College Football

2013 college football: Top returning players, according to raw stats

Plenty of prolific players are back for the 2013 season. Based on the numbers, these are the names to watch.

Mar 14, 2013, 3:46 PM UTC

USA TODAY Sports

College football always reloads, because college football has Nick Saban. There are also other reasons, but Nick Saban. There are tons of productive players who are returning for 2013, and many more ready to step into the limelight with breakthrough seasons.

For our purposes here, we’re focused on the former group. Below you’ll find the top 10 returning players in a handful of major raw statistical categories. (All stats courtesy cfbstats.com.)

More: The most accurate passers by distance NFL Draft losses by school

Quarterback rating

Name	Team	Yr	Pos	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	TD	Int	Rating
AJ McCarron	Alabama	JR	QB	14	314	211	67.2	2933	9.3	30	3	175.28
Aaron Murray	Georgia	JR	QB	14	386	249	64.5	3893	10.1	36	10	174.82
David Fales	SJSU	JR	QB	13	451	327	72.5	4193	9.3	33	9	170.76
J.W. Walsh	Oklahoma State	FR	QB	10	163	109	66.9	1564	9.6	13	3	170.11
Tajh Boyd	Clemson	JR	QB	13	427	287	67.2	3896	9.1	36	13	165.58
Marcus Mariota	Oregon	FR	QB	13	336	230	68.5	2677	8	32	6	163.23
Teddy Bridgewater	Louisville	SO	QB	13	419	287	68.5	3718	8.9	27	8	160.49
Taylor Kelly	Arizona State	SO	QB	13	360	241	66.9	3040	8.4	29	9	159.45
Connor Shaw	South Carolina	JR	QB	11	228	154	67.5	1956	8.6	17	7	158.06
Brett Smith	Wyoming	SO	QB	10	330	205	62.1	2832	8.6	27	6	157.57

The list of the most efficient returning quarterbacks is led by a pair of SEC signal callers who played against each other in the conference title game last season and could do so again in 2013. McCarron wasn’t asked to carry the load for Alabama, and he didn’t need to - the Crimson Tide finished last season ranked sixth nationally in yards per carry. McCarron made the most of this run support and took care of the football, averaging an interception for every 100 pass attempts or so. Murray, meanwhile, led the conference in both yards per attempt and touchdown passes, and finished in the top five nationally in both categories.

Noticeably absent from this list is Heisman winner Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, but he didn't miss the top 10 by much. Manziel ranks No. 12 among returnees in this category and was the nation's third-most efficient freshman quarterback in 2012.

Rushing yards per game

Name	Team	Yr	Pos	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Att/G	Yards/G
Ka'Deem Carey	Arizona	SO	RB	13	303	1929	6.37	23	23.31	148.38
Antonio Andrews	WKU	JR	RB	13	304	1733	5.7	11	23.38	133.31
Jordan Lynch	NIU	JR	QB	14	294	1815	6.17	19	21	129.64
David Fluellen	Toledo	JR	RB	12	259	1498	5.78	13	21.58	124.83
Beau Blankenship	Ohio	JR	RB	13	312	1604	5.14	15	24	123.38
Kasey Carrier	New Mexico	JR	RB	12	255	1469	5.76	15	21.25	122.42
Zurlon Tipton	CMU	JR	RB	13	252	1492	5.92	19	19.38	114.77
James Sims	Kansas	JR	RB	9	218	1013	4.65	9	24.22	112.56
Adam Muema	SDSU	SO	RB	13	237	1458	6.15	16	18.23	112.15
Bishop Sankey	Washington	SO	RB	13	289	1439	4.98	16	22.23	110.69

Ka'Deem Carey thrived in Rich Rodriguez's offense last season and broke out in a huge way, leading the FBS in rushing yards; he also finished among the nation's top five in rushing touchdowns.

Aside from the running backs, there are several 1,000-yard quarterbacks returning, including Jordan Lynch and Johnny Manziel. Lynch carried the ball more often last season than any other quarterback, and by a wide margin.

Receiving yards per game

Name	Team	Yr	Pos	G	Rec.	Yards	Avg.	TD	Rec./G	Yards/G
Marqise Lee	USC	SO	WR	13	118	1721	14.58	14	9.1	132.4
Austin Hill	Arizona	SO	WR	13	81	1364	16.84	11	6.2	104.9
Austin Franklin	NMSU	SO	WR	12	74	1245	16.82	9	6.2	103.8
Jordan Matthews	Vanderbilt	JR	WR	13	94	1323	14.07	8	7.2	101.8
Davante Adams	Fresno State	FR	WR	13	102	1312	12.86	14	7.8	100.9
Alex Amidon	BC	JR	WR	12	78	1210	15.51	7	6.5	100.8
Noel Grigsby	SJSU	JR	WR	13	82	1307	15.94	9	6.3	100.5
Nick Harwell	Miami (OH)	JR	WR	9	68	870	12.79	8	7.6	96.7
Cody Hoffman	BYU	JR	WR	13	100	1248	12.48	11	7.7	96
Ryan Grant	Tulane	JR	WR	12	76	1149	15.12	6	6.3	95.8

Southern Cal's Marqise Lee is the nation's leading returning receiver, but he faces some uncertainty heading into the 2013 season -- the situation at quarterback is unsettled following Matt Barkley's departure, and just how it shakes out will affect Lee's production to some extent.

Elsewhere on the list, there are some impressively productive players who may have flown under the radar last season. Alex Amidon is one such case, buried as he was by the sadness machine otherwise known as Boston College football. He's the most prolific returning wide receiver in the ACC, and he should be Chase Rettig's favorite target again in 2013.

All-purpose yards per game

Name	Team	Yr	Pos	G	Rush	Recv.	Punt Ret.	Kick Ret.	Yards/G
Antonio Andrews	WKU	JR	RB	13	1733	432	234	767	243.5
Marqise Lee	USC	SO	WR	13	106	1721	0	856	206.4
Dri Archer	Kent State	JR	RB	14	1429	561	-4	591	184.1
Bernard Reedy	Toledo	JR	WR	13	63	1113	210	885	174.7
Ka'Deem Carey	Arizona	SO	RB	13	1929	303	0	16	172.9
Stefon Diggs	Maryland	FR	WR	11	114	848	221	713	172.4
Duke Johnson	Miami	FR	RB	12	947	221	0	892	171.7
Trey Watts	Tulsa	JR	RB	13	1108	343	154	586	168.5
Venric Mark	Northwestern	JR	RB	13	1366	104	280	416	166.6
David Fluellen	Toledo	JR	RB	12	1498	246	0	0	145.3

Antonio Andrews did a little bit of everything for Western Kentucky, and his heavy workload allowed him to lead the nation in all-purpose yards; he was the only FBS player to accumulate more than 3,000 all-purpose yards in 2012.

Lee makes another appearance here, and pair of ACC players with bright futures ahead of them figure prominently as well. Some of these players do most of their damage in one particular aspect of the game, while others, like Stefon Diggs, are pure terror in multiple roles.

Tackles for loss per game

Name	Team	Yr	Pos	G	TFL	TFL Yards	TFL/G
Will Sutton	Arizona State	JR	DL	12	23.5	124	1.96
Jadeveon Clowney	South Carolina	SO	DL	12	23.5	113	1.96
Kyle Van Noy	BYU	JR	LB	13	22	120	1.69
Carl Bradford	Arizona State	SO	LB	13	21.5	88	1.65
Anthony Barr	UCLA	JR	LB	14	21	103	1.5
Khalil Mack	Buffalo	JR	LB	11	20	89	1.82
Morgan Breslin	USC	JR	DL	13	19.5	107	1.5
Devonte Fields	TCU	FR	DL	13	18.5	91	1.42
Aaron Donald	Pittsburgh	JR	DL	12	18.5	78	1.54
Scott Crichton	Oregon State	SO	DL	13	17.5	76	1.35

There is plenty of talent represented by these numbers, but they are overshadowed by memories of Jadeveon Clowney, who was last seen destroying Michigan running back Vincent Smith. Clowney may be the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and he certainly will be the most prominent defensive player in the SEC this year. That hit on Smith will be tough to top, though.

Interceptions per game

Name	Team	Yr	Pos	G	Int.	Yards	TD	Int./G
Bené Benwikere	SJSU	JR	DB	13	7	152	1	0.54
Jonathan Dowling	WKU	SO	DB	12	6	111	1	0.5
Derron Smith	Fresno State	SO	DB	13	6	127	1	0.46
Jason Hendricks	Pittsburgh	JR	DB	13	6	64	0	0.46
Jason Verrett	TCU	JR	DB	13	6	16	0	0.46
Ed Reynolds	Stanford	JR	DB	14	6	301	3	0.43
Ty Zimmerman	Kansas State	JR	DB	11	5	67	0	0.45
Byron Moore	Tennessee	JR	DB	12	5	88	1	0.42
Lorenzo Doss	Tulane	FR	DB	12	5	79	0	0.42
Zachary McMillian	Houston	JR	DB	12	5	8	0	0.42

Only one player picked off more passes in 2012 than Benwikere, who also returned one of his picks for a score. He was part of an 11-win San Jose State team, and he could be one of the top defensive back prospects in the 2014 NFL Draft.

A trio of players led BCS-conference defensive backs with six interceptions, including the very opportunistic Ed Reynolds, who returned three picks for touchdowns. No one in the nation had more pick-sixes, and no one had more interception return yardage.

***

Those are just some of the players to keep an eye on this season. If there is one takeaway from these lists, it’s that Western Kentucky is one action-packed place. The Hilltoppers manufacture excitement, though few might be around to witness it.

If there’s a second takeaway, it’s holy cow let’s just watch that Clowney hit again.