The College Football Week 13 All-Heart Team
Rivalry weekend is when the heart in college football seems to stand out the most.
Players will their way to victories with herculean efforts, refusing to go down or take a play off. Coaches and entire teams have to grind through the relentless cloud of hot seat talk—and even actual firings—in order to pull off one more big win over a rival opponent.
The Week 13 All-Heart team is a special one, as it features players who overcame benchings, slow starts, position changes and injuries in order to get the W. The honors also extended to a few coaches who rallied their programs on emotional nights.
Of course, defining heart in college football and then boiling down an entire weekend of important games into a short list of performances are difficult tasks.
Feel free to nominate your own All-Heart performances from Week 13 of the college football season in the comments below.
Alabama RB Derrick Henry
1 of 10
When faced with a tougher-than-expected test from rival Auburn inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, Alabama running back Derrick Henry just kept doing what he does best—absorbing punishment and churning out yards.
This time, though, he did it at an unbelievable level in order to give the Crimson Tide the Iron Bowl victory. Henry carried the ball a school-record 46 carries for 271 yards against the Tigers. With the running back depth behind him banged up and the passing attack not having a ton of success, Henry pulled off a superhero-like effort to get the win.
"I didn’t realize it because we didn’t have any long runs, but that shows how durable he is—and how strong he is to be able to pound it nonstop," Alabama quarterback Jake Coker said, per Bleacher Report's Christopher Walsh. "He’s like a machine."
On his 46th and final carry of the game, Henry somehow found an extra level, busting a fourth-down run for 25 yards and a touchdown. That score sealed the win for Alabama and kept his SEC-record streak of touchdowns intact.
Cal QB Jared Goff
2 of 10
Things didn't start well for Jared Goff on Saturday night against Arizona State. But the pro prospect at quarterback didn't let that keep him down for the entire game.
"Tonight you’ll have a chance to go out and have a great ending to this ballgame," Cal offensive coordinator Tony Franklin told Goff, per Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle. "You can make it turn the other way."
Goff threw for a school-record 542 yards and scored five touchdowns through the air as he rallied his Cal Golden Bears from a 27-10 halftime deficit to a 48-46 victory over the visiting Sun Devils. On the final drive of the game, Goff put the team on his back with 45 passing yards and this Houdini-esque escape from a sure sack:
"Jared Goff is quite good at the quarterback thing: pic.twitter.com/MBf2ZJs13K
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) November 29, 2015"
Goff setup a short game-winning field goal for teammate Matt Anderson, and Cal secured its first season above the .500 mark since 2011.
Cincinnati K Andrew Gantz
3 of 10
East Carolina might have thought a different ending was in store when Cincinnati kicker Andrew Gantz, who defeated the Pirates last season on a game-winning field goal, missed a rare extra-point attempt. He later missed a 44-yard field goal that would've given the Bearcats a late lead.
But the sophomore kicker told his teammates to give him another chance. He wouldn't let them down again.
"I went down and told [Cincinnati quarterback Gunner Kiel], 'You just try to get it down there, I'll pull it through for us,'" Gantz said, per Tom Groeschen of Cincinnati.com. "I knew I was going to make it. I don't think I've ever missed twice in a row in my whole college career, knock on wood."
Gantz was a man of his word, shaking off his earlier misses to knock down a 42-yarder in front of a rowdy Pirates crowd that gave the Bearcats a 19-16 victory over East Carolina away from home.
"Here it is! @gobearcatsfb wins on Andrew Gantz 42-yard Field Goal. https://t.co/GgXLoCyoRE
— American Football (@American_FB) November 28, 2015"
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Houston RB/CB Brandon Wilson
4 of 10
Coming off a disappointing first loss to UConn away from home and facing a growing amount of injuries at running back, Houston needed all hands on deck in order to knock off the Navy Midshipmen and win the American West division title.
The coaching staff for the Cougars moved Brandon Wilson, a starting cornerback, to running back for the first time in his career. According to Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle, Wilson only had three days of practice on offense—where he hadn't received any snaps since his high school days.
But it was hard to tell that inexperience from the way Wilson played Friday, as he ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns to put the Cougars over the Midshipmen, 52-31.
The roster shuffling worked beautifully for Houston head coach Tom Herman and his assistants, as the Cougars were able to both move the ball effectively and slow down Navy's option attack. Wilson's excellent play in a brand-new position made that happen.
Louisville QB Lamar Jackson
5 of 10
Louisville was already down 21-0 to hated rival Kentucky when freshman quarterback Lamar Jackson checked into the game in the first quarter on Saturday. When the game hit halftime, Jackson had led a touchdown drive, but had also thrown an interception, bring the score to 24-7 in favor of the Wildcats.
That didn't faze the young quarterback, who has had an up-and-down first season with the Cardinals. He led Louisville to 31 unanswered points in the second half, racking up 316 all-purpose yards and two more touchdowns in an incredible come-from-behind win.
"I kept the ball in our hands, kept moving the chains," Jackson said, via ESPN.com. "I used short-yardage throws, I never tried to make a big play fast. I just kept taking my time."
Jackson's composure and dual-threat ability made him impossible to stop for this Louisville offense, and the young star willed his team to its seventh win of the season—and the Cards' fifth in their final six games.
LSU HC Les Miles
6 of 10
Les Miles had quite a Thanksgiving week. After his LSU Tigers lost their third straight game last weekend, Miles was the subject of major hot seat talk. Reports came out Friday that he told a group of boosters Saturday would be his last game at LSU. (Those were later refuted.)
Through all those off-the-field distractions, the Tigers still had a game to play Saturday night against a Texas A&M team coming off a shutout victory. It wasn't always pretty, but LSU rallied around its head coach and a vocal crowd at Tiger Stadium to pull off a 19-7 win over the Aggies.
Fans inside Tiger Stadium chanted Miles' name and he was carried off the field to a standing ovation as time expired. Minutes later, LSU athletic director Joe Alleva—who had hung Miles out to dry without any public statement during the rumor wildfire earlier in the week—informed Miles he would remain the head coach in Baton Rouge.
As George Schroeder of USA Today wrote, Miles sounded worn out earlier in the week when having to prepare for a big SEC West game through all the rumors on his job security. On Saturday, he and his team pulled out an important win over a rival team, one that will keep him with the Bayou Bengals for the time being.
Stanford QB Kevin Hogan
7 of 10
Kevin Hogan saved his best performance inside Stanford Stadium for last, throwing as many touchdown passes as he had incompletions in a walk-off win over rival Notre Dame. With just seconds remaining on the clock Saturday night, he hit receiver Devon Cajuste for a 27-yard completion that setup a last-gasp field goal try from teammate Conrad Ukropina.
The kicker nailed the game-winner, and Hogan walked off his home field a winner one more time. According to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press (via CBS Sports), Hogan got emotional in the locker room after the hard-earned win as he remembered his late father, who died of cancer last year.
"Kevin did a great job of keeping all that at bay and just playing football," Stanford coach David Shaw said, per Dubow. "But at the end of the day, he was going to be emotional. I was emotional. He didn't play one of his best games against these guys last year and he played one of his best games tonight. I can't say how proud I am of him."
Hogan was able to stay focused in a high-pressure, back-and-forth contest and pull out an important victory for the school he and his late father both cheered for when he was young. That takes incredible heart.
Syracuse
8 of 10
The 2015 season has been a rough one on Syracuse. After winning the first three games of the season, the Orange lost eight straight, and head coach Scott Shafer was told he'd be fired after the season just a few days before the home finale against Boston College.
With one game left with their head coach, the Orange rallied to end the long losing skid and send Shafer out on top. The Syracuse defense, ranked near the bottom nationally in yards per game this season, only allowed Boston College to complete one pass Saturday.
The offense, needing to break a late tie with the Eagles, got into scoring range on the game's final drive against what was the best rush defense in all of college football. Cole Murphy hit a 35-yard field goal as time expired, and Shafer left the Carrier Dome field for the last time on the shoulders of his players.
"We were looking for a win. We accomplished the goal," wide receiver Steven Ishmael said, per John Kekis of the Associated Press. "It was really emotional. It was like a movie out there."
TCU QB Trevone Boykin and LB Ty Summers
9 of 10
Last year, Trevone Boykin was a Heisman candidate at quarterback for a playoff contender. Ty Summers was a 2-star linebacker who redshirted the season after an injury in his first career game. A year later, TCU needed both players to come up with big-time efforts in order to knock off rival Baylor in double overtime.
After missing a close loss to Oklahoma with an injury, Boykin played on a heavily taped ankle and led his offense in torrential rain against the Bears. It was far from his prettiest effort, but Boykin still came up with all three of TCU's offensive touchdowns in a 28-21 victory.
And when the Horned Frogs needed someone to stop Baylor and preserve the lead from Boykin's touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin, Summers came through with a fourth-down stop of Devin Chafin. The tackle was his 23rd of the game.
The rivalry game conditions were far from ideal for Boykin, Summers and the rest of the Horned Frogs, and their Big 12 championship hopes were already out the window. But they continued to grind it out and pick up a tremendous victory in front of their home fans.
Tulsa Defense
10 of 10
Tulsa entered the weekend with a 5-6 record, needing to knock off Tulane in order to make a bowl game in head coach Philip Montgomery's first season with the Golden Hurricane.
Those postseason dreams appeared dead with 7:40 left in regulation, when Tulane took a 34-24 lead. Tulsa rallied for a quick touchdown to make it 34-31—and then its defense pulled together for an unbelievable rally.
On Tulane's next play from scrimmage, Craig Suits picked off a pass and went 28 yards for a touchdown. Tulane responded by marching the ball all the way down into the Golden Hurricane red zone. With a little more than a minute left, Tulsa pulled off another incredible defensive touchdown, an 89-yard pick-six from tight end-turned-defensive end Kolton Shindelar.
"Great play by a former Blue Jay tonight https://t.co/6VYR0xtCfC
— Liberty Football (@JaysFootball) November 28, 2015"
The Tulsa defense's fourth-quarter scores gave the team a remarkable comeback victory and earned bowl eligibility for a program that had only won five games in the last two seasons combined. These Golden Hurricane defenders did whatever it took to win—twice.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
