TeamFB7 ranks the 10 most impressive and impactful individual performances from around college football in Week 5.
Week 5 of the college football season gave the TeamFB7 “Game Balls” committee plenty to consider, as evidenced by a loaded honorable mentions list of incredible performances that didn’t make the cut.
As for who did, that prestigious top 10 list of Game Ball recipients included:
-The best performance yet from the best quarterback that still isn’t getting enough attention.
-The star of the most anticipated head-to-head quarterback showdown of the season.
-The catalyst for an emphatic humbling of a team that was the toast of the sport a week ago.
-The difference-maker in a dramatic 42-41 overtime victory.
-And how about a former walk-on running back rushing for over 200 yards and throwing for a pair of touchdowns in a big conference win?
Indeed, it takes a truly superlative performance to crack this list, so here goes — the 10 most impressive and impactful individual performances from across college football last week.
1. Oregon State QB Braden Atkinson
For those who haven’t been paying attention to Oregon State this season, sophomore quarterback Braden Atkinson has fully asserted himself as the 2026 version of 2025 Drew Mestemaker — the walk-on QB who emerged from obscurity to lead the entire FBS in passing at North Texas last year.
Atkinson was never a walk-on, but he was largely overlooked by FBS programs and started his career at FCS-level Mercer last season before transferring to Oregon State after a successful freshman campaign.
Now, he’s leading the FBS with 1,848 passing yards while throwing for 16 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions. His 369.6 passing yards per game is nearly 52 yards per game more than the next QB on the list — Mestemaker (317.8 YPG), now at Oklahoma State.
And last weekend, Atkinson had his best performance yet in a season full of them already.
He completed 31 of 34 passes for a season-high 427 yards, 5 TDs and 0 INTs in a 56-26 win at Colorado State. That’s right, Atkinson had 2 more TD tosses than incompletions.
He was so dominant, in fact, that Colorado’s State’s defensive coordinator Tyson Summers was stripped of play-calling duties at halftime and promptly quit entirely, leaving the stadium.
That’s about as bad as a quarterback can beat an opponent.
Atkinson’s favorite target in that win was, as usual, freshman wide receiver Jesse Legree. A past Game Ball recipient, he doesn’t make the list on his own this week, but he deserves a shoutout here after catching 5 passes for 156 yards and 3 TDs.
Oregon State is 3-2 with its only losses coming to Big 12 contenders Houston and Texas Tech while making those games much closer and more competitive than expected.
2. Iowa State RB Aiden Flora
Speaking of incredible stories in college football …
Aiden Flora walked on at Iowa State in 2024, emerged as a capable return specialist last year, earned a scholarship from new Cyclones head coach Jimmy Rogers before this season and is now top 10 in the country in rushing and the team’s biggest star.
Flora rushed for a career-high 212 yards and 3 TDs on 22 carries (9.6 YPC) and also threw a pair of touchdown passes in Iowa State’s 45-42 win over West Virginia on Saturday.
Early in the second quarter, Florida caught a lateral from QB Jaylen Raynor and then uncorked a pass to Cody Jackson that went for a 46-yard touchdown. Later in that quarter, Flora took a pitch and tossed a 2-yard TD to Vince Benetti.
In the fourth quarter, Flora busted free for a 63-yard touchdown run that gave Iowa State a 38-35 lead at the time in a back-and-forth game. Later with the Cyclones trailing again, Flora put them up for good with a 2-yard TD run with just under 2 minutes remaining.
Overall, he has 594 rushing yards (to rank 7th nationally) and 6 TDs while averaging 8.14 yards per carry.
“The first thing we did here was put him on scholarship and secure he was coming back,” Rogers said. “When others looked to go elsewhere for a bigger opportunity, he stayed true. This place is special to him.”
3. Missouri RB Jamal Roberts
Leading up to Missouri’s game Saturday against then-No. 8 Florida, all the talk was about the Gators, their prolific rushing attack and their star running back Jadan Baugh.
There was even talk from national analysts about what a compelling matchup this would be if Missouri had its star RB Ahmad Hardy, who remains sidelined recovering from an offseason gunshot wound.
There was not as much talk about Tigers RB Jamal Roberts — until the game started, that is.
Roberts made himself the story with a career-high 211 rushing yards and 3 TDs on 24 carries (plus 3 catches for 29 yards) as Missouri dominated the Gators on the way to a 45-17 win.
The Tigers improved to 4-1 and moved up 11 spots in the AP rankings to No. 14 with the statement-making performance.
Roberts, meanwhile, is up to 606 rushing yards and 6 TDs on a solid 5.4 YPC for the season.
4. Alabama QB Keelon Russell
The most anticipated game of Week 5 was Alabama vs. Mississippi State — a showdown of ranked SEC teams and two of the top quarterbacks in college football in the Crimson Tide’s Keelon Russell and the Bulldogs’ Kamario Taylor.
In the end, it was a clear victory for Russell and the Tide as he completed 16 of 22 passes for 285 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs and added a rushing TD to lead Alabama to a 56-23 victory.
It was the third straight game Russell completed at least 72% of his passes while accounting for at least 4 TDs as the redshirt-sophomore has emerged as one of the top players in the country.
In his first season as a starter, Russell has completed 71.2% of his passes for 1,414 yards, 11 TDs and 2 INTs while rushing for 184 yards and 4 scores.
5. Tennessee RB DeSean Bishop
There’s no mistaking that running back DeSean Bishop is the engine that drives Tennessee’s offense, and that engine was revved up and hitting on all cylinders Saturday in a 24-14 win over Auburn.
With freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon struggling and getting replaced by George MacIntyre before halftime, it was up to Bishop to carry the Volunteers.
His 34 rushing attempts were 10 more than his previous career-high as he rumbled for 220 yards (also a career-best) and all 3 of Tennessee’s touchdowns in the win. Bishop’s rushing total was the highest of the week in college football.
On the other sideline was first-year Auburn head coach Alex Golesh, who was Tennessee’s offensive coordinator when Bishop walked on to the program in December of 2022.
6. Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith
As noted last week, the bar is set higher for Jeremiah Smith to make this list than most players because even his average weeks are usually excellent.
And yet, Smith just keep clearing that bar nonetheless.
For the second week in a row, the Buckeyes star led the entire FBS level in receiving yards, catching 11 passes for 206 yards and 2 TDs in a 31-14 road win at Iowa.
Back-to-back weeks with at least 11 catches, 200 yards and multiple TDs shows why Smith is unanimously considered the best wide receiver in college football.
This performance was particularly notable considering the opponent and setting. Iowa came into the week with the top scoring defense in the country.
Smith is a shoo-in to win the Biletnikoff Award in his third and final season at Ohio State and is also now the clear betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy with +100 odds, per DraftKings Sportsbook. He has 44 catches for 823 yards and 9 TDs for the 4-1, No. 5-ranked Buckeyes.
7. Northwestern RBs Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himon II
There’s no separating these two and their impact on one of the most dominant performances of Week 5.
Northwestern rushed for 413 yards in a 34-13 win over Penn State — a historically humbling defeat for the Nittany Lions — as Caleb Komolafe went for 188 yards and a TD on 25 carries while Joseph Himon II needed only 10 touches to pile up 162 rushing yards and 2 scores.
Northwestern is off to a 3-1 start with its lone loss coming against reigning national champion Indiana in a game that went down to the wire.
8. Syracuse WR Umari Hatcher
Not only did Umari Hatcher put up a gaudy stat line with 12 catches for 152 yards and 3 TDs but he also scored the game-winning touchdown in 42-41 overtime victory at Connecticut.
Hatcher’s game-winning 17-yard touchdown came on fourth-and-goal after Connecticut had scored to start overtime. Quarterback Amari Odom then rushed in for the go-ahead two-point conversion to end the game.
Hatcher also had TD receptions of 40 and 41 yards in the first half as Syracuse built a 27-7 lead before needing to salvage the win in overtime.
9. San Diego State LB Cameron Cooper
Cameron Cooper was tasked with filling in for star linebacker Tano Letuli, a three-year team captain for San Diego State, and goodness was Cooper up to the task.
In addition to a season-high 7 tackles, Cooper had both an interception return for touchdown and a block field goal in a 31-29 win over Texas State.
His field goal block came in the second quarter, denying a kick that could have put Texas State up 20-3. Every point would matter in the come-from-behind 2-point win.
Then in the fourth quarter, Cooper’s 32-yard pick-6 put SDSU ahead 31-22 with 2:47 left to play, giving the Aztecs just enough cushion to hang on for the win.
San Diego State needed it too, improving to 2-3 with the victory.
10. Georgia State QB Cameron Brown and LB Xavier Esquillen
Georgia State went 1-11 last season and winless in Sun Belt play.
The Panthers are now 4-1 and won their conference opener Saturday, 42-10 over Old Dominion.
The circumstances help put a pair of Panthers in the last spot here, sharing a Game Ball for their contributions in the program’s first Sun Belt victory since 2024.
Quarterback Cameron Brown completed 14 of 20 passes for 284 yards, a program-record 6 TDs and 0 INTs while linebacker Xavier Esquillen set a program single-game record with 3 sacks and also had 2 forced fumbles (1 leading to a turnover) and 5 tackles, keying a defensive performance in which Georgia State held Old Dominion to just 146 yards. That is also a program record for the Panthers.
Esquillen’s big forced fumble came on a sack in the third quarter that set Georgia State up 15 yards from the end zone for a short touchdown drive and 35-3 lead.
Honorable Mentions
North Texas RB Jahiem White: The West Virginia transfer had 32 carries for 219 yards and a TD with a long run of 84 yards in a 45-44 overtime win on the road at Tulsa.
Missouri QB Austin Simmons: Simmons gets second billing behind Roberts from Missouri’s big win over Florida, but he was very impressive in completing 23 of 30 passes for 340 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs. The Ole Miss transfer has been excellent for the Tigers with 1,287 yards, 13 TDs and 0 INTs.
SMU EDGE Marques White: The pass rusher had 7 tackles, 3 sacks and forced a fumble in the third quarter that set up a short 13-yard TD drive and 9-point lead in a 25-16 win over Boston College.
South Alabama WR Anthony Eager: Eager had more yards Saturday than in his other three games combined this season, catching 4 passes for 168 yards and 2 scores in a 52-35 win over Louisiana Monroe. His catches went for 48, 16, 35 and 69 yards with the last two resulting in touchdowns.
Indiana QB Josh Hoover and RB Turbo Richard: The Hoosiers rolled to a 47-15 blowout win over Rutgers behind two incredibly efficient performances from Hoover (20-of-27 passing for 251 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs) and Richard (13 carries for 204 yards and 1 TD a week after leaving the game early with an ankle injury).
Nebraska QB Anthony Colandrea and WR Kwazi Gilmer: Nebraska improved to 5-0 with a 48-23 win over Maryland. Colandrea passed for 238 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT and rushed for a team-high 108 yards on 10 attempts. Gilmer had 11 catches for 147 yards and 2 TDs.
Toledo RB CJ Miller: A transfer from Mercer, Miller had a quiet start to his first season at Toledo while not reaching double-digit carries through the first four games and totaling 150 rushing yards. That all changed in a 39-24 win at Ball State on Saturday as Miller rushed for 196 yards and 2 TDs on 20 carries (9.8 YPC), including a 68-yard TD run in the final 2 minutes to put the game out of reach and send Toledo to a 4-1 record.
Baylor QB DJ Lagway: The Florida transfer had his best game with Baylor on Saturday, throwing for 306 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs while adding a rushing TD in a 55-19 win at Arizona State.
Memphis QB Marcus Stokes: Stokes was near-perfect in a 59-8 win at Charlotte, completing 20 of 25 passes for 318 yards, 5 TDs and 0 INTs along with 61 rushing yards — all while only playing three quarters. He set the tone early with a 93-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter.
Florida State QB Ashton Daniels: Daniels has had a rough first season at Florida State with 6 passing TDs and 6 INTs, and he wasn’t great through the air Saturday vs. Virginia, throwing for just 183 yards and a pick. But he made up for it on the ground with 136 rushing yards and 5 TDs on 17 attempts to lead the Seminoles to their biggest win of the season, 38-7 over the Cavaliers.
