Aidan O'Connell, Ty Chandler, C.J. Stroud highlight Week 10 college football top performers
Week 10 of the college football season delivered some amazing moments.
There was Purdue's play of the week (season?), which aided the Boilermakers' upset of Michigan State. There was also Georgia's continued defensive dominance, and a gritty victory for Ohio State.
But more than anything, there were several players who had incredible outings.
Here's a look at the top individual performances from Saturday’s games.
Aidan O'Connell, QB, Purdue
Entering Saturday's game against Michigan State, O'Connell had passed for 1,551 yards on the season, with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions in seven games. That's what made his showing in a 40-29 victory over the Spartans so remarkable. O'Connell was, simply put, unstoppable. The senior QB completed 40 of 54 passes on the day for 536 yards (all career highs) and three touchdowns, with zero interceptions. In doing so, he handed Purdue a record 17th all-time win over a top-5 team while being unranked.
David Bell, WR, Purdue
Here's a hint why Bell is on this list: He's the guy that O'Connell passed to. Bell caught 11 passes for 217 yards and a score, his second 200-yard receiving performance of the season. The first one came in an upset of then-No. 2 Iowa earlier this season, when he caught 11 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown. In short, MSU could not stop the combination of O'Connell and Bell, which led to the Spartans absorbing their first L of the season.
Ty Chandler, RB, North Carolina
Quarterback Sam Howell was the guy with the Heisman hype entering the season, but Chandler was the spark behind the Tar Heels' 58-55 upset of previously unbeaten Wake Forest. The 6-foot, 210-pound senior was simply unstoppable, gaining 214 yards on just 22 carries, notching four touchdowns along the way. He also caught a pass for 30 yards, giving him 244 yards on 23 touches, an average of 10.6 yards per touch.
Jordan Addison, WR, Pitt
Addison is only a sophomore who doesn't even turn 20 until late January. But he's turning heads in a big way at Pitt, and Saturday was no exception. Addison caught seven balls for 171 yards and a touchdown in the Panthers' 54-29 rout of Duke. He averaged 24.4 yards per touch, which is impressive enough. Even more impressive? He has 11 touchdown catches this season, the most by a Pitt player since Larry Fitzgerald had 22 in 2003.
C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State
Stroud's early-season struggles are a thing of the past. In fact, it might even be time to start thinking about placing his name in the Heisman conversation. A week after torching Penn State for 305 yards, Stroud raised his game even higher, passing for 405 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 26-17 victory over Nebraska. Stroud completed 36 of his 54 attempts (67%) and he was picked off twice, but it's hard to argue with the results, or with the accuracy even on a ball like this that wasn't caught.
Georgia's defense
As usual, when regarding the No. 1 Bulldogs, it's hard to call out any one person. Georgia simply dominates, and it does so with defense. Already leading the nation in scoring defense entering Saturday (6.6. PPG allowed), Georgia held Missouri to only six points in a 43-6 rout. The Bulldogs had two sacks, six tackles for loss (two by Travon Walker) and stifled the Tigers throughout, allowing just 4.8 yards per pass and 3.5 yards per rush. What can you do against these guys? Not much, it seems. And when Missouri threatened to score a touchdown in garbage time, the Dawgs said no to that, too.
Jaren Hall, QB, BYU
Consider these numbers: Hall passed for 298 yards and four touchdowns. He completed 20 of his 25 pass attempts (80%) and compiled QB rating of 232.9. Now consider this: Hall did all of this in just the first half as the Cougars routed Idaho State. Not a bad replacement for Zach Wilson!
Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama
You will be hard-pressed to find a better deep threat in college football than Williams, and the Alabama speedster displayed why in a 20-14 win against LSU. Williams hauled in 10 catches for 160 yards, which included a 58-yard touchdown. This was his fourth game of the season with at least 120 receiving yards and his fifth game with a catch of at least 55 yards.
Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee
Hooker went into hostile territory in Lexington to square off against No. 18 Kentucky and delivered his best performance of the season in the upset win. Hooker completed 15 of 20 passes for 316 yards and four passing touchdowns. This was the third consecutive game against a ranked SEC opponent for Tennessee, and they needed the win to avoid losing all three matchups. Hooker played the role of hero to get the Volunteers back on track.
Travis Dye, RB, Oregon
Anytime you pass 200 yards on the ground, you've had a great day. Dye ran all over Washington to the tune of 211 yards and a score on 28 carries, pushing the Ducks to a 26-16 win over the Huskies and passing his career-high of 199 rushing yards in the process. It was Dye's second 100-yard rushing performance of the season.