Top 5 Wide Receiver Performances of Week 12 College Football: Xavier Restrepo, Brennan Presley, more

November 20, 2023

Justin's NCAA college football top wide receivers from Week 12 of the 2023 season. Top WR performers include Xavier Restrepo and Brennan Presley.

Week 12 of college football is over and we saw a number of impressive performances this week. Eight wide receivers went for over 150 yards. Some of those players are mentioned below, but a quick shoutout to the players who aren't: Ashtyn Hawkins (Texas State), Joshua Cephus (UTSA), Luther Burden III (Missouri), and Kris Mitchell (Florida International).

One thing I want to do every week here (since there's not an article specifically for them) is shout out the top tight end of the week. This week, that honor goes to TCU's Jared Wiley, who caught seven passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns in the Horned Frogs' 42-17 victory over Baylor. He was one of 10 different tight ends to score two touchdowns in Week 12. One of those players, Maliq Carr from Michigan State, also had 100 yards in his team's game.

Below are the top five wide receiver 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. Ricky White - UNLV

This UNLV team is so much fun. In Barry Odom's first season as head coach, the Rebels are 9-2 and the team ranks 19th in points per game.

Wide receiver Ricky White has been on fire over the last four games. His lowest yardage total in that span? 144 yards last week against Wyoming. This week against Air Force, White caught eight passes for 169 yards and a touchdown.

White's now up to 71 catches for 1,197 yards and seven touchdowns on the season, with five of those touchdowns coming in the past four games. He leads the Mountain West Conference in receiving yards and ranks fourth in the conference in receptions.

4. Malachi Corley - Western Kentucky

The Western Kentucky offense was so much fun to watch in 2021 and 2022, but it's taken a step back this year, with the team ranking 59th in FBS in points per game. Not bad, but this isn't the Bailey Zappe-led Hilltoppers anymore. Still, there are some fun players on the team.

One of those is Malachi Corley, who caught 101 passes for 1,295 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. This year, he's having another strong campaign, as he's caught 69 passes for 906 yards and 10 touchdowns through 10 games.

On Saturday against Sam Houston, Corley caught 10 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown. It was the fourth game in a row that he's found the end zone, but his first game going over 100 yards since the Oct. 5 win over Louisiana Tech, when Corley had eight catches for 207 yards and three touchdowns.

3. Malik Nabers - LSU

LSU just absolutely hammered Georgia State this week, winning 56-14. Quarterback Jayden Daniels threw six touchdown passes in the victory, with four different players catching those.

Three LSU players had over 100 receiving yards in the game. Brian Thomas Jr. caught four passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. Kyren Lacy had five catches for 101 yards and two scores.

Then there was Malik Nabers, who brought down eight passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. This marked the fourth game in a row that Nabers has finished with over 100 receiving yards. He's up to 1,424 yards and 12 touchdowns on the season. He currently leads FBS in receiving yards while ranking sixth in receptions and fourth in touchdowns. We've got another elite LSU receiver on our hands.

2. Brennan Presley - Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State's offense was pretty unstoppable against Houston on Saturday. Sure, a big part of that was because the Cowboys have arguably the best running back in the country, Ollie Gordon II, but the passing game made an impact as well in the 43-30 victory. OSU quarterback Alan Bowman threw for 348 yards in the game, with 189 of those going to one player: Brennan Presley.

Presley wound up catching 15 passes, over half of Bowman's completions. He didn't find the end zone, but it was still a huge game for Presley. This was his first 100-yard game since last November, when he had nine catches for 118 yards against Oklahoma, and the first time since the team's 2021 game against Notre Dame that he finished with double-digit receptions.

The Cowboys had a fairly awful loss to UCF last week, but have won six of their last seven games overall. This is a dangerous team. I wouldn't want to play them in a bowl game.

1. Xavier Restrepo - Miami

One week after he was held without a catch against Florida State, Miami's Xavier Restrepo exploded for 193 receiving yards on Saturday against Louisville. He did it on eight receptions and scored his first touchdown in over a month.

Restrepo was playing excellent football to begin the season, with 100-plus yards in three of Miami's first five games, but he hadn't hit the mark since the loss to Georgia Tech. In fact, in the five games that followed that one, he went over 50 yards just one time.

Saturday's game was a reminder of how good Restrepo can be, though Miami went on to lose its third game in a row. The Hurricanes now sit just 6-5 on the year and 2-5 in ACC play. The Mario Cristobal tenure sure isn't going the way this program expected it to go.

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