Top 5 Quarterback Performances of Week 12 College Football: Jayden Daniels, Frank Harris, more

November 20, 2023

Justin's NCAA college football top quarterbacks from Week 12 of the 2023 season. Top performers include Jayden Daniels and Frank Harris.

Week 12 of the college football season is now behind us. It was a week filled with strong play from the quarterback position, with 20 different players throwing for over 300 yards. Five of those went over 400 yards, including one, Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan, who just missed out on this list despite throwing for 402 yards.

In fact, this week's list was so hard to put together because there were so many big games. Notre Dame's Sam Hartman and UConn's Ta'Quan Roberson both miss the list despite throwing four touchdown passes. Jacksonville State's Zion Webb misses after rushing for 122 yards and three touchdowns, while Liberty's Kaidon Salter isn't here after running for 118 yards and two scores. There were just a lot of great performances from quarterbacks in Week 12.

Below are the top five quarterback performances from Week 12 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. Garrett Greene - West Virginia

West Virginia's Garrett Greene was unstaoppable on the ground this weekend in a 42-21 win over Cincinnati, carrying the ball 11 times for 154 yards and three touchdowns. It was the fourth time this season that Greene has had multiple touchdown runs in a game and the second time he's run for three scores.

(Quick aside here: three of those games, including both three-touchdown performances, came against the new Big 12 teams. This probably means nothing, but I just imagine Greene getting hyped up about beating the newcomers and putting the team on his back. WVU lost to Houston, but beat UCF, BYU, and Cincinnati, so...maybe there's some truth here.)

Greene was 12-for-19 for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception through the air. He's fourth in the Big 12 right now in touchdowns responsible for with 24.

4. Josh Hoover - TCU

Josh Hoover's first season as TCU's starting quarterback has gone...fine, I suppose. There's been good games. There's been bad games. He hasn't lived up to the legacy of Max Duggan, but he's thrown for 300-plus yards four times, with the Horned Frogs going 2-2 in those games.

Hoover led the Horned Frogs to a huge rivalry win over Baylor this weekend, with TCU coming out on top 42-17. The Bears just had no answer for the TCU offense, with Hoover going 24-for-29 for 412 yards and two touchdowns. He added another score on the ground with a three-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

This TCU team might be disappointing based on preseason expectations, but the one big positive to take out of this year is that Josh Hoover can play some ball. He's going to end up being a really good college quarterback in Fort Worth.

3. Bo Nix - Oregon

Bo Nix has played 11 games this season. He's completed at least 72% of his pass attempts in all 11 of them. It's almost unbelievable how Nix just hasn't managed to have a bad game all season.

On Saturday, Oregon tore Arizona State to pieces in a 49-13 victory. He was 24-for-29 for 404 yards and six touchdowns, which now makes for back-to-back 400-yard games for Nix. He's thrown 10 touchdowns and no picks in that span.

In fact, Nix has only been intercepted two times all season. He's the FBS leader in completion percentage and sits fourth in the FBS in passing yards and second in passing touchdowns. The Heisman battle is likely going to come down to Nix, Washington's Michael Penix Jr., and LSU's Jayden Daniels in very close race.

2. Frank Harris - UTSA

An injury-plagued final season has kept Frank Harris from reaching some of the heights he did earlier in his UTSA career, but Friday's win over South Florida was a reminder of just how dangerous Harris can be when everything comes together.

The Roadrunners won 49-21, with Harris accounting for six of the team's touchdowns. He was 31-for-46 for 411 yards and three touchdowns through the air while also adding 112 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

This was the first 400-yard passing game for Harris since last September, when he threw for 414 yards in a win over Middle Tennessee State. It was his first 100-yard rushing game since he had 124 yards against Rice last November. Just a monster game for Frank Harris here.

1. Jayden Daniels - LSU

LSU's Jayden Daniels had a really easy matchup this week as he faced a Georgia State Panthers team that entered the week on a three-game losing streak. Still, don't let that take anything away from the eye-popping numbers that Daniels put up in his team's 56-14 victory.

Daniels was 25-for-30 for 413 yards and six touchdowns in the game. That alone would probably have him at the top of this list. Maybe, at worst, he'd be top three. However, that wasn't all that Daniels did, as he also added 96 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

The FBS leaderboard at this point is just Jayden Daniels' name written over and over. He's the current leader in passing yards per attempt, passing touchdowns, and passing efficiency rating, while he's third in passing yards. He also sits second in the SEC in rushing yards and first in the conference in rushing yards per attempt.

If I had a vote, I'd just give Daniels the Heisman now. He's the most dangerous weapon in college football right now. You could make a valid argument that he's the best passer in college football while also being the most dangerous runner as well.

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