The On3 players of the week from Week 1

Here are the On3 players of the week for the opening weekend of the season.

Each week, we will pick a player of the week in each Power 5 conference as well as an overall Group of 5 player of the week. Going forward, the players of the week will be named on Sundays. This week, the players of the week are being named on Tuesday because of games Sunday and Monday night.

ACC

EDGE Amare Barno, Virginia Tech

The buzz: The Hokies’ defense confounded Sam Howell and North Carolina all night, and Barno was a big reason. Tech got good pressure up the middle and from the edge, and Howell was under siege. Barno finished with six tackles, 1.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry in the upset of the then-No. 10 Tar Heels.

Big Ten

LB Ellis Brooks, Penn State

The buzz: Brooks was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter, but he certainly made his presence felt before that as part of a yeoman effort turned in by the Nittany Lions’ defense in a win over Wisconsin. Brooks had a team-high 11 tackles and added a sack, and played key role in helping hold Wisconsin to a paltry 3.1 yards per rush and just 3.8 yards per play.

Big 12

RB Bijan Robinson, Texas

The buzz: Robinson, a sophomore, received a ton of hype before the season, and he began to live up to it in the season-opening win over Louisiana, which was a trendy upset pick. Robinson had 20 carries for 103 yards and a TD, and also had four receptions for 73 yards and a score. That’s 176 yards of total offense on 24 touches, with two touchdowns, in a 38-18 win.

Pac-12

QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA

The buzz: His numbers don’t jump off the page, but he nevertheless had a big game in the Bruins’ win over LSU. UCLA rolled up 475 yards and physically beat up on Ed Orgeron’s Tigers. Thompson-Robinson completed only nine passes, but they went for 260 yards (that’s 28.9 yards per catch) and three TDs as he ran Kelly’s version of an RPO-based offense to perfection. The Bruins also rushed for 215 yards.

SEC

DT Jordan Davis and LB Nakobe Dean, Georgia

The buzz: Clemson-Georgia was all about defense, and Davis, Dean and the rest of the Bulldogs’ unit played at an incredibly high level all night. They pounded on Clemson QB D.J. Uiagalelei in the first quarter and kept pounding on him throughout, and the Tigers’ offense could get nothing going, finishing with just 180 total yards. Davis had three tackles, a sack and one other tackle for loss, and Dean had five tackles and two sacks. The middle of Georgia’s defense was basically impenetrable, and these two were a big reason.

Group of 5

QB Dillon Gabriel, UCF

The buzz: Gabriel threw a 100-yard pick-six in the first quarter and another interception that Boise State turned into points in the fourth quarter, but he also made enough plays to enable UCF to escape with the win in the first game for Knights coach Gus Malzahn. Playing in a different offense than the one used by former coach Josh Heupel, Gabriel struggled at times. But he played especially well for about the last 35 minutes as the Knights rallied from a 24-7 second-quarter deficit. Gabriel threw for 318 yards and four scores, and also rushed for 64 yards.