Kirk Herbstreit reveals his top performing players from Week 9
ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit is back with another list of the week’s top performing players in college football following an electric week 9 of action. Herbstreit’s list this week is a unique one, featuring two defensive linemen and two quarterback/wide receiver duos along with four other top-tier individual performers from this weekend’s games.
Herbstreit’s list of top performing players from week 9 can be seen below.
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Kirk Herbstreit’s top performing players from Week 9:
Tuimoloau had a game-breaking performance this weekend for the Buckeyes and made about as strong of an impression on a football game as an edge rusher can. He ended the game with six tackles, two sacks, and three tackles for loss, but his biggest impact was on turnover plays. On their first defensive possession, Tuimoloau tipped a pass behind the line of scrimmage that was intercepted by Zach Harrison, then got an interception of his own on the very next drive. But he wasn’t done yet, later in the game he also forced and recovered a fumble, and had his second interception of the day that he took to the house for a 14-yard touchdown that helped secure the win over Penn State.
After a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Devin Leary and struggles from backup Jack Chambers, the Wolfpack gave the freshman MJ Morris his first career start and he did not disappoint. NC State found themselves down 21-3 in the third quarter to Virginia Tech, but Morris orchestrated a miraculous comeback, leading them to a 22-21 victory behind his 265 yards, 3 touchdowns, and zero interception performance.
QB Drake Maye/WR Antoine Green, North Carolina
The duo of Maye and Green were unstoppable this weekend in their game versus Pitt, as the freshman quarterback not only led the team in rushing with 61 yards on the ground, but completed 34 of his 44 pass attempts for 388 yards and five touchdowns. It was Maye’s third five-touchdown pass performance of the year, and two of them were thrown to Green, who also ended the game with 10 receptions for 180 yards.
QB Hendon Hooker/WR Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee
Another quarterback and receiver tandem that were used to seeing firing on all cylinders did it again this weekend. Hendon Hooker helped add to his Heisman campaign this weekend throwing for 245 yards and three touchdown passes while also rushing for a touchdown. 138 of those yards and two of those touchdown passes were hauled in by Hyatt, who’s second touchdown broke the Tennessee single season record, which now sits at 14 touchdown catches.
RB Zach Charbonnet, UCLA
Charbonnet had another monster performance this weekend, recording 198 yards on the ground and three touchdown rushes against Stanford on Saturday along with five catches for 61 yards in the air. Charbonnet has rushed for over 100 yards in all but one game this season for the Bruins, leading the Pac-12 in rushing with a 200-yard lead over the next running back.
Judkins was another running back and freshman that made a statement in week 9, and did so on his 19th birthday. He had his biggest workload of the season with 34 carries, but made the most of them rushing for 205 yards and a touchdown. His performance pushed him past the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season, a space that only six other running backs in the nation have reached through nine weeks of the season.
Nix has made multiple appearances on Herbstreit’s list this season, and put together yet another dazzling dual-threat performance this weekend. Nix threw for 412 yards and three touchdown passes against Colorado but didn’t stop there, also rushing for 59 yards and three more touchdowns on the ground.
McGuire played a crucial role in the Tiger’s upset victory over No. 25 South Carolina this weekend in an overall dominant performance by their defense. McGuire ended the night with three tackles for loss and two sacks, earning SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors and Missouri’s first back-to-back wins since November of last season.