November 27, 2024

AP Player of the Week: Devin Neal runs for 207 yards and totals 4 TDs in Kansas’ win over Colorado

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Associated Press national player of the week in college football for Week 13 of the season:

Devin Neal, Kansas

The senior running back ran for 207 yards and three touchdowns on a career-high 37 carries and caught four passes for 80 yards and a TD in the Jayhawks’ 37-21 win over Colorado.

Neal’s rushing total was the second highest of his career and made him the first player in program history to surpass 1,000 yards in three seasons. The game marked the second time in his career he scored four total touchdowns and the fourth time he ran for three scores.

Neal has seven 100-yard rushing games this season and a school-record 19 in his career.

Runner-up

Illinois receiver Pat Bryant capped a career game with a 40-yard touchdown with four seconds left to beat Rutgers 38-31. The senior has three game-winning touchdowns in the final minute or overtime this season, the most of any player in the nation.

Bryant caught seven passes for a career-high 197 yards, including four for 140 yards in the fourth quarter Saturday. His 64-yard reception in the fourth was the longest of his career.

Honorable mention

Eastern Michigan LB James Djonkam recorded 22 tackles in a 37-20 loss to Buffalothe most this season in the Football Bowl Subdivision. … SMU QB Kevin Jennings threw for a career-high 323 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another in a 33-7 win over Virginia. … Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold ran for 131 yards on 25 carries and completed 9 of 11 passes for 68 yards in a 24-3 win over Alabama. … Auburn QB Peyton Thorne hit KeAndre Lambert-Smith for a two-point play in the fourth overtime to beat Texas A&M 43-41. Thorne was 19 of 31 for 301 yards and two touchdowns. … Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ran 28 times for 147 yards and three touchdowns and caught three passes for 12 yards in a 28-23 win over BYU.

Six stats

—Ashton Jeanty’s 2,062 rushing yards through 11 games for Boise State are the most in the FBS since Chuba Hubbard had 2,094 in 13 games for Oklahoma State in 2019.

—Kansas became the first FBS program with a losing record to beat three straight Top 25 opponents. The Jayhawks have knocked off Iowa State, BYU and Colorado.

—Auburn had two receivers go over 100 yards in two straight games for the first time since at least 1949. Cam Coleman had nine catches for 128 yards and KeAndre Lambert-Smith had six for 104 against the Aggies.

— Iowa State’s 31-28 win over Utah gave the Cyclones nine regular-season wins for the first time in 118 years. The 1906 team also won nine.

—Army’s four turnovers are the fewest (excluding the 2020 pandemic season) since Georgia Southern had five in 2018.

—Indiana’s defense has allowed 47 big plays through 11 games to lead the nation, according to Sportradar. That’s 42 fewer than at this point last season. A big play is a 10-plus yard rush or 20-plus yard pass.