Opinion: College Football's Week Eleven Heroes

Another weekend of college football is in the books, so let’s go through who was great on the gridiron with my Week Eleven Heroes:

Arizona State: The Sun Devils scored one of the biggest wins in the history of their program in knocking off Notre Dame in Tempe on Saturday afternoon. Though, Arizona State didn’t do it easily – conventionally. After the Irish kicked a field goal to open the scoring, the Sun Devils scored 34 unanswered for a 34-3 lead at the half that came largely thanks to a defense that intercepted Irish QB Everett Golson four times, recovered one of his two fumbles and recorded a whopping 7 sacks.

Inexplicably, the Sun Devils forgot to come out and play in the third quarter (and much of the fourth) allowing Notre Dame to find their mojo offensively and defensively to roar back into the game, coming within 3 points at 34-31, and it might’ve been a tie game had the Irish not horribly mangled a short-range field goal attempt.

As quickly as they’d lost their momentum, Arizona State wrestled it back, scoring the last 21 points, but not before putting a giant scare through their raucous home crowd, and eventually recorded a 55-31 victory that fairly accurately illustrated the gulf between the two teams. If ASU’s defense can play like they did in the first half every week, watch out. They blitzed and blitzed and blitzed, and Golson was at sixes and sevens when he wasn’t being sacked. Big win.

J.T. Barrett: Speaking of big wins…the Buckeyes went into East Lansing and beat Michigan State 49-37, making a mockery of those of us – myself included – who figured Sparty would have an easy win. Maybe they would’ve, had J.T. Barrett not turned up.

The Buckeye quarterback, thrust into the spotlight when star Braxton Miller was injured pre-season, is now fully in control of the OSU offense, and he showed it on Saturday night, torching one of the best defenses through the air (16-26 for 299 yards and three touchdowns) and on the ground (14 rushes for 87 yards and two scores) as Urban Meyer’s men went a long way to proving that they’re the best team in the Big Ten.

Brandon Boykin: Two weeks ago the Texas Christian quarterback was responsible for 7 touchdowns as TCU piled 82 points on a hapless Texas Tech. This week, Boykin ran for three and threw for a fourth as the Horned Frogs turned what was expected to be a close Big XII battle against the always-competitive Kansas State into a 41-20 rout. Surely, Boykin must be right in the thick of the Heisman conversation?

Northern Iowa: The Panthers recorded a 23-3 victory over the North Dakota State Bison in Cedar Rapids, snapping the Bison’s 33-game FCS record winning streak in front of nearly 15,000 fans inside the UNI Dome.  That streak dated back to December of 2011, when the Bison lost to Eastern Washington in overtime, 38-31, in the FCS quarter finals. Northern Iowa’s win came thanks to RB David Johnson, who tore up the Bison defense on the ground, amassing 133 yards on a day that no one associated with the program will soon forget.

Amari Cooper: The Alabama receiver broke his school’s record for career receiving yards on Saturday night during the Tide’s overtime 20-13 victory against Louisiana State in Baton Rouge. The mark became Cooper’s on the back of a 23-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter, giving him 2,940 total yards. An impressive mark for a guy who’ll be remembered as one of the greatest ever to walk through the doors in Tuscaloosa.

Baylor: Not many pundits – including your humble blogger – gave the Bears much chance of going into Norman, Oklahoma and beating the Sooners, so imagine our collective surprise when Art Briles’ team steamrolled OU 48-14, after being down 14-3 in the first quarter. QB Bryce Petty was 32-42 for 387 yards and a score as Baylor beat Oklahoma on the road for the first time in twelve attempts.

Most of that yardage went to Corey Coleman, who set personal bests for receiving yards (224) and receptions (15) as Baylor ensured that Oklahoma would lose two home Big XII conference games for the first time in the sixteen years Bob Stoops has been coaching in Norman.

Marcus Mariota: If the Oregon quarterback wasn’t the outright Heisman Trophy favourite before tonight’s game against Utah, he should be now. Basically, Mariota picked the Ducks up and carried them across the line for a 51-27 win in Salt Lake City. He was 17-29 for 234 yards and 4 touchdowns in the passing game, and added another 114 yards and a score on the ground. Not a bad night out, and Oregon keep on rolling. They figure to climb higher in the College Football Playoff’s final four standings this week.