College football’s Week 11 recap: Production reigns supreme

Production matching the traits. That’s what scouts want to see in college prospects during their final year in college football and more often than not, it’s an elusive goal for college players. Staying healthy for most of the season is obviously key, but college coaches have been more and more willing in recent seasons to turn to their underclassmen if their juniors and seniors aren’t producing. Luckily, that wasn’t a problem for these any of these below-listed players. Each of them were supremely productive this past Saturday.

DE Shareef Miller (Penn State)

Wisconsin didn’t have much of an appetite to drop back and pass, what with backup quarterback Jack Coan controlling the offense, so Penn State didn’t have many pass-rushing opportunities, which makes Miller’s day rushing the passer all the more impressive. The junior was unblockable in the first half, proving several times that he could dip and get low when rounding the edge. His two sacks on the day bring him up to six on the season—a career high. In a deep class of pass rushers, Miller looks to be an option for teams in the middle rounds.

WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown (Oklahoma)

Oklahoma’s annual Bedlam game against Oklahoma State has been very fruitful for Brown. Last year, the junior wide receiver had a monster 265 yards psuedo-coming-out party. This year’s game wasn’t quite as productive, but his 8 catches for 142 yards helped the Sooners keep pace with the Cowboy’s offense. Per usual, Brown caught his usual suite of deep balls, but his best play may have been on a third and 11, when he grabbed a short crosser, turned up field and quickly squirted between two defenders for a 27-yard gain and a first down.

ER Darrell Taylor (Tennessee)

Taylor may be the type of player who only shows up for the big games. Playing against the eleventh-ranked Kentucky Wildcats and their powerful offensive line, Taylor had four sacks to go with four tackles-for-loss and a fumble recovery. While that’s great production, before the game against Kentucky, Taylor’s last recorded quarterback take down was during a three-sack effort against Georgia back in September. Taylor needs to display more consistent effort if he wants to be labeled as yet another rising pass rusher.

RB Trayveon Williams (Texas A&M)

Ole Miss’s run defense is historically poor, so the Texas A&M junior running for 228 yards against them isn’t entirely surprising. Having said that, Williams displayed some very good patience running behind his fullback and proved difficult to bring down when he got to the second level. He looks like a strong fit for any team that runs a zone-blocking scheme that allows the back to pick his spot and hit the hole hard once he does.

QB D’Eriq King (Houston)

King is actually a dark-horse Heisman candidate and even though his effort this week came in a loss, he clearly deserves that hype. Responsible for six touchdowns, King led his team in both passing yardage with 322 and rushing yards with 125. While his intermediate/deep ball accuracy was special, his one blemish on the day was his ball security. His two lost fumbles directly led to the upset.

CB Kary Vincent Jr. (LSU)

LSU’s “other” cornerback, the draft-eligible sophomore Vincent, had about the most impactful game you could expect from a corner. Vincent had a sack, a tackle-for-loss and two passes defensed to go along with an interception. He only allowed one reception on the day. Teams feel they can challenge Vincent’s side of the field with “Greedy” Williams locking down the other side, but Vincent has proven them wrong.