Kirk Herbstreit names his top performing teams from Week 10

College GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit has named his top performing teams from Week 10 of college football. The week of action saw plenty of upsets and close finishes, and there were a lot of surprising performances.

Herbstreit’s top teams from Week 10

1. Purdue Boilermakers: With Michigan State climbing in the rankings, Purdue put an end to that. The Boilermakers came in and earned a huge 40-29 victory over the Spartans. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell (536 yards, three touchdowns) and receiver David Bell (11 receptions, 217 yards, one touchdown) had a monster day, thrashing the Michigan State defense. Purdue earned the weekend’s biggest upset and Herbstreit honors the Boilermakers as his top team from Week 10.

2. TCU Horned Frogs: TCU entered the weekend shortly after parting ways with longtime head coach Gary Patterson. The emotion might have spiked TCU, as they pulled off a big upset with a 30-28 win over Baylor. Quarterback Chandler Morris accounted for more than 500 total yards and three touchdowns in the win.

3. North Carolina Tar Heels: Defense was undoubtedly optional in Chapel Hill on Saturday, but UNC walked away with a 58-55 win over Wake Forest. Running back Ty Chandler rushed for 213 yards and four touchdowns, and quarterback Sam Howell rushed 21 times for 104 yards and two scores in addition to 216 yards and a touchdown through the air. UNC picked up a huge win, and in doing so likely eliminated the ACC from College Football Playoff contention.

4. Oklahoma State Cowboys: The Cowboys picked up their eighth win of the season in Week 10. Oklahoma State held West Virginia to just three points, shutting the Mountaineers out in the final three quarters. The Cowboys are now 8-1 on the season and 5-1 in the Big 12. Paired with Baylor’s loss, this was a big win for Oklahoma State.

5. Texas A&M Aggies: Not many expected a 20-3 final score between Texas A&M and Auburn. But the Aggies completely shut down Auburn’s offense, pulling away with a 20-3 victory. Texas A&M’s strong rushing attack again had a good day, as Isaiah Spiller had 112 yards and Devon Achane had 98. The Aggies’ big win earned them Week 10 honors as one of Herbstreit’s most impressive teams.

6. South Carolina Gamecocks: The biggest surprise of the weekend was South Carolina’s blowout win over Florida. Florida losing wasn’t all that surprising, but the fashion in which they did was shocking. South Carolina quarterback Jason Brown, in his first FBS start, did enough to lead the Gamecocks to a dominating victory. In doing so, the Florida program has been sent into a downward spiral.

7. Tennessee Volunteers: Tennessee and Kentucky played in another Week 10 high scoring shootout. The Vols walked away with a 45-42 win behind an explosive offensive performance. Kentucky out-possessed Tennessee by 30 minutes, but Tennessee had plenty of time to put up 45 points. Quarterback Hendon Hooker threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns in the win.

8. Illinois Fighting Illini: It wasn’t pretty, but Illinois earned a 14-6 victory over Minnesota. The Fighting Illini held Minnesota to just six points, and running back Chase Brown starred in the win. Brown had 32 carries for 147 yards in the win. Illinois only attempted ten passes, but it was enough to come away with a low scoring, eight point victory.

9. Arizona Wildcats: It wasn’t pretty, but Arizona picked up a 10-3 victory over Cal on Saturday. The win might not seem notable, but for Arizona it was. Arizona’s win in Week 10 was the program’s first win in over two years. The Wildcats were 0-8 coming into Week 10, went 0-5 last season and lost the final seven games of the 2019 season. Arizona’s 20 game losing streak is finally over.

10. UNLV Rebels: Like Arizona, UNLV also picked up their first win of the season after an 0-8 start. The Rebels came away with a 31-17 victory over New Mexico. UNLV went 0-6 last season, so Saturday’s win gave them their first win in over a year.