Y-Option's Go Go Go Awards - Week 8
Our distinct take on college football weekly awards and as always, seen through the lens of the West Coast
Week 8 was another topsy turvy adventure for West Coast football. Oregon kept their momentum from the Ohio State victory, shutting out Purdue, on their way to the #1 spot in the AP Top 25. UCLA picked up their 1st ever Big Ten win (naturally on the east coast), Washington State improved to 6-1 and Colorado put a Homecoming hurtin’ on Arizona. But heartbreak was once again a theme for the West Coast schools with USC, Cal, Oregon State and Utah all missing last minute chances to tie or win the game while Arizona State is kicking themselves after falling on the road in Cincinnati.
A reminder on what these awards are: they will honor the top players and coaches of the week through the eyes of the West Coast. The 4 honors we will give out every week to coaches and players that pump passion into every play and just keep GO GO GO-ing:
“My 5-Star QB” - whether or not you were a 5-star recruit out of high school, you played like one this weekend.
“Go Go Gone” - the most explosive player of the week. Think big chunk plays as explosives and turnovers are the biggest predictor of wins and losses.
“That Dude!” - player who made an impact on either side of the ball. Not always about your numbers on the stat sheet.
“Headset Hero” - either a head coach or assistant coach who had their team ready and/or made the right in-game adjustments
Here are our Week 8 winners as we keep you in the know and on the GO GO GO!
“My 5-Star QB” - UCLA QB Ethan Garbers
It took their furthest trip east of the season, but UCLA picked up their first conference win as a member of the Big Ten conference. And look no further than a career-day by their 5th year senior quarterback Ethan Garbers. A 4-star recruit in the Class of 2020 who originally signed with Washington out of Corona Del Mar HS in Newport Beach transferred to UCLA following his freshman season and Saturday was his best game in a Bruins uniform.
In the 35-32 win at Rutgers, Garbers set career highs in completions (32), completion percentage (84.2), pass yards (383) and pass touchdowns (4) with 1 TD pass in each quarter. He was actually responsible for all 5 of UCLA’s touchdowns, adding a 49-yard TD run in the 2nd quarter.
The passing yards and pass TD were both the most since Garbers’ predecessor at UCLA in Dorian Thompson Robinson. DTR threw 4 scores in the 2022 win over then #11 Utah and you have to go back to 2019 to find more passing yards, when DTR put up 507 at then #19 Washington State. Thompson-Robinson actually made his 2024 debut for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday after starter Deshaun Watson was injured, with 82 yards passing and another 44 on the ground before leaving the game with a finger injury.
“Go Go Gone” - Washington State QB John Mateer
When it comes to explosive plays, few quarterbacks in the country can do it through the air and on the ground like Washington State’s John Mateer. And those dual threat skills were on full display in Saturday’s 42-10 win over Hawai’i.
The redshirt sophomore put on a clinic going 23-27 for 295 yards in the air with 3 passing touchdowns while adding 34 yards on the ground with another 2 scores. It’s the 10th time this season that an FBS QB has thrown for at least 3 scores and rushed for at least 2 more in the same game and the only WSU quarterback to do it since at least 1996.
Mateer had 2 runs of 10+ yards on Saturday, including a 14-yard TD keeper, to give him 24 runs of 10+ yards on the season which is tied for 9th most in FBS and 3rd among QBs. The Cougar quarterback also had 5 completions of 20+ yards in that game with 3 of them going for 30+ yards. Mateer has 18 completions of 30+ yards on the season, tied for the 2nd most in FBS with Georgia’s Carson Beck.
“That Dude!” - Oregon OLB Matayo Uiagalelei
Coming off the huge win over Ohio State in Eugene, it would have been human nature to have some sort of letdown when Oregon visited Purdue on Friday night. However the Ducks dominated on both sides of the ball in a 35-0 win over the Boilermakers.
The defensive effort is even more pronounced as they did it for the 2nd straight week without star Jordan Burch. But with former Top 50 recruit Matayo Uiagalelei leading the way, Oregon got their first road shutout since 1992 at Oregon State and the defense held Purdue to just 93 yards passing.
Uiagalelei had 2 TFL and a sack in the win, his 3rd straight game with a sack. The sophomore now has 5.5 sacks on the season, tying him for 12th most in FBS as the Ducks are now 7-0 for the first time since 2013.
“Headset Hero” - Colorado head coach Deion Sanders
On December 3, 2022 Colorado AD Rick George introduced their new head coach and the “Coach Prime” era was launched in Boulder. While the 2023 season for the Buffs saw more success in marketing and TV ratings than wins on the field, the foundation was being laid.
2024 brought higher expectations and plenty of skepticism but so far this season, Deion Sanders team has answered the bell with a 5-2 record and 3-1 in Big 12 play. Saturday saw the Buffs dismantle an Arizona team that also had lofty goals this season but suffered a 34-7 beatdown on Homecoming. And they did it with Heisman candidate Travis Hunter sitting out the 2nd half to rest his sore shoulder.
The Buffs are 3-1 on the road this season with all 3 road wins by at least 19 points. Its the first time Colorado has pulled in 3 road wins in a season since their Pac-12 South Champion 2016 season and 3 straight road wins in the same season for the first time since 1996. While an offense with Shedeur Sanders will always be elite, the defense (under new DC Robert Livingston) has improved drastically allowing a season-low 245 total yards to the Wildcats, forcing 3 turnovers and registering a season-high 7 sacks.
Another excellent round of Go-Go-Go choices and narratives. There are certainly some very talented QB’s getting the job done.
Loving it Yogi...Great to have a West Coast Guy who gets West Coast Football! Will be coming out with an article of my own pleading for Gonzaga to add football. For the PAC to grow and be taken seriously, we need the Zags to step up and add football. Spokane is the biggest city between Seattle and Chicago not to have major college football.