AP Player of the Week: Gamecocks' Sellers piled up 397 yards total offense, 5 TDs against Oklahoma

The Associated Press

Nov 2, 2026

The Associated Press national player of the week in football for Week 9 of the season:

The Gamecocks' third-year starting quarterback passed for 301 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 96 yards and two TDs in a 42-25 win at Oklahoma. His 84-yard pass to DJ Black and 79-yard pass to Mazeo Bennett Jr. helped the Gamecocks build a 35-10 lead, and his 397 yards of total offense were a career high.

Sellers broke five runs of 10-plus yards and is the Southeastern Conference's leading rusher among quarterbacks with 75 yards per game and 6.2 per carry. He has passed for eight TDs and run for five during South Carolina's three-game win streak.

Washington wide receiver Chris Lawson caught 12 passes for 155 yards, both career highs, and made two huge plays in the final 2 minutes to beat Nebraska 17-10. The well-covered Lawson somehow caught a 24-yard pass and stayed inbounds as he was falling backward to convert a fourth-and-18 and two plays later he scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 25-yard catch-and-run.

Duke RB Nate Sheppard ran for a school-record five touchdowns and finished with 97 yards on 20 carries in a 47-2 win over Boston College; Boise State backup QB Max Cutforth threw three TD passes in the final 7 minutes in relief of injured starter Maddux Madsen for a 46-45 win over Texas State; Iowa State RB Aiden Flora ran 29 times for 221 yards and 2 TDs in a 51-49 win over Oklahoma State; Indiana WR Charlie Becker caught a 33-yard pass from backup QB Grant Wilson to set up Paddy McAteer's 60-yard field goal to force overtime and caught a 25-yard pass for the winning TD in a 23-16 win over Minnesota; Air Force QB Kemper Hodges had 200 yards and four TDs on 35 carries, all career highs, in a 35-26 win over UConn; Georgia LB Chris Cole made a team-leading nine tackles with a sack and 66-yard strip-sack fumble return for a touchdown in 27-8 win over Florida; Jacksonville State QB Caden Creel ran 21 times for a career-high 211 yards and a TD and completed 11 of 17 passes for 109 yards and a TD in a 24-0 win over New Mexico State.

- Washington, which beat Nebraska 17-10, became the third Football Bowl Subdivision team this season to win a game despite never moving inside the opponent's 20-yard line, the red zone. The others to do it were Oklahoma in a 14-6 win over New Mexico and Ohio in a 13-10 win over Kent State.

- Louisville leads the nation with 65 big plays, defined as rushes of at least 10 yards and passes of at least 20.

- North Texas' Jahiem White, averaging 131.8 yards per game, is the third player in three weeks to be the national season rushing leader.

- Miami has come away with points on an FBS-best 61.3% of its possessions (57 of 93, including 51 TDs), according to Sportradar.

- Maryland has been outscored 71-10 in the fourth quarter over five conference games, a minus-61 differential that ranks last in the nation in conference play.

- Harvard's Xaden Benson leads all divisions, including the NCAA and NAIA, with nine interceptions after he picked off three passes in a 24-14 loss to Dartmouth on Friday. He also had three against Brown.

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AP voters: Aaron Beard, Pat Graham, Stephen Hawkins, Mark Long, John Marshall, Michael Marot, Steve Megargee, Eric Olson and Eddie Pells.

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