The College Football Week 11 All-Heart Team
It takes heart to survive the grueling month of November in college football.
Several teams learned that firsthand last Saturday in what turned out to be a day of survival for several ranked programs. One had to get an all-time performance from its determined quarterback to pull off a win. Another needed a ferocious comeback sparked by its former starting signal-caller, and yet another needed to turn to the bench when a disastrous loss seemed to be in the cards.
A few defenses put their collective hearts on full display with narrow wins—some with title implications, others with pure pride on the line. An entire team showed what it was made of with a tight win after one of the most eventful weeks a program could ever experience.
Here is the Week 11 All-Heart team made up of players and units that had the biggest game-defining performances in victories this past weekend.
Of course, limiting an entire weekend of heart-filled performances to just a handful of names means some didn't get the extra spotlight this week. Tell us who you think showed the most heart in the comments below.
Arizona State LB Antonio Longino
1 of 10
Antonio Longino wasn't even supposed to play Saturday. According to Vince Marotta of ArizonaSports.com, the Arizona State senior linebacker was only able to take four practice reps prior to Saturday's home game against the Washington Huskies because of a hamstring injury.
But after getting repeatedly gashed by the Huskies and allowing a 17-0 lead, a banged-up Arizona State defense needed Longino. And did he ever produce. Longino had seven tackles—four for a loss—two sacks and a pass breakup as the Sun Devils rallied to pull off a 27-17 win that snapped a three-game losing skid.
"He had tears in his eyes in the first half," Arizona State head coach Todd Graham said, per Marotta. "He was bringing it. He was inspiring his teammates. It wasn’t going very well and that’s about as uncomfortable as I’ve been in a game since I’ve been here. ... I was really proud of him."
Longino had the second-best game of his career while playing on a bad wheel, and he pushed Arizona State to a second-half shutout in a win it desperately needed. That takes tremendous heart.
Houston QB Kyle Postma
2 of 10
Kyle Postma probably didn't expect to hear his name called Saturday night in undefeated Houston's huge conference matchup at home against Memphis. The quarterback in front of him, Greg Ward Jr., is in the midst of a fantastic dual-threat season for the Cougars.
But Ward Jr. went down with an injury shortly after his team fell behind 20-0 to Memphis, and Postma needed to keep Houston afloat. He did just that, coming off the bench to throw a dime of a touchdown pass on his first drive.
In the second half, he found his rhythm, and the Cougars rallied to pull off a 35-34 victory. Postma tied the game with a seven-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes left, and Houston was able to move ahead to 10-0 on the ensuing extra point and defensive stand.
"Gutsy. He's a pretty unflappable kid," Houston head coach Tom Herman said, per Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated. "We talk about unit pride and competitive focus. Competitive focus meaning that when your number is called, you are prepared. When your number is called, you won't let your brothers down."
Louisville WR James Quick
3 of 10
Louisville wide receiver James Quick had a game-changing moment on a punt return against Virginia last year, fumbling the ball away to the Cavaliers to set up a winning field goal.
On Saturday, Quick was on the other side of that equation in the fourth quarter of a tie game. Gunning down the field to cover a punt, Quick hit Virginia's Olamide Zaccheaus at what appeared to be the perfect time, forcing the ball loose. Louisville would recover and get a game-winning touchdown a couple of plays later.
"WATCH James Quick (@Uno1Siete7) With The Game-Changing Hit On The Punt, Stacy Thomas (@diosprimero32) Recovers #L1C4 pic.twitter.com/qdrQfT3nmO
— Louisville Fan Base (@UofLFanBASE) November 14, 2015"
"It was a great job of hustling down the field," Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino said, per Steve Jones of the Courier-Journal. "It was great hustle. It was a very well-punted ball, and James was just going as hard as he possibly could go. When you go hard and you play fast, good things happen."
While the hit came close to being interference—although the old "halo rule" no longer exists in college football—Quick flipped the script on Virginia from what happened to him last season. That excellent hustle play led the Cardinals to an all-important sixth win, 38-31.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Michigan QB Jake Rudock
4 of 10
Jake Rudock hasn't been the most polished passer for Michigan this season, but there's no denying the senior quarterback has been head coach Jim Harbaugh's poster child for playing with a ton of heart.
That heart was on full display Saturday against Indiana, when Rudock chunked the ball all over the field for 440 yards and six touchdowns in the Wolverines' two-overtime victory over the Hoosiers in Bloomington.
Rudock led Michigan, which didn't get the usual amount of support from its defense, to a eight-play, 66-yard touchdown drive at the end of regulation. He found Jehu Chesson in the end zone on 4th-and-goal from the 5-yard line as time expired.
"In September, Rudock had moments where he looked like a liability," Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com wrote. "In October, he looked like a game manager. But not much more. Now? Rudock's playing like a warrior. The best football of his life, on the biggest stage of his career with everything on the line and no margin for error."
Rudock did everything in his power to will his Wolverines to a victory, one that kept them alive in the race for the Big Ten East Division. With two touchdown passes on three overtime plays, he put the team on his back and launched it to a huge 48-41 win.
Missouri
5 of 10
Missouri ended a trying and emotional week Saturday in celebration, as the Tigers knocked off BYU by a score of 20-16 inside Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.
Earlier in the week, there were doubts the game would even be played, as the football team played a significant role in a large student protest against school president Tim Wolfe. Missouri players announced last weekend they wouldn't participate in football activities until Wolfe resigned, which he did on Nov. 9.
Then, a few days later, during their preparations for the BYU game, those players learned head coach Gary Pinkel would be resigning because of health reasons at the end of the season. Playing with tons of emotion after a difficult week, Missouri snapped its four-game losing streak and moved one step closer to bowl eligibility.
"What they went through last week, just to be able to pull together as a team says so much about those kids," Pinkel said, per Yahoo Sports. "It's been a battle and they're a very good football team we beat, so I feel very, very fortunate. Those guys mean so much to me."
Northwestern QB Clayton Thorson
6 of 10
A quick look at the box score from the Purdue-Northwestern game Saturday shows that Wildcats quarterback Clayton Thorson didn't have a good game. Thorson went 9-of-19 passing for 82 yards and one interception, and he was benched midway through the game.
But Thorson had a chance to redeem himself in the fourth quarter, and his play on the Wildcats' second-to-last drive allowed Northwestern to escape with a 21-14 win over the Boilermakers.
Despite his less than stellar overall performance, Thorson converted a pair of huge third-down plays—a pass to Austin Carr and an 16-yard scramble on a play where the Wildcats needed at least 14—and put Northwestern into scoring position. Thorson handed the ball off to Justin Jackson to cap the 12-play, 58-yard touchdown drive for the win.
Thorson's line won't win him many player-of-the-game awards, but he refused to stay down, even after getting pulled during the middle of the game. He got his second chance and took full advantage of it, coming up with a few big plays when his Wildcats needed them the most.
Oklahoma State QB J.W. Walsh
7 of 10
J.W. Walsh is no longer the starting quarterback at Oklahoma State, but the undefeated Cowboys have needed him to come up with big plays off the bench time and time again this season.
His biggest impact of the season may have come Saturday against Iowa State, when Oklahoma State rallied from 17 down on the road to keep its perfect record and surprise playoff push intact. He scored all three of Oklahoma State's second-half touchdowns to pull off the comeback.
"The Oklahoma State senior converted a 4th-and-1 with a three-yard plunge that keyed the Cowboys' scoring drive, which he finished with a touchdown dive, to open the third quarter," Jake Trotter of ESPN.com wrote. "Then he capped off both fourth-quarter scoring possessions, with a 16-yard touchdown scamper and a 7-yard swing pass. Bottom line, Oklahoma State would not be 10-0 without its backup QB."
Walsh has excelled in his role this season for Oklahoma State, and his refusal to go down on clutch runs has keyed important drives for the Cowboys through the first 10 games of the season. The senior does whatever it takes to make sure his team gets the W week in and week out.
Oregon LB Joe Walker
8 of 10
Oregon's upset of playoff hopeful and Pac-12 North rival Stanford on Saturday night went all the way down to the wire. After Stanford scored with 10 seconds left to make it 38-36, the Cardinal were just a two-point conversion away from sending the game into overtime.
But Joe Walker had other ideas. The inside linebacker slapped away Kevin Hogan's pass toward the end zone, adding the biggest play of the night to the 10 tackles he had already come up with for a resilient Ducks defense that forced three turnovers.
"Oregon bends but doesn't break! They stop the 2-point conversion with :10 left to upset Stanford! #OREvsSTAN https://t.co/4QRAXuFxhf
— XFINITY Sports (@XFINITYSports) November 15, 2015"
"I might have touched it a little bit," Walker said, per Wire Reports (via the Los Angeles Times). "Just a little finger."
It might have been from a little finger, but the play featured a big amount of heart. Walker's denial of Stanford gave Oregon a sweet revenge victory and kept its hopes in the division race alive.
TCU Defense
9 of 10
TCU was in a bad spot Saturday afternoon. The former No. 2 team in the nation was tied at halftime with winless Kansas, and one of the biggest upsets in the history of college football didn't look out of the question after star quarterback Trevone Boykin went out with an injury.
But TCU's defense, a banged-up unit that had been bailed out on several occasions this season by Boykin and the high-powered offense, prevented catastrophe with a big-time effort after halftime.
The Horned Frogs forced five straight three-and-outs of the Jayhawks to open the second half, and they buckled down once more after Kansas cut its lead to six points on a fourth-quarter touchdown. TCU forced another three-and-out, a quick interception and a fourth-down sack to hang on to the narrow home win, 23-17.
Yes, TCU shouldn't have been in that situation against a 46-point underdog, but this was a Kansas team that had belief it could do the unthinkable after playing the Horned Frogs close each of the last three seasons. Head coach Gary Patterson's defense has had a rough go of it this season, but it kept TCU in the race for the Big 12 title.
Vanderbilt Defense
10 of 10
Vanderbilt might not make a bowl game this season, but it can definitely point to 2015 as a year when it moved forward as a program under head coach Derek Mason. The former Stanford defensive coordinator now has two SEC wins this season with the Commodores thanks in large part to a stifling defense.
That defense prevented Kentucky from scoring points and even put a few of its own on the board Saturday in a 21-17 victory over the Wildcats. Vanderbilt stopped Kentucky deep in its own territory twice with a goal-line stand on fourth down and an interception in the end zone from Oren Burks.
"Those guys have been great all year long at just being able to try to stand up and anchor down," Mason said, per the Associated Press. "That's who we are. That's what we want to be at Vanderbilt."
Later in the second quarter, Burks picked off another pass and took it 30 yards for a touchdown. Two goal-line stands, an important defensive score and a fourth-quarter shutout were more than enough to put these overachieving Commodores on the All-Heart team this week.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
