The last week of November for a college football diehard is arguably the most wonderful time of the year.

It’s the time in which all three NCAA divisions have the playoffs going on, and with the FCS officially getting its bracket going this past weekend, the postseason drama is now in full swing all across the college football landscape.

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And, in especially good news for those of you who have followed Video Game Numbers throughout this college football season, the astounding performances of the week are still in full swing, as well.

Here’s a look back at some of college football’s craziest stats of Week 14 from all across the sport.

Paxton DeLaurent, QB, Southeast Missouri State (48-for-85 passing, 567 yards, four touchdowns vs. Illinois State)

There’s letting it fly, and then there’s tying the FCS record for passing attempts in a single game — all while battling a shoulder injury.

Yep, it sounds like Video Game Numbers-worthy material to us.

Though Southeast Missouri State was unable to win its FCS playoff opener against Illinois State this past weekend, that didn’t mean that the Redhawks’ record-setting quarterback (who also appeared in Week 2’s edition of Video Game Numbers earlier in the year) didn’t do all he could to try and rescue his team’s season in a 35-27 loss.

In one of the wackiest statlines that you’ll ever see for both good and not-so-good reasons, DeLaurent had at least 10 completions to three different receivers (Donnie Cheers, Cam Pedro, and Tristan Smith) and threw five interceptions to his four touchdowns, also running the ball eight times as he was directly involved in 93 of SEMO’s 100 total offensive plays in a marathon day.

Trying all he could to will the Redhawks to a late comeback after they were down 35-14 in the fourth quarter, DeLaurent had two of his passing touchdowns come in the fourth quarter as he tried over and over to get a spark going, coming up just short in the end but having a memorable performance to look back on in the meantime.

Though it wasn’t enough to get SEMO to the second round, DeLaurent’s day under center looked like a workout just watching it, making him a deserved two-time Video Game Numbers nominee.

Junior Bergen, WR/KR/PR, Montana (one catch, 12 yards, two punt return touchdowns vs. Tennessee State)

The Big Sky Conference’s senior associate commissioner, who was at Montana’s playoff victory over Tennessee State this past weekend, noted on social media that he saw TSU coach Eddie George, a Heisman Trophy winner, and first-team All-Pro in the NFL, telling Bergen that he looks forward to seeing him in the NFL someday.

Why? It’s because Bergen, after a ridiculous two punt returns for touchdowns in the Grizzlies’ 41-27 first-round win over the Tigers in Missoula this past weekend, is now officially the joint-greatest punt return man in FCS history — and someone that NFL scouts are undoubtedly keeping an eye on as a monster on special teams.

BERGEN DOES IT AGAIN! 🤯@bergen_junior has now tied the @NCAA_FCS record for career punt returns with 8️⃣!!#GoGriz pic.twitter.com/f4N3EMkMGy

— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) December 1, 2024

Bergen’s night on offense was slow, but that’s not why he’s on this week’s edition of Video Game Numbers. He’s made the list because after a pair of second-half punt returns for touchdowns — one from 52 yards, the other from 54 yards — he electrified Washington-Grizzly Stadium and willed the reigning FCS runner-up back to the second round of the playoffs, where it’ll now get South Dakota State this weekend in a rematch of last season’s national championship game.

Also, these types of nights aren’t uncommon for Bergen, especially in the playoffs in the western Montana chill; in the Griz’ past three home playoff games, Bergen has an almost beyond-belief five total return scores with four of them coming on punt returns. And speaking of punt return scores, Bergen has now tied Florida A&M’s LeRoy Vann for the FCS career record on punts taken back to the house with eight in his career, two shy of the all-NCAA record of 10.

Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ferris State (9-for-18 passing, 203 yards, one touchdown, 18 carries, 116 yards, four touchdowns vs. Central Oklahoma)

A burning question heading into Ferris State’s playoff opener against Central Oklahoma was how the Bulldogs would handle the Bronchos’ high-octane offense, which entered this past weekend second nationally in D-II in scoring offense at 46.7 points per game.

FSU (and Chambliss) simply reminded us all that it’s got a pretty good offense, too.

Chambliss ran the show as the signal-caller for the Bulldogs in a snowy 78-17 demolition of UCO in the second round of the D-II playoffs this past weekend, leading Ferris to the quarterfinal round of the bracket for the seventh time in eight seasons in the process. Tallying nearly 700 yards of total offense, Ferris, the top-seeded team in the Super Region 3 bracket, was money in just about everything that it did with the ball in its hands last Saturday as Chambliss pulled the strings, doing plenty of damage both with his arm and his legs by nabbing five total touchdowns. 

Highlights and scoring plays from @FerrisFootball's playoff win over Central Oklahoma! pic.twitter.com/xW4JqOOC9j

— Ferris Athletics (@ferrisathletics) November 30, 2024

In the run game in particular, he made for a devastating combination with runner back Kannon Katzer (200 yards rushing on 12 carries) as the pair combined for seven total rushing touchdowns — part of the 10 that the Bulldogs got on the ground in all against the Bronchos. And whenever UCO got too focused on trying to stop the run, Chambliss would eventually make them pay through the air, too, as he averaged 22.6 yards per completion. 

The Bulldogs have another fast-paced offense coming to town this weekend as defending national champion Harding and its patented flexbone attack attempts to end FSU’s season, but Chambliss will be more than happy to prove once again that his team can go toe-to-toe with any offense in D-II.

Robby Ballentine, WR, DePauw (nine catches, 194 yards, two touchdowns vs. Maryville (Tennessee))

Ballentine was held out of the endzone in DePauw’s Monon Bell Game win over hated rival Wabash to end the regular season, which was significant as a receiving touchdown there would’ve meant that Ballentine had caught at least one score in every game of the regular season.

With that being said, in the Tigers’ playoff opener last Saturday in the second round of the D-III playoffs, Ballentine shook off being shut out in his last game and got right back to work finding paydirt.

Visiting Maryville was no match for DePauw, which stayed unbeaten at 11-0 as Ballentine helped build up a Tigers lead — and helped keep it, too — in a 45-20 victory that got his team to the third round of the bracket this weekend at home against Johns Hopkins. 

DePauw opted for the running game early on as Caden Whitehead scored the Tigers’ first two touchdowns in the first half, but it wasn’t going to be long before Ballentine got in on the action. With seven seconds left in the first half, he caught a 29-yard pass from quarterback Nathan McCahill to beef up the Tigers’ lead to 24-6 at the break, and then he added some extra distance between DePauw and Maryville in the third quarter with a season-long 72-yard score that made it a 25-point lead for the hosts.

It was good timing for a season-best receiving yardage mark for Ballentine, whose touchdown double also was the seventh time this season that he had caught at least two scores in a single game. Breaking the 1,000-yard mark for the season in the meantime against the Scots, Ballentine will look to add even more accolades to his decorated season next week as DePauw’s playoff run keeps on rolling on.

Blake Eaton, QB, Linfield (18-for-22 passing, 291 yards, five touchdowns vs. Texas Lutheran)

Pretty much no one in any level of college football had as good of a playoff game as Linfield had in its D-III playoff opener than the Wildcats, who absolutely obliterated Texas Lutheran 65-3 to set themselves up for another home playoff matchup against a Texas team in Mary Hardin-Baylor this Saturday.

Eaton was the star of the show for Linfield — and even more impressively, the entirety of his above stat line came in the first half, too.

The junior only needed two-quarters of play to toss five touchdown passes and build up a 48-point first-half lead for now-10-1 Linfield, with the Northwest Conference champion racking up over 500 yards of total offense in a game that was over well before the final whistle. 

Throwing scoring passes of 18, 47, and 82 yards before barely even the halfway point of the first quarter, Eaton (who had only had more than two touchdown passes in a game once this season before this past weekend) made sure his day was done and dusted in the game’s early goings as the Wildcats had zero issues in handling the Bulldogs. An 8-yard pass to Jacob Sifka for six with 11 seconds left in the first half was his last of the day and also helped balloon Linfield’s lead to 51-3 at the intermission.

Tougher competition is probably coming for Linfield, but if Eaton has suddenly turned into a touchdown-throwing machine at just the right time, will the Wildcats be able to be stopped in the playoffs anytime soon?

The Wildcats keep it rolling! @LinfieldFB defeats Texas Lutheran in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament with a resounding 65-3 victory. The win earns them a Third Round home game against @CruFootball on Saturday. #d3fb #RollCats #catdome pic.twitter.com/64G3El2hgf

— Ryan Welch (@_RyanWelch) December 3, 2024

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When Do The 2024 FCS College Football Playoffs Start?

The FCS playoffs begin on November 30, 2024.

The 2024 Division I FCS College Football Championship game will be played on January 6, 2025, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

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