Kirk Herbstreit reveals top-performing coaches from Week 11

With the season winding down, coaches are leading their teams into the final weeks of their respective campaigns. Now, after the latest weekend in college football, Kirk Herbstreit named his top eight coaches from Saturday’s action.

Herbstreit shared his newest list on Twitter on Monday. UCF’s Gus Malzahn led the way on the ranking while coaches from Michigan, Georgia, Missouri, Texas Tech, Arizona State, and Maryland also received nods.

Gus Malzahn – UCF Knights

The Golden Knights had a rough welcome to the Big 12, specifically against the conference’s original members. However, that stretch came to an end in impressive fashion as Malzahn led UCF to a 42-point blowout over Oklahoma State this weekend.

The ‘Pokes came to Orlando as one of the hottest teams in the nation. They then left in embarrassment after UCF posted nearly 600 yards of offense in the outing while also holding the Cowboys to just a field goal and forcing four turnovers.

Sherrone Moore & Ben Herbert – Michigan Wolverines

Moore found himself in as precarious a position as any coach in the nation has been in all season after the suspension of Jim Harbaugh. In a pivotal spot for Michigan, though, Moore helped lead the Wolverines to a nine-point victory on the road over Penn State.

Herbert, the associate head coach in Ann Arbor, played his role as well in what was an all around emotional performance and weekend for the maize and blue in Happy Valley.

Stacy Searels – Georgia Bulldogs

Several aspects of Georgia’s team often get a spotlight. Even so, Herbstreit used this pick to highlight the Bulldog’s offensive line coach in Searels.

The ‘Dawg’s held it down in the trenches in order for the offense to post 611 yards of offense against Ole Miss – 311 in the air and 300 on the ground. Add in the fact that a Rebel defense that posted nearly 3.5 sacks per game coming in finished with zero in Athens and it was a perfect day of protection from Searels’ guys.

Eli Drinkwitz – Missouri Tigers

In spots where many continue to doubt the Tigers, Drinkwitz and Mizzou continue to find ways to impress this fall. That includes this weekend in their latest victory, and eighth of the season, over Tennessee in a Top-15 matchup.

Missouri did it on both sides of the ball in order to take it by 29 in CoMo. The offense put up another 36 points and 530 yards. Meanwhile, their defense locked up the Volunteers for the lowest scoring output in Josh Heupel’s tenure on Rocky Top.

Joey McGuire – Texas Tech Red Raiders

McGuire is the first coach from Herbstreit’s list whose team didn’t win in blowout fashion. Texas Tech actually had to stave off a close call in the form of a near comeback by Kansas.

After the Red Raiders took a 13-0 lead in Lawrence, the Jayhawks scored 13 unanswered to tie it in the final seconds of the fourth. However, after getting the ball back with under 30 seconds to go, Texas Tech complete three passes to get in range, knock in the winning field goal, and get back to .500 on the season.

Kenny Dillingham – Arizona State Sun Devils

It has been a fairly long football season in Tempe with a lot of close misses on Arizona State’s resume. Even so, Dillingham’s squad has now won two in their last three attempts with the latest, a 17-7 win at UCLA, being the most impressive of their campaign.

Although the Bruins outgained them in a grinded out contest, the Sun Devils found a way to keep possession for a majority of the game and do enough in the end to secure the 10-point victory inside the Rose Bowl.

Mike Locksley – Maryland Terrapins

Maryland’s season had completely fallen apart over the past month with four consecutive losses on their record. Even so, the Terrapins finally responded by going to Lincoln and securing a 13-10 win over Nebraska.

With points being a premium in this one, the Terps helped their chances by forcing five turnovers from the ‘Huskers. None was more crucial than the interception, Maryland’s fourth of the game, within their own 10-yard line with under four minutes to go. That gave them the opportunity to drive down the field, knock in the winning field goal from 24 yards out, and end the losing streak for Locksley’s team.