College football Week 5 saw another slate of jam-packed action with incredible performances from players throughout the nation. Now, it’s time to crown some standout stars as our college football Week 5 players of the week.
Week 5 College Football Players of the Week
Which playmakers have risen to the peak of their position, overpowering their peers to receive national recognition? Let’s take a ride around the college football landscape and recognize those who had outstanding performances in Week 5.
Quarterback of the Week: Max Duggan, TCU
So, it turns out that Sonny Dykes’ TCU team is legitimately legit. Registering their fifth win of the year with an emphatic 55-24 win over a listless Oklahoma outfit, the Horned Frogs leave college football Week 5 as one of the feel-good stories in the nation.
Unless you’re a Sooners fan, of course. This TCU team is packed full of playmakers, even if highly regarded 2023 NFL Draft prospect Quentin Johnston isn’t putting up the expected numbers.
Dykes is getting the very best out of all his players, and that starts at the quarterback position with Max Duggan. The 6’2″, 210 senior is playing the best football of his career, with highs for completion percentage, yards per attempt, and a touchdown to interception ratio even before the start of this walkover win against the 18th-ranked Sooners.
Duggan threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns in the emphatic win. Meanwhile, he added two scores and 116 rushing yards on five carries, headlined by a 67-yard touchdown run.
The TCU quarterback is just the second player in the last 15 years to have a 60+ yard touchdown pass and run in the first quarter of the game.
The other? Lamar Jackson. Say what you like about an Oklahoma defense that isn’t living unto expectation, but Duggan is breathing in rarified air and was at the peak of his prowess in college football Week 5.
Honorable mentions: Drake Maye, North Carolina: 26/36, 363 passing yards, three touchdowns; 73 rushing yards, two touchdowns. Holton Ahlers: 31/41, 465 passing yards, six touchdowns. Cameron Rising, Utah: 19/25, 199 passing, three touchdowns; 73 rushing yards, 1 touchdown.
Offensive Player of the Week: Miyan Williams, RB, Ohio State
Every week, narrowing down an offensive player of the week is a near impossible task. College football Week 5 was no different, with multiple wide receivers, tight ends, dual-threat quarterbacks, and offensive linemen more than deserving of the recognition.
Jahmyr Gibbs‘ two 70+ yard touchdowns against a ranked SEC defense were tough to ignore, especially with the Alabama running back stepping up in multiple facets of the game.
However, Miyan Williams had a day for the ages as Ohio State trampled all over Rutgers. He’s often played second fiddle to TreVeyon Henderson in the Buckeyes backfield but showed that he’s more than capable of being the focal point of an offense and thriving in it.
As PFN Draft Director Cam Mellor tweeted out in the midst of Miyan’s magic, he’d be a starting running back on at least 120 different FBS programs.
Williams helped mitigate a surprisingly sluggish showing from CJ Stroud by taking his 21 carries for 189 rushing yards. Meanwhile, he tied a program record by finding the end zone five times.
He broke tackles, he bulldozed his way to success in short-yardage situations, and he flashed his exceptional acceleration and long speed. Long story short, Williams was dominant as out college football Week 5 Offensive Player of the Week.
Honorable mentions: Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama: 18 carries, 206 yards, two touchdowns Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College: Five receptions, 152 yards, two touchdowns. Harrison Waylee, RB, Northern Illinois: 30 carries, 230 rushing yards, three touchdowns.
Defensive Player of the Week: Clark Phillips III, CB, Utah
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Against Oregon State, Clark Phillips III showed that there’s no player with more fight per inch than the diminutive Utes cornerback.
Standing at 5’9″, Phillips often looks like he’s on the wrong side of a size mismatch at the line of scrimmage. However, he routinely overcomes that height disadvantage with elite athleticism and unparalleled intelligence and competitiveness.
Phillips was phenomenal in what promised to be a difficult test against an impressive Beavers outfit. He routinely demonstrated his eye-popping closing speed to jump routes.
His vertical explosion was on display with an acrobatic end zone interception. He also snagged an athletic pick near midfield. The Utah cornerback ended the day with three interceptions that included a pick-six where he flew to the football and made his way to the end zone in one flowing, fluid, phenomenal moment.
Honorable mentions: Dorian Williams, LB, Tulane: 11 tackles, one and a half tackles for loss, one sack. Taurus Jones, LB, James Madison: Seven tackles, two tackles for loss, one interception. Steele Chambers, LB, Ohio State: 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, one interception. Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Mississippi State: Two interceptions, one INT touchdown, one blocked kick.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Harrison Mevis, K, Missouri
For the longest part of college football Week 5, a Missouri team that has been widely derided this season looked like they were going to knock off the reigning national champions.
While it ultimately wasn’t to be, and the Bulldogs live another day as one of the remaining unbeaten teams in college football, the contributions of kicker Harrison Mevis shouldn’t go unrecognized.
As a result, the Missouri marvel, a man daubed “the thiccer kicker” by some, is the PFN Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 5. Mevis contributed 16 of the Tigers’ 22 total points on Saturday, nailing all five field goal attempts and converting his only extra point attempt. They may have lost, but they wouldn’t have even been in the ball game without the contributions from their kicker.
Showcasing the leg that has made him the early front runner to be the first kicker taken in the 2023 NFL Draft, Mevis nailed two field goal attempts from 50+ yards. It was an incredible performance to bounce back from the disappointment of a missed chip shot field goal against Auburn in the previous week.
Honorable mention: Gavin Stewart, K, Georgia Tech: 4/4 field goals (40 long), 2/2 extra points.
Freshman Player of the Week: Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ole Miss
With transfer duo Zach Evans and Ulysses Bentley IV, there was already a lot of hype for the Ole Miss Rebels running back room ahead of the 2022 college football season.
While former SMU standout Bentley has found the end zone a remarkable four times on just 14 carries, and while Evans finally looks like the college player that his high school recruiting profile promised, it’s a true freshman running back who is getting the job done for Lane Kiffin’s team.
Heading into college football week 5, Judkins had led the team in carries, rushing yards, and touchdowns, and he built on that early production with a scintillating performance as Ole Miss emerged victorious in a spicy SEC showdown with Kentucky.
The Ole Miss running back ran the rock 15 times, tallying 106 yards and a touchdown. He’s got a game-changing burst, long speed, and vision and could legitimately end up as the SEC’s leading rusher as a true freshman. All that talent was on show as Ole Miss remain undefeated.
Honorable mention: Richard Reese, RB, Baylor: 17 carries, 85 yards, 1 touchdown.