LUKE MEREDITH
AP Sports Writer
TCU’s resurgence has been fueled in part by quarterback Trevone Boykin.
One of the nation’s most improved players, Boykin showed just how far he has come against an overmatched Texas Tech defense.
Boykin threw for 433 yards and seven touchdowns on 22 completions Saturday in an 82-27 victory over the Red Raiders. Boykin has a career-high 21 touchdown passes and only three interceptions, just a season after throwing seven TD passes and seven interceptions.
Boykin joined Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and Southern California’s Cody Kessler as the only quarterbacks with more than 20 touchdown passes and three or fewer interceptions.
Here were some of the other outstanding statistical performances around the country during the final week in October:
SUPER COOPER: Alabama’s Amari Cooper had another monster game for the Crimson Tide. Cooper caught nine passes for a season-high 224 yards and two touchdowns to help Alabama beat Tennessee 34-20. Cooper has 71 catches for 1,132 yards and nine TDs through eight games and is 5 yards behind Colorado State’s Rashard Higgins for the national lead in receiving yards. Higgins also is tops nationally with 12 TD receptions after catching a pair in the Rams’ 45-31 victory over Wyoming.
SEVENTH HEAVEN: Seven players ran for over 200 yards. All seven of their teams won. Marshall’s Devon Johnson led the way with 272 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-16 win over Florida Atlantic, and Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elijah McGuire had 265 yards and four TDs in a 55-40 victory over Arkansas State. Georgia Southern’s Matt Breida had 201 yards on 12 carries and scored four times — including TD runs of 75 and 61 yards — in a 69-31 win over Georgia State. Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds was perhaps the nation’s most utilized player on Saturday, rushing for 251 yards on 39 attempts as the Midshipmen beat San Jose State.
ON HALLIDAY: Washington State’s Connor Halliday padded his lead in passing yards with a national-best 489 in a 59-37 loss to Arizona. Of course, it’s easy to throw for more yards than anyone else when you get 79 attempts. Halliday has thrown for a staggering 3,833 yards this season, 912 more than UMass’s Blake Frohnapfel. But Halliday also has thrown 517 times in eight games, 125 more than anyone else.
THROW TO WIN? Just four of the nine quarterbacks who passed for over 400 yards this week played for winning teams. East Carolina’s Shane Carden had the most yards of any winning player, tossing for 465 on 64 attempts to lead the Pirates past Connecticut, 31-21. Cody Sokol had another big game for Louisiana Tech, throwing for 423 yards and three TDs in a 31-20 win at Southern Mississippi. Boise State’s Grant Hedrick had his best game in an up-and-down season, throwing for 410 yards and four TDs in a 55-30 victory over reeling BYU.
HARDEN-OUGH: Don’t blame Georgia State’s 38-point loss on receiver Donovan Harden. He caught all four of his team’s touchdowns and finished with 11 grabs for 186 yards. Harden, who had receiving TDs of 3, 59, 35 and 36 yards against Southern, has caught 21 passes for 318 yards with six TDs in his last two games.
EXTRA POINTS: Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah and Western Michigan’s Jarvion Franklin each lead the nation with 19 total touchdowns. Abdullah also is first with 1,249 yards rushing. … Thanks to its outburst against Tech, TCU leads the nation at 50.4 points per game. Big 12 rival Baylor is second at 49. … Ole Miss still leads the nation in scoring defense at 10.5 points per game, followed by Stanford, Alabama and Louisville.
___
Follow Luke Meredith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/LukeMeredithAP
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
