Football is a game of yards.
And one yard was all No. 4 Ohio State needed to outlast No. 11 Notre Dame 17-14 on Saturday night. It was one of six ranked matchups on the docket in Week 4, and the better seed prevailed in all but one.
READ: Ohio State climbs to No. 4, Fresno State enters latest AP Top 25 Poll
No. 16 Washington State upset Oregon State 38-35 in a high scoring affair. Cougars quarterback Cameron Ward threw 404 passing yards and four touchdowns to lead Washington State to its fourth win of the season.
No. 1 Georgia once again took care of business, extending its winning streak to 21 games in a 49-21 victory over UAB. Quarterback Carson Beck tossed 338 yards and three touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ victory.
Here are some of the top statistical performances from Week 2.
Troy Franklin, Oregon
Franklin had a hand in halting the Colorado hype train, as No. 9 Oregon defeated the Buffaloes 42-6 and had a 35-0 halftime lead.
Franklin got the job done through the air. He was one of 10 Ducks to get a catch in the win over Colorado.
Leading the receivers in the game was Franklin, who caught 126 yards on an impressive eight catches. He averaged 15.8 yards per reception.
He also hauled in a pair of scores to lead Oregon backs behind Bo Nix’s three touchdown passes. Both Franklin’s touchdowns came in the second quarter on 16- and 36-yard receptions.
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Nix had a solid outing, completing nearly 85% of his passes for 276 yards.
Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
A career day on the ground for Jeanty helped Boise State begin its Mountain West slate with a win.
Jeanty rushed for 205 yards on the day against San Diego State, averaging almost nine yards on each of his 23 carries.
Boise State didn’t get out to the best of starts. The Broncos had just 26 yards in the opening quarter before turning on the jets for 17 points in the second quarter.
Jeanty played a large role in igniting the Broncos offense. He broke off a 58-yard touchdown carry with 9:08 left to play in the first half finding space through the middle.
Later in the second quarter Jeanty made way on a 36-yard rush that set up Boise State across midfield at the San Diego State 36-yard line. The drive ended with a 29-yard field goal.
Jeanty’s second touchdown came on a 6-yard push that put Boise state ahead 34-24. He also added four catches for 49 yards and accounted for 12 of the team’s 19 first downs.
Jeanty is the first Broncos running back to rush for at least 200 yards since Alexander Mattison in 2018, and his production on the ground is the most from a Mountain West player so far this season.
Rome Odunze and Ja’Lynn Polk, Washington
A pair of Washington receivers are next in this week’s Stat Pack, and both had over 100 yards receiving in the win over Cal.
Odunze is a projected Day 1 or Day 2 pick in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft, and he showed out with another big performance on Saturday. He delivered his fourth-consecutive 100-plus yard performance and added a few more touchdowns to his stat line.
Odunze wasn’t Washington’s leading receiver as Polk totaled 127 receiving yards to Odunze’s 125. The pair combined for 13 catches, 252 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
Polk had touchdown scores of 8 and 24 yards in the first and second quarters, respectively, while Odunze found the end zone on touchdowns of 35 and 13 yards.
Receiving wasn’t all for Odunze, however. He returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown in the opening minutes of the first quarter, the first of his career.
Jack Plummer, Louisville
While Michael Penix Jr. is busy guiding the Huskies to a 4-0 start, a fellow transfer quarterback was doing the same for Louisville.
Plummer followed head coach Jeff Brohm to the Cardinals program after the 2022 season following a year at Cal. The two are tasked with building on an 8-4 record from a year ago under predecessor Scott Satterfield and Deion Branch.
Plummer has done his job so far. He entered Saturday having reached 238 passing yards in each of his first three starts.
Plummer more than upped his totals this time around with a 388-yard performance against Boston College. He threw a 1-yard touchdown on Louisville’s first offensive drive of the game, and the Cardinals never looked back nor trailed against the Eagles.
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A career-high five touchdown passes came from the game for Plummer. He found four different targets, including receiver Ahmari Huggins-Bruce twice, for touchdown scores, and Plummer completed his passes at a nifty 85.7%.
Naiem Simmons, South Florida
This week’s leading receiver put up video game-like stats in South Florida’s 42-29 win over Rice.
Simmons set new career-bests in a number of categories on Saturday. He caught a career-high eight passes for 272 yards and hauled in a touchdown.
Simmons’ big day came after catches of 53, 52, 51, 49 and 42 yards. His first three catches of the second half all went for at least 42 yards.
Simmons’ production broke the South Florida program record for receiving yards in a game, topping Tyre McCants’ previous best of 227 yards set in 2017.
