Oklahoma State's Ollie Gordon and Liberty turned in the top individual and team rushing performances of the season for games matching Football Bowl Subdivision teams.
Gordon carried 29 times for 282 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-34 win over West Virginia, his fourth straight game over 100 yards and the Cowboys' top total since Chuba Hubbard had 296 yards against Kansas State in 2019.
Gordon is averaging 116.6 yards per game to rank fifth in the nation.
Liberty ran for 401 yards in a 42-35 win over Middle Tennessee State, the Flames' best rushing total since 2012. The Flames' 274.6 rushing yards per game trails only Air Force (306 ypg).
WOBBLY WEST
Big Ten West offenses, collectively among the worst in the country, have been especially bad lately.
The seven West teams have combined to average 15.7 points and 283.6 yards per game over the past three weeks, according to Sportradar. The teams completed just 50.9% of their passes for 151.5 yards per game and have thrown 15 touchdowns against 13 interceptions. There have been 22 total turnovers.
The East — bolstered by Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State — have averaged 28.4 points and 335.4 yards per game, completed 58.7% of their passes for 210.6 yards per game and have thrown 30 TDs and nine interceptions. There have been 22 total turnovers as well.
For the season, seven of the bottom nine Big Ten teams in scoring are from the West and only one, Wisconsin (78th), is in the top 100 nationally.
Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa are the bottom three passing teams in the nation when excluding the predominantly ground-based offenses of Army, Navy and Air Force.
SIX FOR SIX
Jose Pizano of UNLV kicked a national season-high and school-record six field goals against Colorado State, including a 28-yarder as time expired for a 25-23 win.
Pizano became the first kicker with six field goals in a game since Cayden Camper of Colorado State had the same number against San Jose State in 2021.
Pizano has made a nation-leading 18 field goals on 19 attempts.
CATCH-AS-CATCH-CAN
Washington State's Lincoln Victor caught a school-record 16 passes in a 38-24 loss at Oregon, matching the most by an FBS receiver this season. Victor, who broke Vince Mayle’s record of 15 catches against Arizona State in 2014, finished with 161 yards receiving for his third 100-yard game of the year.
BIG PLAY BONANZA
Kansas State recorded 20 big plays in its 41-3 victory over TCU, most this season in a game matching FBS teams.
Sportradar defines a big play as a run of at least 10 yards and pass of at least 20. The Wildcats had 17 runs of 10 yards or longer, four apiece by DJ Giddens and Avery Johnson. K-State rushed for 343 of its 587 yards.
The Wildcats had 406 yards in the first half, the first time they've gone over 400 in a half since at least 1999.
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
