College Football's All-Week 11 Team: Top Performers at Every Position
Week 11 was a show-this-off-to-your-friends type of week, a slate that was just as good as the chaos-filled Week 6.
This time, however, we were assured of that going in. Two games featured opponents from the College Football Playoff Top 10, and three more featured opponents from the Top 17. Nearly 60 percent of the Top 17 was playing each other.
With so many important games on the schedule, there was more opportunity than usual for players to prove their worth against the best competition/on the biggest stage. In these games in particular (but not unanimously), we found our All-Week 11 performers.
Before we proceed, a weekly reminder that the All-Week team does not use stats as a concrete metric. Raw numbers are weighed against level of competition and how the players looked. Stats were taken into strong account but not used as an absolute yardstick.
They are not always indicative of who played best.
First-Team Quarterback
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J.T. Barrett, Ohio State
16-of-26, 300 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT; 14 carries, 86 yards, 2 TD
J.T. Barrett did what Braxton Miller couldn't last year: beat Michigan State. And he did it in impeccable fashion.
The Spartans defense is not what it was in 2013, but it is still one of the 20 best in the country. And East Lansing is not an easy place to play. But Barrett kept his wits about him, at one point orchestrating six consecutive touchdown drives and seven in an eight-possession span.
"That guy made about every pass he could," said MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi. "… He didn't throw off the mark at all, and those guys were ready to make the catch. That goes to having a guy who throws the ball where it needs to be thrown.
"He is a heck of a quarterback."
Second-Team Quarterback
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Kyle Allen, Texas A&M
19-of-29, 277 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
Kyle Allen rebounded from a poor first start against Louisiana-Monroe to stage one of the most shocking results of the season.
The true freshman led Texas A&M to a 41-38 win over Auburn on the Plains, crippling the Tigers' playoff chances the same way Auburn crippled the Aggies' BCS chances in 2013. It was an unexpected departure from the Allen who struggled against UL-Monroe and the A&M team that lost 59-0 at Alabama in its previous SEC game.
Allen was named the Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week.
First-Team Running Back
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Aaron Green, TCU
18 carries, 171 yards, 1 TD
Aaron Green made the absence of B.J. Catalon negligible, toasting Kansas State for close to nine yards per carry on 18 attempts.
He did it with style points, too. Those engrossed by the Alabama-LSU or Ohio State-Michigan State games missed one of the absolute best runs of the season, a wending 65-yard touchdown that gave TCU a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter.
Even Johnny Football was impressed.
"I feel like all my life I've been a creative runner," Green said of the highlight-worthy play. "It's like a video game where I do whatever comes to mind with whatever I see. I just trust my eyes and sometimes that can get you into trouble. Luckily today I got the right read and my offensive line blocked wonderfully."
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Second-Team Running Back
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Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
25 carries, 205 yards, 1 TD; 3 receptions, 44 yards, 1 TD
Melvin Gordon rushed for a ho-hum 205 yards at Purdue, topping the 200-yard mark for the third time this season.
More than that, he answered one of the few questions about his game by catching three passes for 44 yards and a touchdown. The TD grab was a hurdling effort that will end up on Gordon's Heisman reel.
Speaking of the Heisman, Gordon leads the country with 1,501 rushing yards and is No. 2 with 19 touchdowns. He and Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah will play next week in a game that might decide which rusher (if not both) gets the invite to New York.
First-Team Wide Receiver
5 of 22Corey Coleman, Baylor
15 receptions, 224 yards, 1 TD; 2 carries, 7 yards, 1 TD
Corey Coleman did a little bit of everything against Oklahoma, functioning primarily as a possession receiver (15 receptions) but also stretching the field (three catches of 30-plus yards) and even making plays out of the backfield (a five-yard touchdown run).
Playing next to Antwan Goodley and KD Cannon—a pair of receivers who have also flashed No. 1 potential—Coleman made Oklahoma pay for affording him space off the line. His 33-yard touchdown in the second quarter sparked a run of 45 unanswered Baylor points.
Having now caught a touchdown in each of his six games this season, Coleman owns the longest active streak in FBS, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Second-Team Wide Receiver
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Tyler Lockett, Kansas State
11 receptions, 196 yards, 1 TD
Kansas State was overmatched at TCU, but its best player, Tyler Lockett, did everything in his power to keep things close.
In the process of gaining 196 receiving yards, Lockett set the all-time Kansas State record with 3,073 for his career. The mark he broke was held, until yesterday, by his father, Kevin.
"My dad says if anyone is going to break it he wants his son to break it," Lockett said after the loss, per Kellis Robinett of The Kansas City Star. "It would have been a lot better had we won the game."
Lockett also finished with 75 kick-return yards on three attempts and had what appeared to be a touchdown called back by a penalty.
First-Team Tight End
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Maxx Williams, Minnesota
5 receptions, 46 yards, 3 TD
Maxx Williams appears to have had a strong game on paper.
It was at least five times better on film.
The 6'4" sophomore dragged his foot impossibly along the sideline for a highlight-reel catch in the first half before repeating the feat, near-identically, along the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
"Maxx Williams has the ability and potential to be the best tight end in Minnesota Gopher history," texted former Minnesota tight end Ben Utecht, per Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
To be honest, though…he already is.
Second-Team Tight End
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Jimmay Mundine, Kansas
6 receptions, 75 yards, 1 TD
Kansas saw a matchup advantage with tight end Jimmay Mundine, targeting him on its first two passes of the game. Mundine caught both for 11 and eight yards, respectively, gaining a first down on each.
Gaining a first down would be a common refrain for Mundine, who moved the sticks on all six of his catches. The highlights were a 20-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-6 in the red zone and a 16-yard gain on 3rd-and-15 toward the end of the third quarter.
Tear down the city, Jayhawks. You've earned this.
First-Team Offensive Line
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Ohio State
It wasn't all J.T. Barrett leading Ohio State to 49 points in East Lansing. In some ways, starting with Barrett was burying the lede.
Because the biggest story of Saturday was not the way Ohio State's quarterback carved up Michigan's State's secondary. It was the way Ohio State's offensive line manhandled Michigan State's front seven.
The Buckeyes entered first in the nation in opportunity rate (the percentage of runs that gain at least five yards) but the Spartans entered first in the nation in opportunity-rate allowed, per Bill Connelly of SB Nation. A meeting of the two best down-by-down run units in the country was supposed to be a close, 12-round fight.
Instead, the Buckeyes dominated the trenches, gaining yards in big chunks whenever it seemed they needed to. They scored touchdowns on six consecutive drives and seven in an eight-drive span.
They made Michigan State look like Michigan-minus-the-State.
(I guess that explains this Freudian slip.)
Second-Team Offensive Line
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UCLA
UCLA's offensive line is an easy group to pick fun at. It fails with great regularity at keeping Brett Hundley on his feet, leading to one of the highest sack rates in the country over the past 2.5 years.
But the Bruins came to play against a very good Washington pass rush, limiting the Huskies to one sack in a 44-30 win. The sack in question was logged by FBS sack leader Hau'oli Kikaha (a forgivable opponent to get beaten by) and came on the first drive of the game.
For the subsequent 58 minutes, UCLA kept Hundley's back clean.
First-Team Defensive End
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Cedric Reed, Texas
12 tackles (4 TFL), 3 sacks, 1 QB hurry, 1 forced fumble
Cedric Reed has not had the season many expected filling in for Jackson Jeffcoat as the lead pass-rusher on Texas' defense.
But for 60 minutes, he was the best player on the team.
The 6'6" junior was hard to miss all game but did his biggest damage in the fourth quarter. He sacked Clint Trickett for a safety when the score was 24-10 then forced a turnover with a strip-sack the following possession.
"It was just fun watching Ced Reed finally come alive tonight," Texas head coach Charlie Strong said after the game. "It was amazing to watch him, the plays that he made."
"Everybody knew it was in him," echoed linebacker Jordan Hicks. "We've been waiting for it to come out."
Athlon Sports named Reed its National Defensive Player of the Week.
Second-Team Defensive End
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Frank Clark, Michigan
8 tackles (2.5 TFL), 1.5 sacks, 2 pass breakups
Frank Clark was everywhere against Northwestern, leading a Michigan defense that allowed just three points in the first 59 minutes.
But his biggest contribution came after Northwestern's first touchdown, when he pressured Trevor Siemien into slipping on the two-point conversion. The Wildcats dialed up a throwback pass that would have given them an 11-10 win had it worked.
Earlier in the game, Clark forced an interception with a tipped pass.
First-Team Defensive Tackle
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Michael Bennett, Ohio State
4 tackles (2 TFL), 1 sack, 1 pass breakup, 1 forced fumble
Michael Bennett was a force in the middle of Ohio State's defense, doing his best work as a pass-rusher in the A-gap.
He forced a fumble (that Michigan State recovered) in the first half and sacked Connor Cook on a pivotal 1st-and-10 toward the end of the third quarter that helped shift the outcome of the game. Sparty gained 11 yards on the next play, a 2nd-and-16, but failed to convert on 3rd- and 4th-and-5 and gave the ball back to OSU.
The Buckeyes led by 11 at the time of the sack and marched down the field to go up 42-24 soon after. The final box score was not indicative of how well Ohio State's defense played, and Bennett, along with partner-in-crime Joey Bosa, was its most important player.
Second-Team Defensive Tackle
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Sheldon Rankins, Louisville
6 tackles (3 TFL), 1.5 sacks
Sheldon Rankins controlled the middle of the line against Boston College, helping Louisville to a 38-19 win in Chestnut Hill.
The Cardinals defensive front proved it could survive without its star, Lorenzo Mauldin, and Rankins was (literally) the biggest reason why.
He ended one second-quarter drive with a sack of Tyler Murphy and later intercepted Murphy on a 4th-and-goal from inside the five.
First-Team Outside Linebacker
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Vince Biegel, Wisconsin
7 tackles (4 TFL), 3 sacks, 1 pass breakup
Wisconsin's young defense continued to improve after a rough start to the season, holding an underrated Purdue offense to 16 points.
At the heart of the Badgers' effort was outside linebacker Vince Biegel, who recorded all three of his sacks in the second half, including two on the same crucial possession. He knocked Purdue into a 2nd-and-15 on first down and a 4th-and-25 on third down, forcing the Boilermakers to punt and setting up a clock-eating, 45-yards-in-13-plays drive.
(Side note: That was the most #B1G sentence ever typed.)
Second-Team Outside Linebacker
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Reggie Ragland, Alabama
13 tackles (1 TFL)
Reggie Ragland led Alabama with 13 tackles against LSU, holding up against a Tigers offense that was hellbent on establishing the run (and doing so with a broken hand to boot).
The Crimson Tide entered No. 5 in the SEC with 4.3 yards allowed per run between the tackles, per ESPN Stats & Info, but they held LSU to 2.5 yards per carry on its 41 between-the-tackles attempts.
Ragland and Brandon Ivory combined to stop Terrance Magee for no gain on the first play after T.J. Yeldon's costly fourth-quarter fumble, setting the tone for a defensive stand in which 1st-and-goal turned into a 39-yard field goal and eventually a trip to overtime.
No comment on the play in which he got depantsed.
First-Team Inside Linebacker
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Bryce Hager, Baylor
10 tackles (1 TFL), 1 INT
Baylor was 9-0 before Bryce Hager's hamstring forced him out of the lineup last season. It has won 21 of his 22 games played.
On Saturday, it became clear why.
Hager had 10 tackles and a critical interception against the Sooners, the latter of which he returned to the opposing goal line in the second quarter. Devin Chafin scored on the following play to give the Bears their first lead (in what would become a blowout), 17-14.
"One hundred percent," said Baylor head coach Art Briles of the momentum change after Hager's interception. "You have to make plays like that to make a difference."
Baylor won in Norman for the first time in program history.
Second-Team Inside Linebacker
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Eric Kendricks, UCLA
13 tackles
Not a huge week for inside linebackers, so allow us this quick second to recognize Eric Kendricks. He deserves it.
The brother of former Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and current Philadelphia Eagle Mychal Kendricks is on track to become the second high-round draft pick in the family, proving as much for the umpteenth time in a 41-30 win at Washington. The younger Kendricks finished with 13 tackles and one death-dealing hit on Cyler Miles.
The Maxwell Club did not name Kendricks one of 20 semifinalists for the Bednarik Award, per JJ Stankevitz of College Football Talk. To call Kendricks a "snub" would be reductive—who on that list does not deserve to be there?—but it felt that way nonetheless.
But isn't this a decent consolation!
First-Team Cornerback
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Lloyd Carrington, Arizona State
8 tackles (1 TFL), 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 INT (TD)
Lloyd Carrington barely missed a chance to force a turnover on the first drive of the game, sacking Everett Golson and jarring the ball loose before a Notre Dame offensive lineman leapt on top of it. The Irish kicked a field goal to take a 3-0 lead two plays later.
But Carrington did not miss his chance to force a turnover on one of the later drives, intercepting a deflected Golson pass and returning it for a touchdown. The pick-six extended a 41-31 lead (that had only recently been 34-31) into an insurmountable 17-point spread.
Big plays are the M.O. of Arizona State's defense, which forced five turnovers in the eventual 55-31 win. The Sun Devils are officially a "contender" instead of a "dark horse" to make the playoff.
Second-Team Cornerback
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JaCorey Shepherd, Kansas
5 tackles, 5 pass breakups, 1 INT
Two Kansas players? On a list of the week's best performers? Without even a shred of hateful sarcasm?
It was that kind of week in Lawrence.
Cornerback JaCorey Shepherd was sublime against Iowa State, breaking up five passes and intercepting a sixth. The Cyclones came out wanting to test him, saw that it wasn't working, continued to test him, continued to see that it wasn't working, ad nauseam.
Outside linebacker Victor Simmons also flirted with making this list (at a much more competitive position). The Jayhawks haven't been good since firing Charlie Weis…but they have been a whole lot better.
First-Team Safety
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Gerod Holliman, Louisville
4 tackles (1 TFL), 1 pass breakup, 3 INT
Gerod Holliman is on pace to torch the NCAA record book. He intercepted his Nos. 11, 12 and 13 passes of the season against Boston College, inflating what was already the highest total in the country.
Al Worley of Washington set the FBS record for interceptions in a single season with 14 in 1968. Holliman needs one more to tie and two more to break that mark with three games left to play.
His 13 interceptions are more than 111 FBS teams (!!!).
Second-Team Safety
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Landon Feichter, Purdue
12 tackles, 1 pass breakup, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT
Landon Feichter gave Purdue a fighting chance to beat Wisconsin, finishing with 12 tackles and factoring in a pair of turnovers.
He stripped fellow All-Week second-teamer Melvin Gordon on the first drive of the second half to set up a Boilermakers field goal and later intercepted a 3rd-and-2 pass from Joel Stave to prevent Wisconsin from extending a 24-16 lead any further (for the time being).
More important than that, he earned the praise of Bleacher Report's secondary connoisseur Michael Felder, who crowed about Feichter's tackling and called him a "really sound good ball player."
Now he knows he's made the big time.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
