Kirk Herbstreit reveals his top performing players from Week 4
ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit has revealed his top performing players after an exciting Week 4 of college football. Washington State leads off the list with two players in quarterback Cameron Ward and receiver Josh Kelly after its 38-35 win against Oregon State on Saturday.
The Cougars are one of three teams with multiple players on the list along with South Florida and Northwestern. The Bulls were second behind Washington State with the quarterback-receiver duo of Byrum Brown and Naiem Simmons.
A few defensive players also made the cut, including Utah defensive end Jonah Ellis and Florida State linebacker Kalen DeLoach. You can view Herbstreit’s full list of top performing players from Week 4 below.
1. QB Cameron Ward and WR Josh Kelly, Washington State
Ward threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went to Kelly, as the Cougars defeated their second ranked opponent in Week 4 against Oregon State. The receiver had eight catches for 159 yards in the win.
Ward currently ranks third among Pac-12 quarterbacks with 1,389 yards passing and 13 touchdowns with no interceptions. He tends to spread the ball fairly evenly among his receivers, but Kelly was clearly his favorite target on Saturday.
2. QB Byrum Brown and WR Naiem Simmons, South Florida
Brown threw for a career high 435 yards and accounted for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) as USF defeated Rice by a score of 42-29. His one-yard touchdown run gave the Bulls a 20-14 lead early in the third quarter.
After the Owls answered to take a 21-20 advantage, Brown connected with Simmons on a 49-yard score to regain the lead for good. That was one of eight catches on the day for the receiver who paced the team with 272 yards.
3. DE Jonah Elliss, Utah
Elliss had no trouble getting in the backfield against UCLA on Saturday as he finished with 10 tackles (five for loss) and 3.5 sacks. He was a big reason why the Utes held the Bruins to just nine yards rushing in a 14-7 win.
With that performance, Ellis now leads the FBS with 5.5 sacks on the season. Utah has been one of the top defensive teams early in the year, ranking sixth in points allowed per game (9.5) and ninth in yards allowed per game (263.8).
4. QB Jack Plummer, Louisville
Louisville is off to a 4-0 start after a 56-28 thrashing of Boston College on Saturday as Plummer had his best performance of the season. The Cal transfer completed 18-of-21 passes (85.7%) as he threw for 388 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.
Plummer led the Cardinals to touchdowns on their first seven drives of the game and had just one incompletion in the final three quarters as Louisville led 42-14 at halftime. He’ll look to carry over that momentum into a Week 5 matchup against NC State.
5. LB Kalen DeLoach, Florida State
DeLoach had one of the biggest plays in Saturday’s game against Clemson, landing a massive hit on quarterback Cade Klubnik late in the third quarter. Not only did he knock the ball loose, but he scooped it up and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 24.
That ended up being the last score of regulation as the game went to overtime, where the FSU defense got another stop to win 31-24. DeLoach finished the contest with seven tackles (one for loss) and a sack, and the Seminoles might have been facing a different outcome if not for his forced fumble.
6. LB Edgerrin Cooper, Texas A&M
The Aggies defensive terrorized the Auburn quarterback for seven sacks in a 27-10 win, two of which came from Cooper. The junior ended the day second on the team with eight tackles (three for loss) as A&M held the Tigers to just 56 yards passing and did not give up an offensive touchdown.
The dominant performance was on par with how Cooper has played so far this season as he leads the Aggies with 24 tackles and seven tackles for loss. Watch for him to continue to make an impact as A&M prepares for a rivalry game with Arkansas in Week 5.
7. QB Ben Bryant and WR Bryce Kirtz, Northwestern
The quarterback-receiver duo of Bryant and Kirtz rounds out Herbstreit’s top performing players from Week 4. They both came up big down the stretch as the Wildcats scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to force overtime, where they won 37-34.
Bryant finished the day with 396 yards and four touchdowns, of which 215 yards and two scores went to Kirtz, who set a career high. With two wins this season, Northwestern has already surpassed its total from last year.