RADIO
Week 7 of college football is over and we saw a number of impressive performances this week. That includes eight wide receivers with at least 150 yards. Of those eight, four just missed out on making this week's list of top performances. Those four were Jayden Higgins (Iowa State), Ricky Pearsall (Florida), Steven McBride (Hawaii), and Troy Franklin (Oregon).
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, Kansas tight end Mason Fairchild earns the nod. Fairchild caught five passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns in the team's loss to Oklahoma State.
Below are the top five wide receiver performances from Week 7 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.
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5. Devontez Walker - North Carolina
North Carolina's Devontez Walker was a stud at Kent State last year, but his UNC career got off to a slow start because the NCAA initially deemed him ineligible this year as a multi-time transfer.
But he's on the field now and we can see why UNC fans were so excited about him. After catching six passes for 43 yards last week in his debut against Syracuse, he caught six passes again this week, finishing with 132 yards and three scores.
UNC sits at 6-0 on the year. Walker's addition makes this team even more scary. Can the Tarheels run the table at this point? They only have one more game against a team that's currently ranked.
4. Ja'Mori Maclin - North Texas
Defensively, UNT has really struggled this year. The issues with the run defense have really been the key talking point with the Mean Green, which I think has kept people from realizing how well the offense is playing in Eric Morris' first season as head coach. The team is averaging 35.7 points per game, 22nd in FBS.
Ja'Mori Maclin, who spent his first two seasons at Missouri where he caught just one pass before transferring to UNT last year, is having a breakout season. After catching 16 passes for 380 yards and two touchdowns in his first season in Denton, he's already got 25 catches for 587 yards and eight touchdowns this year.
Against Temple this week, Maclin caught six passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns. He's now scored at least one touchdown in every game this season and has at least 50 yards in each game as well. Maclin leads the American in receiving touchdowns and is second in receiving yards.
3. Ricky White - UNLV
UNLV's Ricky White had his second 100-yard game of the season on Saturday against Nevada, catching eight passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. That followed his 12 catches for 165 yards back in September against Vanderbilt.
White got off to a slow start to the season, but he's had 50-plus receiving yards in four straight games now. For the season, White has caught 31 passes for 493 yards and two touchdowns. UNLV is now 5-1, largely because of the strength of its offense. The Rebels average 37.5 points per game, the 14th-best mark in FBS.
2. Kelly Akharaiyi - UTEP
Kelly Akharaiyi had a big game back in UTEP's season-opener against Jacksonville State, catching four passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. But his numbers all year have been inconsistent. He followed that game up with one catch for six yards against UIW, then bounced back with a solid five catches for 53 yards against Northwestern.
But the inconsistency continued. Akharaiyi didn't catch a pass against Arizona, then had four for 92 yards against UNLV. Following that, he caught three passes for 37 yards against Louisiana Tech.
Based on how his season has gone, this week felt like it should have seen Akharaiyi on the upswing, and that's exactly what happened. But I don't think anyone expected him to have this kind of a game, as he caught eight passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns in UTEP's win over Florida International. It's notable this came with starting quarterback Gavin Hardison out with injury; maybe backup Cade McConnell just really likes to target Akharaiyi, considering seven of his 11 completions went to him. (Akharaiyi's other reception came off the arm of Kevin Hurley.)
1. Elic Ayomanor - Stanford
Elic Ayomanor didn't play in any games as a freshman. This year, his best showing prior to Friday night's performance against Colorado was his four-catch, 89-yard effort against Sacramento State. His most yards against an FBS opponent were his 41 yards against Arizona.
And then came Friday. Ayomanor was unstoppable against the Buffaloes, catching 13 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns. That included a 97-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter.
But a 97-yard touchdown where almost all of that came after the catch wasn't even the most impressive catch that Ayomanor had in the game. The most impressive came in overtime when he caught a contested pass against Travis Hunter.
I'll be the first to admit that I knew nothing about this kid before this game. Stanford football has struggled in recent years and Ayomanor wasn't super involved in the offense before this game. But after Friday's performance, I'll be keeping an eye on him going forward, considering his 294 yards are the most by a wide receiver so far this season.
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