College Football Week 7: QB Country Players of the Week
QB Country trainees have appeared on the Davey O’Brien Great 8 and Manning Award Star of the Week lists in every week of the current college football season. That streak continued in Week 7 with KJ Jefferson, John Rhys Plumlee, and Drake Maye all earning at least one of the major national weekly quarterback awards. Here’s the full list of this week’s top performers across QB Country:
FBS Co-Players of the Week:
KJ Jefferson, Arkansas
KJ returned to action in impressive form this week, going 29-of-40 for 367 yards and a career-high 5 TDs to lift Arkansas to a 52-35 win on the road at BYU. KJ accounted for 399 yards of total offense while averaging 12.7 yards per completion. Out of Arkansas’ 34 first downs against the Cougars, he was responsible for 22 of them, including 18 with his arm and four on the ground. For his efforts, KJ earned Manning Award Star of the Week honors.
Carter Bradley, South Alabama
Carter set a school record with 420 passing yards, going 25-of-33 and adding 3 TDs in a 41-34 victory over Louisiana-Monroe. He is the first Jaguars quarterback to throw for 400 yards in a single game. With Carter under center, South is 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Sun Belt and one win away from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2016.
First Team:
John Rhys Plumlee, UCF
John Rhys went 18-of-22 for 373 yards and 4 TDs and added 37 yards and 3 TDs rushing to lead UCF to a dominant 70-13 victory over Temple. His seven total touchdowns ties a program record and helped earn him AAC Offensive Player of the Week, Davey O’Brien Great 8, and Manning Award Star of the Week honors. John Rhys is currently the only player in the country with at least 1500+ yards passing and 450+ yards rushing.
Drake Maye, UNC
Drake led #22 UNC to a dramatic 38-35 victory over Duke going 28-of-38 for 380 yards and 3 TDs – including the game-winner with 16 seconds remaining. Drake added a team-high 70 yards rushing. He’s currently tied for most touchdowns (24) among all FBS quarterbacks, ranks first in total offense, third in QB rating, and seventh in yards per game at 326.1.Through seven games – his first seven college starts – he has more combined passing and rushing yards (2661) than any quarterback since Lamar Jackson in 2016. Drake was named ACC quarterback and rookie of the week, and earned Davey O’Brien Great 8 honors. The Athletic recently named Drake to its mid-season freshman All-American list.
Stetson Bennett, Georgia
Stetson went 24-of-30 for 289 yards and 2 TDs in #1 Georgia’s 55-0 romp over Vanderbilt. Stetson led touchdown drives on Georgia’s first two possessions and four touchdown drives before halftime. With the win, Georgia remained undefeated heading into its bye week.
Tyler Van Dyke, Miami
Tyler went 29-of-46 for 351 yards and 2 TDs to help lift Miami to a 20-14 victory over Virginia Tech. Over the past two weeks, he has thrown for the most yards (847) of any Power Five quarterback in the country while averaging 8.3 yards per attempt and completing nearly 70% of his throws.
Holton Ahlers, ECU
Holton went 26-of-34 for 304 yards and 1 TD and added a rushing touchdown in ECU’s dramatic 47-45 quadruple-overtime comeback victory over Memphis. Holton passed for three straight conversions in the extra periods.
Ben Woolridge, Louisiana
In his first college start, Ben went 17-of-29 for 230 yards and 2 TDs and added a team-high 45 yards rushing to lift Louisiana to a 23-13 road victory at Marshall.
FCS Spotlight: Draylen Ellis, Tennessee State
Draylen went 14-of-28 for 247 yards and 2 TDs and added 61 yards and a rushing TD to lead the Tigers to their second straight victory, a 30-14 win over Tennessee Tech.
Best of the rest:
Jarret Doege, Troy: Came off the bench to go 4/6 for 59 yards and a game-winning TD in the fourth quarter.
N’Kosi Perry, FAU: 14/26, 126 yards, 1 TD, including game-winner in the fourth quarter in 17-14 win over Rice
Jake Lange, Southern Miss: Came off the bench to lead USM two fourth quarter scores and 20-19 win over Arkansas State.
Garrett Shrader, Syracuse: 16/25, 210 yards, 2 TDs (2 INT) in 24-9 win over NC State and was added to Maxwell Award Watch List.
Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina: 26/24, 358 yards, 3 TDs in 49-21 loss to ODU