Top 5 Wide Receiver Performances of Week 13 College Football: Casey Washington, Tetairoa McMillan, more

November 27, 2023

Justin's NCAA college football top wide receivers from Week 13 of the 2023 season. Top WR performers include Casey Washington and Tetairoa McMillan.

Week 13 of college football is over and we saw a number of impressive performances this week, though not quite as many as usual. Just six wide receivers went for over 150 yards. Some of those players are mentioned below, but a quick shoutout to the players who aren't: Tory Horton from Colorado State, Jaylin Noel from Iowa State, and Jacob Cowing from Arizona, who was one of two Wildcats receivers to hit that number.

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 South Alabama's D.J. Thomas-Jones, who caught nine passes for 56 yards and three touchdowns. Kansas State's Ben Sinnott deserves some attention as well as he caught 10 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown, making him the only tight end with over 100 yards in Week 13.

Below are the top five wide receiver performances from Week 13 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. Kevin Concepcion - NC State

NC State freshman wide receiver Kevin Concepcion is one of the most interesting weapons in the country. He's been spending more time in the backfield lately, allowing him to make an impact in multiple facets of the game.

Take this week's win over North Carolina, for example. Concepcion had seven catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns. That alone might have earned him a spot in this week's list of the top-five wide receivers, but he wasn't done there. He also had a season-high 11 carries, gaining 55 yards. On the season, Concepcion is at 767 receiving yards and 297 rushing yards with 10 receiving scores. He's yet to find the end zone on the ground, but I think we can overlook that issue.

The freshman ranks third in the ACC in receptions and sixth in yards from scrimmage. He's been incredible and there's still a lot of football left for him to play in his college career.

4. Elijah Sarratt - James Madison

James Madison finished the regular season 11-1, with the only loss coming in overtime against Appalachian State. The offense in particular was really strong, led by quarterback Jordan McCloud and wide receiver Elijah Sarratt.

In this week's win over Coastal Carolina, Sarratt caught six passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns, plus added another score on the ground with a one-yard run. This was the third game in a row that he's had 100-plus receiving yards and the fifth time overall, with two other games with at least 80 yards.

Sarratt ranks third in the Sun Belt in receptions, second in receiving yards, and fourth in receiving touchdowns. He spent his freshman season in the FCS at Saint Francis, so to see him play this well in his first FBS season is a nice surprise.

3. Amad Anderson Jr. - Temple

Temple wide receiver Amad Anderson Jr. opened the season well, but his production took a huge hit starting in the team's loss to UTSA. Between that game and the Nov. 11 game against South Florida, Anderson had just five total receptions in a five-game span.

That makes the performance Anderson put up this week even more impressive, considering it came out of nowhere. He caught seven passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns in Temple's 45-21 loss.

The Owls finished the year 3-9, struggling on both sides of the ball. They ranked 109th in points per game and 127th in opponent points per game. I don't think getting Anderson more heavily involved would have changed any of that, but it could have at least made Temple a more fun team to watch.

2. Tetairoa McMillan - Arizona

Arizona's offense was unstoppable in the team's 59-23 win over Arizona State this week, with Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita throwing for over 500 yards in the victory.

A whole bunch of those yards went to wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who had 11 catches for 266 yards and a touchdown in the game. The sophomore wideout has been playing some really good football recently.

McMillan has three games in a row with at least 100 receiving yards and five games in a row with a touchdown reception. He's up to third in the Pac-12 and eighth in the FBS in receiving yards on the season as well as third in the Pac-12 in receptions. This Arizona offense is going to be dangerous next season.

1. Casey Washington - Illinois

Illinois wide receiver Casey Washington is in his fifth season with the team but until earlier this month against Indiana, he'd never had a touchdown reception during his career. (Note: he did have a rushing touchdown back in 2021).

And until this week's loss to Northwestern, Washington had never recorded 100-plus receiving yards in a game. The closest he came was that aforementioned Indiana game when he had five catches for 99 yards.

That makes what happened on Saturday so surprising, as Washington caught nine passes -- also a career-high -- for 218 yards and three touchdowns. He scored in a variety of ways, with a nine-yard touchdown in the second quarter, a one-yard touchdown in the fourth, and then an 80-yard touchdown in the final minute of the game.

With the Fighting Illini finishing under .500, I believe this is it for Washington's college career. What a way to go out.

More College Football Analysis