The Farrell Awards: Handing out hardware after another week in CFB
The 2021 college football season is in full swing! Here are Mike Farrell's biggest takeaways from Week 7.
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FACT OR FICTION: Georgia will lock up five-star Luther Burden this weekend
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SUPERMAN
Caleb Williams got his first collegiate start against TCU, and all he did for the Sooners was go 18 for 23 for 295 yards and four touchdowns through the air and add another 66 yards and a score with his legs. Oklahoma put up 51 points and is back to looking like the Lincoln Riley offense that we've become accustomed to seeing.
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CAN'T GUARD HIM
Even in a loss, Quentin Johnston showed out against Oklahoma. The TCU sophomore receiver had seven catches for 185 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yarder where he went up and caught it between two defenders, then outran three more on his way to the endzone. A beastly performance.
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BOUNCEBACK
We knew that Alabama was going to take out their frustration against Mississippi State on Saturday. They did that and then some, rolling to the 49-9 victory over the Bulldogs. Bryce Young had another banner day with 348 yards and four scores, while the defense picked off Will Rogers three times.
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ROCK FIGHT
Army and Wisconsin played a game that would have looked much more appropriate in 1921 than 2021. They combined for 93 rushing attempts and averaged a paltry four yards per carry between them. Leo Chenal had 17 tackles for the Badgers, and 17 year old freshman RB Braelon Allen went over 100 yards for the second consecutive game, but I still feel bad for anyone who watched this game. At least it was over in under three hours.
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CONFOUNDING
Since knocking off then No. 3 Oregon two weeks ago, Stanford has gone in to a tailspin. After losing to Arizona State last week, the Cardinal managed to lose to a middling Washington State team. They couldn't run the ball at all, and allowed Jayden De Laura to pick them apart through the air.
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MR. EFFICIENCY
Devin Leary averaged more than 10 yards per throw and had three touchdowns and zero turnovers, leading NC State to an easy 33-7 win over Boston College in Chestnut Hill. In a game that a lot of people liked the underdog Eagles to pick up the upset, Leary was very efficient through the air, while the Wolfpack defense bottled up BC's rushing attack.
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MR. EFFICIENCY (PART II)
Stetson Bennett had another strong outing against Kentucky, throwing for three touchdowns and not turning the ball over during Georgia's easy victory. Bennet averaged 12.5 yards per attempt, and had 60 more yards than Will Levis through the air, despite having 22 fewer passing attempts. That's efficient passing.
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FRESHMAN PHENOM
Georgia TE Brock Bowers continues to be dominant for the Dawgs' offense as he had five catches for over 100 yards and two scores in UGA’s win over Kentucky. Who says the Dawgs don’t utilize the tight end?
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FROM WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
In Purdue's huge win over No. 2 Iowa, David Bell had one of the best performances we've seen from a wide receiver all year. Bell had 11 catches for 240 yards and a score. The usually dominant Iowa defense had zero answers for him.
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BAD DAY FOR A BAD DAY
After looking excellent in the last three quarters against Penn State, Spencer Petras was atrocious for Iowa. He went 17 for 32 with zero touchdowns and four interceptions. Iowa's offense struggled mightily, and a big part of it was because Petras was so inconsistent.
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RUN AROUND
Baylor became bowl eligible after getting a big win over BYU on the back of Abram Smith. Smith had 188 yards and three scores, guiding the way for the Bears, who had more than 300 yards on the ground. I'm still amazed at how well this Baylor team is playing in Dave Aranda's second season in Waco.
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DYE JOB
With CJ Verdell out for the season, Travis Dye is now RB1 for Oregon and he had a huge game in the Ducks' late win on Friday night over Cal. Dye gained 218 yards from scrimmage and had two touchdowns, and was really their only consistent source of offense.
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OFF THE BENCH
With South Carolina down 20-14 to Vanderbilt with 1:36 left, Shane Beamer made the call to bring in Zeb Noland after Luke Doty had struggled throughout the game. Noland led the Gamecocks 75 yards down the field in under a minute to score the winning touchdown, and South Carolina escaped with a 21-20 win over the Commodores, who now have gone two calendar years without an SEC win.
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DOMINANT
Brennan Armstrong continues to put up huge numbers for Virginia, and he made the most of his day against Duke. In the Cavaliers' 48-0 win over the Blue Devils, Armstrong went for nearly 400 total yards and three touchdowns. Dontayvion Wicks was his favorite target, as he had seven catches for 125 yards and a score.
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HELD IN CHECK
Pitt has won its games by putting up huge offensive numbers all season, but the Panthers flipped the script on Saturday against Virginia Tech. They held the Hokies to 224 total yards, and drove QB Braxton Burmeister nuts. Burmeister finished the day 11 for 32 for only 134 yards.
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MELTDOWN
For the second consecutive week, Texas had a double-digit lead against a team from the Sooner State, and for the second consecutive week, the Longhorns completely blew it. After going up 24-13 on Oklahoma State early in the third quarter, Texas' defense decided to shut it down for the day, and let the Cowboys score 19 straight to win the game 32-24. The Longhorns wasted another strong performance from Bijan Robinson, who had three touchdowns and 173 total yards.
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MOMENTUM SWING
Auburn at Arkansas was a hard fought game through the beginning of the second half. But with the Razorbacks up 17-14 halfway through the third quarter, Derrick Hall sacked KJ Jefferson, who fumbled, and Marcus Harris picked up for a scoop and score. From there, the Tigers never looked back.
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RUNNING FREE
Florida-LSU was one of the wildest of the early games, and Tyrion Davis-Price ran all over the Gators in LSU's 49-42 win. The junior tailback from Baton Rouge had 287 yards and 3 scores, and was unstoppable all game. A big win for Coach O and the Tigers.
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THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
Coming off of its huge win over Alabama, there was a chance that Texas A&M was in a spot for a letdown against Missouri. But the backfield combination of Isaiah Spiller and Devon Archane wasn't about to let that happen. Each back went over 120 yards, and they had three touchdowns between them.
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FOUR PACK
Cincinnati put up another huge number on Saturday, but instead of Desmond Ridder, it was halfback Jerome Ford who led the way. The former Alabama transfer had 189 yards and four touchdowns as the Bearcats throttled UCF 56-21.