Biggest Studs and Duds from College Football's Week 9

Every week presents a new opportunity for the young athletes of college football to shine. As the season wears on, the competition gets tougher for many and the stages get bigger. Certainly, there's more on the line for teams sitting inside the Top 25 or who are in the thick of conference races.

Michigan State came off their thrilling, last-second victory over Wisconsin to take on the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Nebraska. Texas A&M played host to Missouri, and Virginia Tech found themselves in a fiercer-than-expected battle with Duke.

Those are just a few of the early games that went on Saturday while Oklahoma, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Baylor highlight the afternoon games. The prime time matches get even better.

Who seized the day and shined in Week 9? Who fell flat?

We'll update our list of "Studs and Duds" as the day wears on. Keep it right here to see who had big days and who were big letdowns.

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Stud: Case Keenum, QB Houston

Stats: 24 of 37, 534 yards, 9 TD, 1 INT

Happy Hello! Yes, this was 2-6 Rice the Cougars were taking on, and nobody accused the Owl defense of being particularly staunch.

Still, with numbers like that, how can you possibly consider Keenum anything other than a Stud this week? Making those stats even more impressive is the fact that Keenum didn't even play the full game. He was pulled late in the game as the Cougars were relishing in their 73-34 lead.

Keenum has been a dark horse in the Heisman trophy race, but this performance should help his stock a little. At the very least, he made an awful lot of noise.

In the first half alone in this game, Keenum threw strikes of 57, 21, 64 and 18 yards. He averaged 14.4 yards per pass as he tore apart the Owl secondary in a tremendous display of passing proficiency.

Dud: Kirk Cousins, QB, Michigan State

Stats: 11 of 27, 86 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT

Cousins had a tremendous day last week against Wisconsin. He needed a repeat performance as his Spartans traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers.

He certainly didn't deliver.

Nebraska's pass defense had been rated in the bottom half of the Big Ten Conference, allowing 193 yards per game and giving up 11 touchdowns on the season. The "Black Shirts" have been something less than expected this year and have particularly been more than a little inconsistent against the pass.

This was a prime opportunity for Cousins to lead his team to a clear-cut lead in the Legends Division and potentially pad his stats a little in the process. Instead, he laid a huge egg, completing less than 50 percent of his passes for fewer than 100 yards and lobbed up that pick. He placed way too much pressure on his running backs.

As a result, the Spartans suffered a 3-24 loss, right after knocking off a top 10 team in the Badgers.

Stud: Fitzgerald Toussaint, RB, Michigan

Stats: 20 carries, 170 yards, 8.5 average, 2 TDs

Denard Robinson typically gets all of the attention at Michigan. Rightfully so, as he's usually the bulk of the Wolverine offense.

This week, Robinson's numbers were serviceable, but pedestrian by comparison to past performances.

Toussaint stepped up and took a ton of pressure off of Robinson with a 170-yard rushing performance. Purdue's run defense has been mid-pack of the Big Ten, allowing 145.29 yards-per-game on the ground. Incidentally, that's the same average Michigan's run defense allows, but Purdue's D couldn't answer the call against Toussaint today.

Michigan has been needing a solid runner to help alleviate some of the concentration being directed at Shoelace. Toussaint has been the go-to guy in that respect and has averaged over 10 yards per carry on the season.

This week, he showed again why he's so dangerous and why it's a mistake to zero in solely on Denard Robinson. He'll burn you the way he did in this fantastic performance against the Boilermakers.

Stud: Henry Josey, RB, Missouri

Stats: 20 carries, 162 yards, 8.1 average, 1 TD

QB James Franklin might ultimately get more attention for his four-touchdown performance while leading the Tigers to an overtime upset of No. 16 Texas A&M.

Franklin's performance was great, but Josey was the stud this week. The Aggies had been at the very top of the Big 12 conference against the run, allowing only 79.86 yards per game. Josey more than doubled that average all by his lonesome.

Perhaps more important than the stats are what Josey's performance meant in the Tigers' upset of A&M. His longest run of the day was a 43-yard scamper that illustrated his big play ability, but his durability in this contest and his relative consistency running the ball kept the Aggie defense very honest and opened the door for Franklin to have such a solid day of his own.

The Aggies not only couldn't stop Josey, they had to focus so much attention on containing him that Franklin was able to mix things up and burn the Aggies in overtime. The Tigers needed a huge showing from everyone to grab the big win, and they got it from Henry Josey.

Dud: Logan Thomas, QB, Virginia Tech

Stats: 17 of 28, 190 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT's

Duke isn't the best team in the ACC. They're not even close. In fact, the Blue Devils are near the bottom in the conference in terms of total defense, allowing almost 400 yards per game.

Against the pass, the Blue Devils are dead last in the ACC and allow an average of 264 yards per game, giving up 14 touchdowns and taking away only three interceptions prior to this game.

It should have been a career day for Thomas, who has done a pretty solid job of stepping into Tyrod Taylor's shoes as the Hokie QB. Instead, he completed less than half his passes, couldn't break 200 yards and threw nearly as many interceptions as Duke has managed all season long.

I realize, of course, that Virginia Tech doesn't rely that heavily on the pass. The yardage really isn't that big a cause for concern, as Thomas is arguably more dangerous with his legs than he is with his arm.

Thomas was just 40 yards shy of the Hokies' season average of 232 through the air, but those interceptions were costly. Virginia Tech struggled to put away Duke, winning by a score of 14-10. Luckily, RB David Wilson put up nearly 150 rushing yards to keep the Hokie offense from being a complete failure and staving off a horrible upset loss.

Dud: Texas A&M Defense

Stats: 482 total yards allowed, 284 rushing yards allowed, 5 touchdowns surrendered

It could probably be argued that the Aggie defense played reasonably well considering Mizzou averages 491 yards of offense per game and the Aggies held them short of that average. The Tigers also average roughly 4.3 touchdowns per game and A&M didn't allow them to bust through that average by much.

However, the Aggie defense could only generate one turnover and surrendered the biggest touchdown of the day in overtime, securing their 31-38 upset loss to Missouri. They allowed RB Henry Josey to run for 162 yards and for QB James Franklin to run for an additional 97 yards.

This unit has been haunted by second-half meltdowns, and this week was another nightmare situation, as they gave up 14 fourth-quarter points to erase a 28-17 lead and force overtime, where they ultimately surrendered another touchdown and lost.

Aggie fans have known all year that their defense has been less than stellar. This is no real surprise, but they needed a big performance from the defensive unit as they hung on to a No. 16 spot in the BCS standings.

They didn't get it, but instead watched another dudly performance strip away a big potential victory that will also drop them to 3-3 in Big 12 play.

Stud: Tino Sunseri, QB, Pitt

Stats: 29 of 42, 419 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT

I realize that Connecticut isn't the best defense in a relatively weak (and quickly folding) Big East, let alone in the nation. Still, the Huskies average 283.5 yards allowed through the air and are very opportunistic, picking up 10 interceptions on the year.

Sunseri decimated the Husky defense with his 419-yard performance.

Pitt has struggled this year to get anything consistently working for them. They're 4-4 on the year with tough losses to Iowa, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Utah.

They also recently lost RB Ray Graham to injury for the remainder of the season, crippling their offense. Graham has nearly 1,000 yards rushing and has accounted for nine Panther touchdowns.

Pitt needed someone to step up big and Sunseri took the offense on his shoulders and delivered a huge performance in a 35-20 victory.

Stud: Rex Burkhead, RB, Nebraska

Stats: 35 carries, 130 yards, 3.7 average, 2 rushing touchdowns, 1 catch, 27 yards, 1 receiving touchdown

The stats may not be jaw-dropping. Keep in mind that this was a fairly stout Spartan defense that Burkhead was operating against.

Still, it isn't necessarily the stats that make Burkhead a "stud" this week. Rather, his production was the driving force behind a 24-3 victory over Michigan State.

The Cornhuskers were able to control the clock, holding the ball for 31:25, chewing up yardage while they kept the Spartan defense off the field. Burkhead helped keep the chains moving and came up with some big plays to put Michigan State in a big hole.

Burkhead accounted for the only touchdowns in the entire game, pulling down three total scores.

Credit could (and should) be given also to the "blackshirt" defense that had been so hit-or-miss this year as they made Kirk Cousins look like a rookie walk-on. Certainly, holding the Spartans to just a field goal is a great accomplishment.

However, the offense wasn't necessarily that great overall. QB Taylor Martinez was largely ineffective, whether he was throwing or running.

Burkhead, however, carried the offense on his capable shoulders and provided a much-needed Husker win over a tough Big Ten opponent.

Studs: Northwestern Quarterbacks

Stats: Dan Persa—16 of 20, 261 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, Kain Colter—2 of 3, 38 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT

The quarterback situation at Northwestern has been a little shaky. Colter looked very exciting filling in for Persa early in the year while the veteran continued to recover from an Achilles injury dating back to last season.

However, as often happens with young players, Colter has had his share of mistakes and miscues.

Dan Persa returned full-time just a few weeks ago, but it became obvious early that this wasn't the same Dan Persa of a year ago. While his passing continues to be very good, he no longer is able to make the spectacular runs and cuts that made him such a threat in the past.

While that didn't necessarily change this week against a soft Indiana defense, both quarterbacks teamed up to deliver five touchdowns and a 78.2 completion percentage.

The Wildcats needed something truly positive as they've struggled through a 3-5 start to their season. These guys delivered with masterful performances that helped the Wildcats pick up that third win and post something positive on a disappointing season.

We also have to mention Drake Dunsmore here. He was the recipient of four of those touchdown passes and grabbed 112 yards on seven catches.

Come to think of it...maybe he should have been the "stud" here.

Duds: NC State Offense

Stats: 166 total yards, 130 yards passing, 36 yards rushing, shut out by Florida State.

Obviously, Florida State is not the easiest defense to try and pad your stats against. They allow only 19.3 points per game, 291 yards per game, 208 yards through the air and 82.8 yards on the ground.

However, NC State couldn't even come close to matching those average numbers. Their passing game went nowhere, as Mike Glennon passed for just 130 yards and had two interceptions.

The run game wasn't much better, with James Washington picking up just 35 yards, and the longest run of the day for the Wolfpack was only eight yards.

What makes all this worse is that NC State came into this game with the fourth best scoring offense in the conference. They've averaged over 31 points per game and have scored no fewer than 14 in any game this year.

This week, they dropped a big goose egg, as they rolled over for the Seminole defense.