College football Week 5 lived up to its preseason billing, delivering a sensational showing of sporting brilliance from the minute Army and East Carolina kicked off on Thursday, to the final whistle of BYU and Colorado late on Saturday night. But which players put together the best individual performances in a week that provided a perfect advertisement of the sport?
Our college football players of the week, powered by the PFSN suite of impact metrics, highlight that greatness.
Quarterback of the Week: Devon Dampier, Utah
Week 5 PFSN College QBi Grade: 93.4 (A)
After a humbling at the hands of the Texas Tech Red Raiders a week ago, the Utah Utes rebounded in style against the West Virginia Mountaineers, with quarterback Devon Dampier earning his place among our college football players of the week with a one-man demolition job on their Big 12 opponent. The Utes were never troubled on their way to a 48-14 win on the road.
Dampier accounted for every single touchdown in the first half, throwing four scores and rushing for a fifth. He ended the game with 270 total yards and five scores, taking the foot off the gas in the second half. His clean pocket EPA per dropback (1.21) ranked fourth in the country in Week 5, while only one quarterback converted more of their money downs (87.5%) this weekend.
Honorable mentions: Jacob Conover, Utah State; Luke Altmyer, Illinois; Micah Alejado, Hawaii; LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina; Julian Sayin, Ohio State
Offensive Player of the Week: Emmanuel Henderson, WR, Kansas
Week 5 PFSN College WRi Grade: 89.4 (B+)
Emanuel Henderson cracks our college football players of the week for the second time after one of the most outstanding performances of Week 5. Last time he was recognized for his contributions on special teams, but this time around, his receiving prowess came to the fore as he emerged as the big-play threat for the Kansas Jayhawks in the 2025 season.
Henderson reeled in five receptions from seven targets, piling up a nation-leading 214 yards with two touchdown grabs. He averaged 24.8 yards after the catch per reception (almost double his closest competitor), while also registering 7.38 yards per route run. Only one other receiver had a higher EPA per target (2.15) than the Jayhawk juggernaut in Week 5. Electric.
Honorable mentions: Antwan Raymond, RB, Rutgers; Turbo Richard, RB, Boston College; Chase Sowell, WR, Iowa State; Mason Williams, TE, Ohio; Emmanuel Pregnon, OL, Oregon
Defensive Player of the Week: Caden Curry, EDGE, Ohio State
Week 5 PFSN College EDGEi Grade: 89.0 (B+)
The Ohio State Buckeyes vs. the Washington Huskies promised to be one of the most entertaining games on the Week 5 slate, with the home team boasting one of the best offenses in the country. However, they were completely dominated by the Buckeyes defense, in a performance that was one of the most dangerous displays that we’ll see this season.
At the heart of it was defensive lineman Caden Curry, whose versatility saw him line up all over the Buckeyes’ front. The headline numbers from the eye-popping outing were three sacks and five tackles for loss, turning 75% of his pressures into tangible production. He was a problem in all phases of the game, with an average tackle depth of 1.6 yards evidencing his ability to snuff out the run game before it had a chance to develop.
Honorable mentions: Cameron Ball, DL, Arkansas; Santana Hopper, DL, Tulane; Dani Dennis-Sutton, DL, Penn State; Rasheem Biles, LB, Pittsburgh; Keith Abney II, DB, Arizona State; Noah Avinger, DB, Utah State; Kerry Brown, DB, Minnesota
Special Teams Player of the Week: David Olano, Illinois
An All-Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2024, David Olano is hardly a stranger to performing in the big spots. However, as the Illinois Fighting Illini looked to vanquish a catastrophic beating by Indiana a week ago, Bret Bielema heaped the weight of the program on his junior kicker’s shoulders (or foot) with the Illini down by a point at the end of a shootout with the USC Trojans.
Olano never flinched, nailing a 41-yard field goal through the uprights to take Illinois to 4-1 on the season. Not only did the Illini kicker nail the walk-off field goal, he was perfect on all his kicks on Saturday afternoon, contributing 10 points to the cause as Bielema’s team got its season back on track in Week 5.
Honorable mentions: Gabriel Plascencia, K, San Diego State; Ethan Sanchez, K, Houston; Curtis Harris-Lopez, KR, James Madison; Simon McClannan, P, Kansas State; Hunter Green, P, San Diego State; Bryson Hammer, PR, Toledo
Freshman Player of the Week: CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame
Although the Notre Dame Fighting Irish haven’t enjoyed the start to the season that most expected, Marcus Freeman’s team is starting to find its rhythm behind true freshman quarterback CJ Carr. The former four-star recruit has been getting better with every outing, and against the Arkansas Razorbacks in Week 5, he tied a program freshman record with four touchdown passes.
Showing maturity beyond his years, Carr surgically picked apart the Razorbacks’ defense, recording a 2.14 clutch sum that ranked 15th in Week 5. With a 1.25 clean pocket EPA per dropback and a 0.85 opposition half EPA per dropback, the Notre Dame quarterback earned an 87.2 PFSN College QBi score, ranking fifth among all passers this weekend.
