Best of Week 9: Mariota, Abdullah, Gordon start weekend with bang
Week 9 best players
-
Each weekend, we take a look at the best individual performances.
East Carolina got the weekend started with a big offensive performance against Connecticut on Thursday and Heisman candidate Marcus Mariota kept it rolling Friday night in Oregon’s win against Cal.
This list will grow thoughout the day and night — two of the nation’s best running backs are already here — so check back to see who gets special recognition.
-
It had to happen sooner or later. Mariota threw his first interception Friday night — his pass was tipped and Cal picked it off in the end zone — but he still threw for 326 yards and five touchdowns in the victory. Mariota also ran for 36 yards on six carries. He has 24 TD passes and one interception this season.
-
ECU quarterback Shane Carden threw for 445 yards and two TDs in another strong showing, but this week, it’s his top target who gets the accolades. Hardy caught a season-high 14 passes for a season-high 186 yards and a TD. But he moved into second place on the all-time receptions list with 327 and needs just 23 more to move passed former Oklahoma receiver Ryan Broyles to No. 1 on the list.
-
Johnson ran for a career-best 249 yards — his fourth consecutive game with at least 100 yards this season — on 29 carries with a 24-yard TD run and 22-yard TD reception. He has 1,036 rushing yards this season, his first 1,000-yard season with the Hurricanes.
-
The senior had his fourth 200-yard game of the season, totaling 225 yards on 19 carries (11.8 yards per carry) with TD runs of 53, 48 and 23 yards). On the season, he has 1,249 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also returned two kickoffs for 88 yards vs. Rutgers.
-
Gordon has been so good this season that a performance like Saturday’s — 22 carries, 121 yards and three TDs — seems fairly boring. But Gordon is anything but boring. He had TD runs of 6, 1 and 3 yards, giving him 16 on the season and he has 1,167 rushing yards this season.
-
Williams ran for a career-high 153 yards on 18 carries with a 3-yard scoring run and a 17-yard touchdown reception against UAB. It was the third 100-yard game of the season for Williams and gives him 830 yards (70 yards short of his best season at Arkansas) on the season and 10 TDs (a career high).
MORE: Top 25 live updates | Week 9 photos
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
