Kirk Herbstreit gives his top performers of Week 2

20200517_134556by:Justin Rudolph•09/14/21

After Week Two of the college football season, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit has broken down the game film and released his list of the top performers for Week Two. Herbstreit’s list has a total of six slots with seven players. Here is how they stack up.

6. Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB Kentucky

The Kentucky Wildcats beat SEC East rival Missouri behind the strong rushing performance from Rodriguez. Rodriguez finish the game with 206 yards rushing on 27 carries and had three of the team’s five total touchdowns. He finished with more rushing yards than the Wildcats had passing — 179. Rodriguez scored Kentucky’s only two touchdowns of the second half. None bigger than the eight-yard run he had in the fourth quarter to give the Wildcats the led and ultimately win the game. Kentucky won the game 35-28.

5. Stetson Bennett, QB Georgia

Georgia hosted the UAB Blazers this Saturday. This is a game the Bulldogs were expected to win convincingly and that is exactly what they did with Bennett leading the way. Bennett finished the game with 288 yards passing and five passing touchdowns. What was impressive about this performance is he did this on just 12 attempts, completing 10 of them, and had zero interceptions. Bennett was starting the game in place of injured quarterback JT Daniels. Bennett was pulled midway through the third quarter after the game was well out of reach with the Bulldogs leading 42-0. They went on to win the game 56-7.

4. Matt Hankins, CB Iowa

Hankins led the Hawkeyes to a 27-17 victory in a top-10 battle against in-state rival Iowa State. He played solid defense from the cornerback position making four solo tackles with one pass deflection. His biggest contribution to the game would be the two interceptions he had on the Cyclones quarterback Brock Purdy. His second interception was key to Iowa winning. Iowa State was putting a solid drive together and was on the Hawkeye side of the 50, when Hankins picked the ball off, and ran it back 41 yards, setting up a field goal for Iowa.

3. Brennan Armstrong, QB Virginia

The Virginia Cavaliers junior quarterback shredded the defense for Illinois University. Armstrong went off for 405 yards passing on 27 completions with five touchdowns and one interception. His first two touchdown passes were both early in the first quarter. Both passes were from a distance of more than 25 yards. Armstrong himself was even the recipient of an 18-yard pass in the game. The Cavaliers won the game by a final of 42-14.

2. Seth Henigan, QB & Calvin Austin III, WR Memphis

In a shootout against the Arkansas State Red Wolves, the Memphis Tigers had a few players on offense with big games. The two biggest contributors were the duo of Henigan (QB) and Austin (WR). Henigan was 22-33 for 417 yards passing with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Austin caught just six of his first-year quarterbacks passes, but those six were good for 239 yards — three of which were touchdowns. Their biggest connection of the night was a 75-yard strike that put the Tigers up 55-36 late in the fourth. Memphis won the game by a score of 55-50.

1. CJ Verdell, RB Oregon

Verdell had himself a stellar game in Oregon’s upset victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Ducks running back finished the game with 161 yards rushing on 20 carries and two rushing touchdowns. He also got into the action in the passing game with three receptions for 34 yards and one touchdown. His solid running helped control the majority of the game for Oregon. the ducks went on two secure the win over the Buckeyes by a score of 35-28.