Folsom Five Stars – Week 13

1 – Kennesaw State QB Amari Odom (vs. Missouri State)

24/34 – 387 yards – 5 touchdowns / 32 rushing yards – 1 touchdown

The quest for Tennesaw remains on for the Owls after beating Missouri State 41-34 this weekend. Coming off a struggling performance in a lost to Jacksonville State last weekend, quarterback Amari Odom lit up the Bears defense for over 400 yards and 6 total touchdowns, including the game winner to Chase Belcher with 27 seconds left in the game. The Wofford transfer has had his ups and downs this season even with the Owls success, but a career best performance like this ahead of a season finale against Liberty and potential Conference USA Championship birth should have fans feeling ecstatic in year one under Jerry Mack.

2 – BYU RB LJ Martin (vs. Cincinnati)

32 carries – 222 yards – 2 touchdowns / 3 receptions – 44 yards

The Cougars secured a trip to the Big 12 Championship on Saturday night after beating Cincinnati 26-14 on the road and pushing their record to 10-1 for the regular season. Martin, a junior from El Paso and one of the nations premier running backs, was the bell cow he needed to be for the Cougars as he went over 250 yards from scrimmage on 34 touches and secured the win with a 33 yard run with just under a minute left to put it out of reach for the Bearcats. With his career best performance, Martin went over 1,000 yards on the season (currently 7th nationally) and will get another shot at Texas Tech, who held the star back to just 35 yards a few weeks back in the Cougars lone loss. First though, BYU will host a floundering UCF squad in the season finale.

3 – South Alabama RB Kentrel Bullock (vs. Southern Miss)

23 carries – 187 yards – 3 touchdowns

It’s been a rough season for the Jaguars, who entered the contest this weekend at 3-8 with little upside after departures of key players like Gio Lopez and Fluff Bothwell this past offseason. However, on Saturday they pulled off a nice late season upset over a revamped Southern Miss squad with Sun Belt Championship aspirations. Bullock, a super senior who was once at Ole Miss, put up career highs with 187 yards on the ground and 3 touchdowns for the Jags and reeled off a 64 yard score midway through the 4th quarter that was enough to secure the 42-35 win. Bullock is now over 1,000 yards for the season and will look for one last hurrah against a Texas State defense allowing 170 yards on the ground per game.

4 – Pittsburgh LB Braylan Lovelace (vs. #16 Georgia Tech)

4 tackles – 1 interception – 1 touchdown

The Panthers kept their ACC Championship hopes alive on Saturday night with a 42-28 road win over 16th ranked Georgia Tech. After going up 28-0 early in the second quarter, the Yellowjackets made a few comeback attempts and were on the verge of making it a one score game in the third quarter. Inside the Panthers red zone, Haynes King tossed a back breaking interception at the goal line to Panthers defender Lovelace who returned it 100 yards for the score and creating a massive 14 point swing that would ultimately put the Jackets too far behind. It was a strong effort from the Panthers a week after a disastrous effort against Notre Dame, and they’ll host 13th ranked Miami in the season finale next week in a critical ACC matchup

5 – Stanford Defense (vs. California)

10 points allowed – 5 sacks – 3 fumbles – 2 touchdowns

The Cardinal won The Game 31-10 on Saturday night behind a stout effort from their defense. Three forced fumbles, including two that went for touchdowns in the second quarter alone, and a stout effort from the defensive front to register five sacks, nine tackles for loss, and hold Cal to the equivalent of a slight jog in the running game. Stanford is just 4-7 on the season and has to close the season with Notre Dame, but I have plenty of confidence in the program moving forward under Andrew Luck (who continues to be an excellent sideline interview) and I would imagine we will hear an announcement about their new head coach in the next week or two.