Top 5 Wide Receiver Performances of Week 8 College Football: Javon Baker, Marvin Harrison Jr., more

Justin's NCAA college football top wide receivers from Week 8 of the 2023 season. Top WR performers include Javon Baker and Marvin Harrison Jr.

Week 8 of college football is over and we saw a number of impressive performances this week, though not quite as many as usual. Just three wide receivers went for over 150 yards. Two of those players are mentioned below. The other is Ohio's Sam Wiglusz, who caught 10 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown in his team's 20-17 win over Western Michigan.

One thing I want to do every week here (since there's not an article specifically for them) is shout out the top tight end of the week. This week, that honor goes to Jake Briningstool of Clemson, who caught five passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns against Miami in an overtime loss. No other tight end had 100 yards, though Michigan's A.J. Barner came close, as he caught eight passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.

Below are the top five wide receiver performances from Week 8 of the college football season. These are judged through a combination of statistics, fantasy scoring, and game context, with consideration also given based on the team's offensive systems. Let's take a look at this week's top performances.

5. Lincoln Victor - Washington State

Washington State’s Lincoln Victor has had a really odd season. He opened the year with 11 catches for 168 yards in the team’s win over Colorado State, then had seven for 55 and a score against Wisconsin. He had six catches for 119 and two scores against Northern Colorado in Wazzu’s third game.

But then he sprained his ankle against Oregon State, a game where he didn’t have a reception. He missed the team’s next game, then returned against Arizona and caught four passes for just 19 yards.

But Victor’s breakout campaign got back on track against Oregon on Saturday as he caught 16 passes for 161 yards. He’s now up to 44 catches for 522 yards and three touchdowns on the season. He has a chance to end the year with some really good numbers, especially with the Cougars facing a pretty easy upcoming schedule.

4. Malik Nabers - LSU

LSU is the first team this season to land two wide receivers on this list after Saturday’s 62-0 win over Army. Interestingly, I didn’t wind up putting the team’s QB on the QB list because he got pulled a little early due to his team’s huge lead, throwing just 15 passes.

Of the two Tiger wide receivers, we’ll begin with Malik Nabers, who caught four passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. His first touchdown, just before the end of the first half, came from starting quarterback Jayden Daniels. His second, in the third quarter, came with backup Garrett Nussmeier in the game.

Nabers now has five games with at least 100 receiving yards this year, including a 239-yard effort against Mississippi State back in September. He sits at 981 yards and nine touchdowns on the season. That yardage total ranks first in FBS.

3. Brian Thomas Jr. - LSU

Here’s the other LSU player, Brian Thomas Jr. He’s one spot above Nabers because, well…he had exactly one more receiving yard than Nabers, catching three passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns came in the first half from the arm of starter Jayden Daniels, with Thomas catching an 86-yard touchdown in the first quarter and then an eight-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Nabers leads the FBS in receiving yards, but Thomas leads it in receiving touchdowns, as he’s caught 11 of them this season. He also sits fourth in the SEC in receiving yards with 732 yards. LSU’s passing offense has been so good this season, which makes it unsurprising that the team’s 47.4 points per game rank first in FBS.

Then again, it's not that LSU is a stranger when it comes to having high-quality wide receivers -- remember when they were able to line Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson up together? Not that Nabers and Thomas will go down as rivals to those two, but both are really good receivers.

2. Marvin Harrison Jr. - Ohio State

The best receiver in the country had another huge game. Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. caught 11 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s 20-12 win over previously undefeated Penn State.

This was the third time that Harrison’s had over 160 yards in a game this season and the fifth time that he’s had 100-plus receiving yards. He currently sits at 766 yards on the season on 42 receptions with six touchdowns.

Harrison leads the Big Ten in receiving yards and yards per reception. He’s second in the conference in receptions and receiving touchdowns. It’s no wonder he’s expected to be a top-five pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and I expect we'll see his name on this list again as the season continues.

1. Javon Baker - UCF

UCF lost its fourth game in a row on Saturday, but the Golden Knights came close to upsetting Oklahoma, losing 31-29. It’s the second time in the last three games that they’ve lost by less than a field goal.

A big part of UCF’s play in this one was wide receiver Javon Baker, who caught five passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. The yardage represented over half of quarterback John Rhys Plumlee’s passing yards in the game.

Baker, who started his career at Alabama before transferring to UCF in 2022, has over 100 receiving yards in two of the last three games. He’s caught 26 passes for 551 yards and four touchdowns this season and sits second in the Big 12 in receiving yards now. Great season for a player who just couldn’t really find his footing with the Crimson Tide.

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