RADIO
Week 9 of college football is over and we saw a number of impressive performances this week. Seven wide receivers went for over 150 yards. Some of those players are mentioned below, but a quick shoutout to the players who aren't: Corey Rucker (Arkansas State), Eric McAlister (Boise State), Jabre Barber (Troy), and Malik Washington (Virginia).
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 SMU's R.J. Maryland, who had two receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown in his team's 69-10 win over Tulsa. Clemson's Jake Briningstool deserves a mention as well for his eight catches for 93 yards against NC State.
Below are the top five wide receiver performances from Week 9 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. Ricky White - UNLV
UNLV suffered its first conference loss of the season on Saturday, falling 31-24 to Fresno State. The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Rebels, whose only other loss of the season came against undefeated Michigan.
Wide receiver Ricky White caught a pair of touchdowns in Saturday's loss, finishing with seven receptions for 152 yards and two scores. It was the third time this season that White had over 150 receiving yards in a game and the second time that he's had multiple touchdown receptions.
White currently sits third in the Mountain West in receiving yards and ninth in touchdown receptions. He's now surpassed last season's 619 receiving yards, with 719 yards through eight games this year.
4. Roderic Burns - North Texas
Only one wide receiver caught three touchdown passes in Week 9: UNT's Roderic Burns. The Mean Green suffered a heartbreaking loss, losing the lead with 12 seconds to go when Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Scates. (To add insult to injury, Henigan played high school football at Denton Ryan High School, just six miles away from UNT's DATCU Stadium.)
You can't blame this loss on the UNT offense though, as quarterback Chandler Rogers threw for 411 yards and five touchdowns. Three of those went to Burns, who finished the game with five catches for 102 yards.
Burns, in his fifth season with the Mean Green, has caught 36 passes for 431 yards and four touchdowns this season. He's already tied his career high in touchdown receptions, set back in 2021.
3. Joshua Cephus - UTSA
After a 1-3 start to the season, the Roadrunners have won four in a row to open conference play. The team has three more winnable games on the schedule before they close the season on the road against Tulane. At the end of September, I thought the 2023 season was going to be a disappointment for this team, but things have turned around.
This week, UTSA beat East Carolina 41-27, with quarterback Frank Harris throwing for 395 yards in the victory. A number of those yards went to Joshua Cephus—183 of them, to be exact. That yardage came on just four receptions, as Cephus averaged 45.8 yards per reception. One of those was an 84-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Cephus has 56 catches for 681 yards this season and has now caught a career-high seven touchdowns. He sits fourth in the American in receiving yards. Cephus finished in the top 10 in CUSA in receiving yardage in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
2. Christan Horn - Appalachian State
Saturday's 48-38 win over Southern Miss moved Appalachian State back to .500 on the season at 4-4. The Mountaineers survived an onslaught from Southern Miss running back Frank Gore Jr., who had 247 rushing yards in the game.
On the App State side, wide receiver Christan Horn had a big game in the victory, catching eight passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns. The touchdowns were both in the fourth quarter. The Mountaineers trailed in the fourth, but a 49-yard touchdown for Horn got things closer. A 61-yard Kanye Roberts run put them in front. Finally, Horn's second touchdown reception, with eight seconds to play, provided the final margin for App State.
1. Jamaal Pritchett - South Alabama
South Alabama isn't on track to have a year as good as last season's 10-3 campaign, but the Jaguars offense has played well this year, sitting 32nd in the FBS in points per game. Before Saturday's loss to Louisiana, the team had put up back-to-back 55-point games.
That didn't happen this week, as the team lost 33-20 to Louisiana. There's one person the loss can't be blamed on: wide receiver Jamaal Pritchett, who caught 11 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns in the game. It marked the second game in a row that Pritchett has had 100-plus receiving yards. His total for the season sits at 35 catches for 541 yards, moving him to ninth in the Sun Belt in receiving yards.
He also wasn't the only South Alabama wideout with a big game this week, as teammate Caullin Lacy had seven receptions for 131 yards. It just wasn't enough though, as quarterback Carter Bradley was picked off twice and one of those touchdowns came in garbage time, with Pritchett catching a 39-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play.
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