 carries, 72 yards, 1 TD
Brett Hundley salvaged his Heisman candidacy against Arizona State, returning from an injury to his left (non-throwing) elbow and starring in the Bruins' road win against No. 15 Arizona State.
The redshirt junior was smart and accurate throwing the football, working at all the levels of the field (short, middle and deep). His offensive line played better than usual, but even when it broke down, Hundley showed improved decision-making with his feet and legs.
A divisive prospect in both college and NFL scouting circles, Hundley showed Thursday why many remain high on him despite occasional struggles. According to Dane Brugler of CBSSports.com, anyone whose first exposure to Hundley was the Arizona State game would "think he's the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft."
UCLA was the trendiest team of the preseason but the biggest disappointment of the first four weeks. If Hundley keeps up this level of play, however, the Bruins are good enough to shirk their slow start and compete for a Pac-12 title and spot in the CFP.
Do not count this team out quite yet.
Second Team: Jacoby Brissett, N.C. State
32-48, 359 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT; 13 carries, 38 yards
His team lost for the first time this season, blowing a 24-7 lead against Florida State, but Jacoby Brissett was the breakout performer of Week 5. The Florida transfer was a Ben Roethlisberger clone against the Seminoles, creating plays with his legs despite average speed and threading passes into small windows. His second touchdown of the game was one of the best plays you will see all season.
Running Back
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Todd Gurley, Georgia
28 carries, 208 yards, 2 TD; 4 catches, 30 yards
Todd Gurley was at it again in Week 5, bailing Georgia out of a tough spot against Tennessee with his first career 200-yard game.
Proving once again that he's the best running back in America, Gurley did a little bit of everything, breaking one of his patented long runs (a 51-yard touchdown toward the start of the fourth quarter) but mostly doing work in smaller chunks between the tackles.
He also recorded his best highlight of the season, hurdling a defender to pick up 26 yards on his first carry after the long run. With Georgia's back against the ropes in a game it had to win, Gurley parlayed his biggest workload of 2014 into his best overall performance.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Second Team: Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
22 carries, 208 yards, 3 TD
Gurley and Ameer Abdullah were my All-America picks before Week 5. Suffice it to say that they both helped their cases. Abdullah matched Gurley's total with 208 rushing yards, and he needed six less carries to get there. Almost all of those yards (196) came in the first half, which is remarkable despite the state of Illinois' run defense.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Wide Receiver
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Nelson Spruce, Colorado
19 catches, 176 yards, 3 TD
Nelson Spruce did everything he could to will Colorado to a road win at Cal, ultimately falling short in overtime 59-56.
One week after setting a school record with 13 catches against Hawaii, Spruce one-upped himself by tying the Pac-12 record with 19 catches against the Bears. Per Kyle Bonagura of ESPN.com, no player from a power-five conference had caught 19 passes in a game since 2004.
For the season, Spruce now leads the nation with 56 catches and 694 yards, although that second number is inflated by having played five games. On a per-game basis, he is third behind Alabama's Amari Cooper and West Virginia's Kevin White, two probable All-Americans.
That is not a bad place to be.
Second Team: Will Fuller, Notre Dame
6 catches, 119 yards, 2 TD
Other players had better numbers, but no one came through at a pair of bigger moments than sophomore Will Fuller, who helped Notre Dame break away from Syracuse with touchdowns on consecutive plays in the second quarter. According to the school's Director of Football Media Relations, Michael Bertsch, Fuller is the first Irish receiver to catch a touchdown in the first four games of a season since Jeff Samardzija, who did it in his first eight games in 2005.
Tight End
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AJ Derby/Hunter Henry, Arkansas
7 catches, 94 yards, 1 TD*
Sophomore tight end Hunter Henry and his converted-from-quarterback partner AJ Derby were Arkansas' best players against Texas A&M.
The pair combined for almost 100 receiving yards and a touchdown and could have had even more if not for a holding penalty by Dan Skipper that negated what should have been a Henry touchdown.
More importantly, the Arkansas tight ends did their usual great work as blockers, helping pave the way for Alex Collins, Jonathan Williams and the rest of the backfield to rush for 285 yards on 41 carries.
According to Pro Football Focus, Henry and Derby both finished with a run-blocking grade higher than plus-2.0.
Second Team: Maxx Williams, Minnesota
4 catches, 51 yards, 1 TD
Maxx Williams began his Big Ten season in style, hauling in a one-handed circus catch and finishing with 51 yards and a touchdown. He also showed well as a blocker, staying in to help running back David Cobb gain 161 yards in the first half. Michigan is an easy punch line right now, but its defense is not the problem. Williams had his best game of the season against a quality opponent, no matter how you swing it.
*combined stats
Offensive Line
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OG Connor McGovern, Missouri
Connor McGovern started all 14 games of last season at right guard, but losses along the line forced him to start this year at tackle. That experiment did not go as well as hoped, however, so after last week's loss to Indiana, the Tigers moved him back to his natural spot.
That decision paid immediate dividends.
McGovern and center Evan Boehm paved the hole for Russell Hansbrough's 18-yard touchdown in the first quarter then later served as the key blockers on Hansbrough's game-winning one-yard touchdown run with two minutes to play in the fourth.
The latter play required McGovern to push the pile to help his running back break the plane, and he performed that job ably. It's not often that an offensive guard gets to make the game-winning play in a football game, but in this case, one could argue McGovern did.
OT Spencer Drango, Baylor
Iowa State's defense isn't great, but it's better than what Baylor played in its first three games. To wit, it gave left tackle Spencer Drango his best chance to prove he is recovered from offseason back surgery.
And that is precisely what Drango did, keeping Bryce Petty clean just as Baylor's offensive line has done the entire season (during which Petty has yet to be sacked). Erik Lambert of NFLMocks.com listed Drango as a prospect whose stock rose during Week 5.
Defensive End
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Shane Ray, Missouri
8 tackles (2 TFL), 2 sacks, 1 QB hurry
Missouri's offense went stale in the middle of Saturday's game, gaining just 69 yards during a stretch of roughly 40 minutes.
The Tigers hung around long enough to come back and win, though, because their defense played its best game of the year. And the player at the vanguard of that effort was, to little surprise, Shane Ray.
The junior defensive end had five sacks through four games and added two more against the Gamecocks, using his speed to blow past one of the best tackles in the SEC, Corey Robinson. With seven sacks on the year, he is tied for the national lead and already just 4.5 behind the school record set by Aldon Smith in 2009.
Ray also leads the nation with 11.5 tackles for loss through five games. That puts him on pace to register 27.5 during the regular season, one less than Aaron Donald had to lead the country in 2013.
Second Team: Trey Flowers, Arkansas
4 tackles, 2 pass breakups
The stats belie the impact Trey Flowers made against Texas A&M. He did not have a "four-tackle, two-pass-breakup" day (even though that is nothing to be ashamed of). Rather, he dominated the point of attack against two of the supposed best tackles in college football, Cedric Ogbuehi and Germain Ifedi.
It didn't always show up on the box score, but Flowers helped his NFL draft stock more than just about any player in Week 5 and almost led Arkansas to an upset win in the process.
Defensive Tackle
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Sheldon Day, Notre Dame
5 tackles (2 TFL), 1 QB hurry
Sheldon Day was the best player for a Notre Dame defensive line that (a) had a lot to prove against a decent Syracuse offense and (b) proved everything it needed to—and then some.
Irish fans have long been waiting for Day to play as well as he did against the Orange. He has the size (6'2", 285 lbs) and burst to be just as good as Louis Nix III and Stephon Tuitt (albeit in a slightly different role), but he has never been able to tie all those tools together.
Day had three tackles for loss against Pittsburgh last season but none in the two games before or three games after that. He looked just as good, if not better, against Syracuse, which makes it easy to say he's "turned the corner" but even easier to be dubious of that claim.
He'll be one of the deciding factors against Stanford next week.
Second Team: T.Y. McGill, NC State
3 tackles (2 TFL), 1 sack, 1 forced fumble
T.Y. McGill made the biggest defensive play of NC State's fast start against Florida State, fighting through a block to sack Jameis Winston, knock the ball loose and set up a Wolfpack touchdown. He added a second tackle for loss later in the game and constantly got the better of supposed All-American guard Tre' Jackson.
Outside Linebacker
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Su'a Cravens, USC
6 tackles (2 TFL), 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 TD
Su'a Cravens has taken well to his position switch, playing even better as an outside linebacker than he did as a (very good) safety.
Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com said Cravens "stole the show" against Oregon State, praising the sophomore's instincts and toughness. He also lauded the coaching staff for moving Cravens to linebacker, where his speed is considered an asset instead of average.
Cravens' pick-six in the first quarter was almost enough to outscore Oregon State for the game in a 35-10 win. If he continues flying around the ball as he did in Week 5—and if his replacements in the secondary continue playing well on the back end—this Trojans defense should be good enough to compete for a Pac-12 title.
(Game against Boston College be damned.)
Second Team: Peter Kalambayi, Stanford
6 tackles (3 TFL), 3 sacks
Peter Kalambayi was the best player on a Stanford defense that looks, once again, like it might be the best in the country. His three sacks were a big factor in holding Washington to 2.63 yards per play.
Fellow outside linebacker James Vaughters could have easily joined Kalambayi on this list, but the redshirt freshman did enough to earn his spot alone. Watching the Cardinal play Notre Dame next week should be a rare treat for fans of #MANBALL.
Inside Linebacker
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Cole Farrand, Maryland
19 tackles (1.5 TFL), 1 pass breakup
In some cases, big tackle numbers tell a deceptive story. Tennessee linebacker A.J. Johnson, for example, had 17 tackles in one of the worst games of his career against Georgia on Saturday. Had he played well, he easily could have had 20-25.
Maryland linebacker Cole Farrand, on the other hand, was exactly as good as his 19-tackle performance indicates. He might have been even better. The wild-haired senior was all over the field against Indiana, helping Randy Edsall's team win its Big Ten debut 37-15.
The Terps made a very good Indiana offense look bad in the blowout win, limiting running back Tevin Coleman (as best a defense can) and harrying quarterback Nate Sudfeld into a QB rating of 61.03.
Farrand had a big hand in all of that.
Second Team: Eric Kendricks, UCLA
10 tackles (2 TFL), 1 pass breakup
Eric Kendricks is the emotional leader of UCLA's defense, and his energy was contagious against Arizona State. His stats look great, but his impact was even more clear on tape, where he could be seen flying around the ball on running plays and covering well on passes. Between him and Myles Jack, the Bruins have two legitimate All-America candidates at linebacker. It's hard to tell which one is better.
Cornerback
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Ishmael Adams, UCLA
1 tackle, 1 pass breakup, 1 INT, 1 TD; 5 kick returns, 201 yards, 1 TD
Ishmael Adams scored a pair of long touchdowns against Arizona State—one on defense and one on special teams.
They couldn't have come at much better of times, either.
The first score was a 95-yard interception return at the tail end of the first half that ballooned UCLA's lead from three to 10. The second was a 100-yard touchdown after an Arizona State field goal in the third quarter that sealed the game by putting UCLA up 41-20.
Adams fared well in coverage, too, but his two game-breaking surges placed him on this list. Once the plays were made, things started to break down quickly for the Sun Devils.
Second Team: Daquawn Brown/Charleston White, Washington State
12 tackles (1 TFL), 3 pass breakups*
Daquawn Brown had nine tackles and Charleston White had three pass breakups in Washington State's upset win at Utah. Together, they combined to hold star receiver Dres Anderson without a catch and quarterback Travis Wilson to a QBR of 27. White also broke up a pass on the Utes' last-ditch fourth-down attempt to clinch the game.
*combined numbers
Safety
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Zach Hoffpauir, Stanford
2 tackles (1 TFL), 2 pass breakups
Zach Hoffpauir made his impact felt on defense, breaking up a couple of passes and blanketing Washington's receivers down the field. But it was special teams where he earned his spot on this list.
The junior safety snuffed out a fake punt midway through the fourth quarter, clogging the supposed hole and tackling Shaq Thompson for no gain. The turnover on downs set Stanford up with great field position, and it took advantage by marching 47 yards to score the game-winning touchdown on a run by quarterback Kevin Hogan.
Before the season, head coach David Shaw said Hoffpauir (along with linebacker Blake Martinez) was ready for an added role on defense because of time spent on special teams. "(They) are quick, explosive football players, and it’s prepared them for their roles now on defense," he told Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle.
But you can't take the special teams out of the dog.
Cody Prewitt, Ole Miss
4 tackles (1 TFL)
Someone from Ole Miss had to make the list after holding Memphis to 104 total yards and three points. Cody Prewitt gets the nod by proxy, representing the Rebels as the captain of a balanced team defense.
It's hard to find a weak spot in this unit, which held the Tigers—a team that scored 35 points at UCLA a couple weeks ago—to three or less plays on 11-of-15 possessions. Alabama's offense will have its hands full when it travels to Oxford next week.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
