Washington State Helmet Stickers and Play of the Game

For a game full of studs, this week's selections were a bit tricky for all the good reasons. But when you really think about it, the choices were fairly obvious.

Offensive Player of the Game: Jahvid Best
Was there any real surprise? For the second week in a row, Best takes this week’s honors, although this week’s performance might have been even more impressive than last week’s. Best had 200 yards on the ground on only 14 carries, averaging a ridiculous 14.3 YPC. Oh and he also had 3 scores on the day. Two of the scores came on runs from 80 and 86 yards out.

Best already has 311 yards (which leads the conference) and 4 TDs on the season, well on his way to ensuring Cal has a consecutive 7th 1000 yard rusher.

They’re already talking Heisman with Jahvid Best. Oh and Jahvid has been named the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week, and is up for the USA Today Player of the Week. Go and VOTE! You can find the link here.

Honorable Mentions:
Shane Vereen: 9 carries, 80 yards, 1 TD
The Entire Offensive Line: 0 sacks and 391 yards rushing.
Nyan Boateng: 4 catches, 44 yards (led Cal receivers)


Defensive Player of the Game: Syd’Quan Thompson

I know, I know. It’s a bit of a cop-out to have the same two players as the players of the week back to back, but can you really blame me? Coming off the best game of his career, Syd’Quan out did himself with 2 interceptions, returning one for 90 yards before being tackled at the WSU 5 yard line. Thompson set a school record for INT return yards in a game.

This is the first time a Cal DB had 2 interceptions in a game since Daymeion Hughes did it against ASU in 2006 (remember the horse leap and kick over Rudy Carpenter?).

So the question is: Can Syd’Quan end up being BETTER than Hughes? He seems farther along than Hughes did at this point in his junior year. Scary.

Honorable Mentions:
Mike Mohamed: 7 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss (led team in tackles)
Zack Follet: 3 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, and returned a blocked FG for a TD

Play of the Game
C’mon man, there were 9 TDs and 4 interceptions (one taken for 90 yards) in that game and you’re asking me to pick just one?

Man…at this point it’s just drawing a name from a hat, but I guess I have to go with Best’s opening 80 yard TD run. Yeah, his 86 yarder in the 3rd quarter was longer. Yeah, Shane Vereen’s 39 yard run looked arguably more impressive. But no other play really set a better tone for what the game was going to be like.