Folsom Five Stars – Week 5

1 – Illinois QB Luke Altmyer (vs. #21 USC)

20/26 – 328 yards – 2 touchdowns / 28 yards rushing – 1 touchdown

The Illini had a prime bounce back opportunity on Saturday after an embarrassing defeat by Indiana the week prior and they capitalized on it with a 34-32 victory over a previously unbeaten USC team. After a late charge by the Trojans in which they took a 32-31 lead, Altmyer led a two-minute drive to set up a 41-yard game winning field goal to right the ship. It was a much needed performance from Altmyer after a poor showing in the blowout loss to Indiana, but with a fairly light Big Ten schedule moving forward (only current Top 25 team is a home contest with Ohio State in a few weeks) the Ilini should be able to build off this win and contend for 10 wins. They’ll travel to Purdue next week for a 12pm kick on the Big Ten Network.

2 – Virginia QB Chandler Morris (vs. #8 Florida State)

26/35 – 229 yards – 2 touchdowns – 3 interceptions / 37 rushing yards – 3 touchdowns

Rarely does a player who committed multiple turnovers make the cut for the Five Stars but the gutsy performance from Chandler Morris in the Cavaliers upset over top ten Florida State made him hard to leave off. After going up 14-0, Virginia let the Seminoles back into the game and eventually found themselves down 21-14. It felt like the upset was potentially off the table, but Morris gutted out an injury and found the end zone five times in the Cavaliers 46-38 field storming win on Friday night. Virginia is off to its best start in years (4-1) but will have another tough test with a trip to Louisville next week for a 3:30 kickoff on ESPN2.

3 – Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson (vs. #24 TCU)

8 receptions – 126 yards – 2 touchdowns

The Sun Devils picked up a big 27-24 win on Friday night over a previously unbeaten TCU squad. Tyson, well regarded as one of the best receivers in the country, showed what he was about after Arizona State found themselves down 17-0 in the second quarter. Sam Leavitt found Tyson for a 57 yard score in the second quarter to get within ten points before the Devils would eventually equal things up in the third quarter. With just under 2 minutes left in the game, Tyson would score again on a four yard pass to even it up at 24 before the Sun Devils eventually forced a fumble (more on that later) and won on a field goal. Tyson is already building on a huge 2024 campaign with seven touchdowns through five games and is on pace to surpass the 1,000 yard mark in back to back seasons. Arizona State will get a bye week before continuing Big 12 play by hosting Utah.

4 – Arizona State DE Prince Dorbah (vs. #24 TCU)

3 sacks – 4 tackles for loss – 1 forced fumble

Back to back Sun Devils in this weeks Five Stars, and for good reason. The sixth year senior pass rusher sacked TCU quarterback Josh Hoover three times on Friday night, including a forced fumble deep inside Frog territory late in the fourth quarter that would set up the game winning field goal. Dorbah is looking for a bounce back season in 2025 after posting a six sack season in 2023, and a big year for the super senior would go a long way in securing the Sun Devils another Playoff berth.

5 – Ohio State DE Caden Curry (vs. Washington)

9 solo tackles – 3 sacks – 5 tackles for loss

Washington was a trendy upset pick heading into the weekend, with a notoriously raucous crowd in Seattle and a Buckeyes offense that hasn’t looked nearly as explosive as in previous years, but the Buckeye defense smothered the Huskies offense in the trenches and it was led by the performance from Curry. A longtime depth piece for the Buckeye defense, Curry is already having a career year (surpassing career highs across the board in just four games). The Husky offense moved the ball a couple of times but every time they entered the red zone, the presence of Curry and company was simply too much and forced multiple field goal attempts (one resulting in a failed trick play). With plenty of question marks after the departure of Jim Knowles, this unit has come to play early on and they’ll look to continue it when they play host to Minnesota next Saturday night on NBC and Peacock.