Kirk Herbstreit reveals top performing players from Week 6
After an exciting Week 6, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit has revealed his top-performing players from this past weekend’s college football slate.
Listing nine players across seven programs, here’s who made his list this week:
Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma
Dillon Gabriel played like he was possessed during Saturday’s 34-30 win over Texas in the Red River Rivalry. He deserves his spot atop Herbreit’s list with his performance during the final drive, completing all of his passes for 56 yards. He capped the drive by throwing the game-winning touchdown to Nic Anderson with 15 seconds to go in regulation.
Gabriel contributed 398 total yards to Oklahoma’s offense on Saturday. He was the team’s leading rusher on the afternoon.
Jayden Daniels, LSU
Jayden Daniels might take the cake for the best performance on paper thanks to LSU‘s gutsy 49-39 against Missouri victory on the road. Daniels totaled 389 all-purpose yards and four total touchdowns while pulling off the come-from-behind win.
The week before, Daniels put up 414 passing yards, 99 rushing yards and five total touchdowns against Ole Miss in a losing effort. Since beginning SEC play, the offensive unit has scored 173 total points over their span of four conference games with an average of 43.3 points per outing.
No one has been able to slow down the LSU star through the first half of the 2023 college football season.
Jalen Milroe and Jermaine Burton, Alabama
Alabama escaped College Station with a 26-20 victory over Texas A&M thanks to the quarterback-wide receiver connection from Jalen Milroe and Jermaine Burton.
Burton was unstoppable out wide, hauling in nine receptions for 197 yards and two touchdowns during the win. Milroe totaled 321 passing yards with three touchdowns, meaning Burton accounted for 61.3 percent of Milroe’s passing yards and 67 percent of his touchdowns.
Carson Beck and Brock Bowers, Georgia
Georgia got back to what they do best on Saturdays — dominate its opposition.
The Bulldogs’ offense had its way with the Kentucky defense, which was spearheaded by quarterback Carson Beck, who had over 300 passing yards in the first half alone. He finished the game with 389 passing yards and four touchdowns. Star tight end Brock Bowers caught seven passes for 132 yards and a touchdown — most of which came on broken coverages and wide-open passes.
Trey Benson, Florida State
It took Trey Benson 11 attempts to reach the 200-yard mark against Virginia Tech on Saturday. His strong performance put some pressure off star quarterback Jordan Travis, who threw for 170 yards during the contest.
Florida State is 5-0 and the favorite to win the ACC at this point of the season, which means they’re the favorite to make the College Football Playoff out of any team in their conference. Having a strong passing game with Travis and a strong rushing game with Benson — FSU is rolling through six weeks of the 2023 season.
Josh Proctor, Ohio State
The only defender to make Herbstreit’s list for Week 6, Josh Proctor‘s interception return for a touchdown was the spark that Ohio State needed to get going and take down an upset-minded Maryland team 37-17.
Proctor finished the game with seven total tackles to go with his pick-six.
Malachi Corley, Western Kentucky
Malachi Corley had an even more impressive outing than Burton did for Alabama. Helping defeat Louisiana Tech 35-28, Corley was the difference-maker with eight receptions totaling 207 yards and three touchdowns to improve the Hilltoppers to 2-0 in Conference USA play this season.