WSU's Connor Halliday retains passing yards lead despite bye week

Washington State probably won't even reach a bowl game this season.

But Cougars quarterback Connor Halliday appears to have the national yards passing title sewn up.

Halliday's 3,344 yards are nearly 700 more than anyone else — and he didn't even play this weekend.

Texas A&M's Kenny Hill had by far his worst game of the season on Saturday, throwing for just 138 yards in a 59-0 loss to Alabama. Hill is 695 yards behind Halliday.

West Virginia's Clint Trickett is third with 2,525 yards after helping the Mountaineers upset Baylor 41-27.

Halliday is also first nationally with 28 TD passes, and he should shatter the school's single-season record of 34 that he shares with Ryan Leaf.

Of course, all those numbers ring a bit hollow considering that the Cougars are 2-5.

Here are some of the notable performances from players who did suit up this weekend.

PASSING NOT SO FANCY: Just two quarterbacks, TCU's Trevone Boykin and BYU's Christian Stewart, threw for over 400 yards this week. Boykin was 26 of 39 passing with 3 TDs, and the Horned Frogs thrashed Oklahoma State 42-9 to improve to 5-1. Boykin has 14 TDs against just 3 interceptions in six games. Stewart, starting in place of the injured Taysom Hill, set career highs with 39 completions, 408 yards and four TD passes. But BYU lost to Nevada 42-35, dropping its third straight since Hill broke his leg.

RUN TO WIN: Seven players ran for at least 170 yards this week — and all seven of their teams won. Utah's Devontae Booker led the way with 229 yards and three touchdowns in a 29-23 win over Oregon State. Booker has cracked 150 yards in three straight games, and the surging Utes have won back-to-back Pac-12 road games. Georgia's Nick Chubb made Bulldogs fans temporarily forget the absence of star Todd Gurley with 202 yards in a 45-32 win at Arkansas. Minnesota's David Cobb (194 yards) and Central Michigan's Thomas Rawls (167 yards) became the fourth and fifth players to reach 1,000 yards rushing on Saturday, though Rawls and the Chippewas fell to Ball State 32-29.

THE DOC IS IN: TCU'S Josh Doctson had the game of his life in the rout of the Cowboys. Doctson caught TD passes of 77 and 84 yards from Boykin in the first quarter and finished with a career-high 225 yards on just seven receptions. Carlos Harris of North Texas had 15 catches for 216 yards in a 30-20 loss to Southern Mississippi, and Oklahoma's Sterling Shepard had 15 grabs in the Sooners' hard-luck loss to Kansas State.

BIG RETURNS: Seven players have returned a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns, and three of them; Oklahoma's Alex Ross, West Virginia's Mario Alford and Oklahoma State's Tyreek Hill, play in the Big 12. Marcus Murphy of Missouri, which used to play in the Big 12, joined the group by returning the opening kickoff 96 yards to kick start a rout of Florida. Murphy is the only player in the country with multiple kickoff return TDs and one punt return for a score. Ross leads the nation with 38 yards per kickoff return.

KICKIN' IT: There are just six qualified kickers who have yet to miss a field goal this season. Florida State's Roberto Aguayo leads the group with 14 made attempts, followed by Maryland's Brad Craddock with 12. But eight of Craddock's field goals have come from 40 yards and out — and he is 33 of 37, dating to the start of 2013. It is no coincidence that each of those six kickers is also perfect on PATs.

___

Follow Luke Meredith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/LukeMeredithAP