Top 5 Quarterback Performances of Week 11 College Football: Jayden Daniels, Dillon Gabriel, more

Week 11 of the college football season is now behind us. It was a week filled with strong play from the quarterback position, with 22 different players throwing for over 300 yards. Five of those went over 400 yards, including two players who just missed making this week's list of top performances.

Oregon's Bo Nix continued his Heisman-caliber season, throwing for 412 yards and four touchdowns in a 36-27 win over USC. He completed 74.2% of his pass attempts. Meanwhile, Toledo's DeQuan Finn threw for 407 yards and three touchdowns while being picked off once. He completed 85.2% of his attempts in a 49-23 win over Eastern Michigan.

Below are the top five quarterback performances from Week 11 of the college football season. These are judged through a combination of statistics, fantasy scoring, and game context, with consideration also given based on the team's offensive systems. Let's take a look at this week's top performances.

5. Jordan McCloud - James Madison

Second week in a row that James Madison quarterback James McCloud has made this list. Last week, McCloud was 28-for-36 for 307 yards and four touchdowns while also running for 104 yards and two scores.

How'd he follow that up this week? By throwing for 457 yards. McCloud was 33-for-27 in the team's 44-6 win over UConn and wasn't picked off. He currently leads the Sun Belt in completion percentage, passing yards per attempt, passing touchdowns, and passing efficiency rating.

McCloud has the Dukes at 10-0 on the season, with the team's 34.3 points per game ranking 23rd in the country. This is such an incredible football team, led by one of the best Group of Five quarterbacks in the country. It's a shame this team is still ineligible for the CFP because of its transition from FCS as they could make some noise in a New Year's Six game.

4. John Paddock - Illinois

John Paddock has had a journey in college. He spent four seasons as a bench player at Ball State before he claimed the starting job last season, throwing for 2,719 yards with 18 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Not a bad year, but also not a great year. After five years in Muncie, you might think that would have been where Paddock's college journey ended.

Instead, he transferred to Illinois this season, where he has been backing up Luke Altmyer. It looked like Paddock would spend his final season in that role, but an injury to Altmyer pushed Paddock into the starting lineup this week.

And whew, did Paddock have a game. In his first start of 2023, the former Ball State passer led the Illini to an overtime win over Indiana. He was 24-for-36 for 507 yards and four touchdowns in the win. He was picked off once. Prior to this game, Paddock's best game yardage-wise was last year against Northern Illinois when he threw for 403 yards.

3. Jalen Milroe - Alabama

Alabama's currently 9-1 on the season and will almost certainly be in a playoff spot if the team wins out. Who would have thought this team would be in this spot after the Texas loss?

Much of the credit for this team's improvement lies in the hands of quarterback Jalen Milroe. Last week, he ran for four touchdowns in a huge win over LSU. This week, he got things done with his arm and his legs, with Milroe going 15-for-22 for 234 yards and three touchdowns through the air. He was picked off once.

On the ground, Milroe's 36 rushing yards were a sizable drop from last week's 155 rushing yards, but he still got into the end zone three times on the ground as well. That makes it seven rushing touchdowns in a two-game span for Milroe. Just some incredible football lately from the Crimson Tide passer.

2. Dillon Gabriel - Oklahoma

Oklahoma needed a win this week. After their undefeated season came to an end against Kansas, the Sooners dropped the Bedlam game to Oklahoma State last week. On Saturday, the team welcomed West Virginia to Norman for a chance to get things rolling in a positive direction.

The result? A 59-20 win for the Sooners that saw Dillon Gabriel have his best performance of the season. The former UCF quarterback was 23-for-36 for 423 yards and five touchdowns. He wasn't picked off for the first time since Oct. 7 and he also added 11 carries for 50 yards, his third-most rushing yards of the season.

Gabriel now ranks first in the Big 12 in completion percentage at 75% and also leads the conference in passing yards with 3,069. Next time out, he should soar past last season's yardage and touchdown numbers, as he's currently tied with his 2022 numbers in the scoring department, with 25 passing touchdowns in both seasons.

1. Jayden Daniels - LSU

It's time we start to call LSU's Jayden Daniels the Heisman frontrunner, right? He's currently the FBS leader in passing yards per attempt, adjusted passing yards per game, passing touchdowns, passer efficiency rating, and total yards per play. He also leads the SEC in rushing yards per attempt, because why not? I get it, LSU has three losses, but Daniels has just played incredible football this season.

This week, Daniels had a dominant showing in a 52-35 win over Florida. He was 17-for-26 for 372 yards and three touchdowns in the victory while also adding 12 carries for 234 yards and two touchdowns.

This marks the third time this season that Daniels has gone over 100 yards on the ground, but the first time he did that while also adding over 300 passing yards to the equation. Just masterful work on Saturday from arguably the most exciting player in college football.

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