It was hard to not pick Will Howard. It was the best game for the true freshman quarterback from Pennsylvania thus far this season, and he had a terrific third quarter. He finished 17 of 24 for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns and really settled in and had the game come to him and showed comfort within the offense for the first time.

With that being said, he didn't play at that high level for long enough to make me not give it to Deuce Vaughn once more. Deuce was the best player on the offense, still.

Vaughn had 71 rushing yards on 11 carries and 81 receiving yards on 4 catches. Not only that, he had another game with a ton of yards after the catch, while making Kansas linebacker Gavin Potter look stupid.

I gave a nod to Chabastin Taylor and Briley Moore, too. Deuce is the source of the offensive explosion for the Wildcats, but their most reliable options in the passing game continue to be Taylor and Moore. They are capitalizing on a very high percentage of their targets.

HONORABLE MENTION: Will Howard, Chabastin Taylor, Briley Moore

I also struggled with the defensive player of the game when analyzing it afterwards. I thought there was four candidates and they all had a similar impact, with no clear-cut answer.

Ekow Boye-Doe deserves recognition once again just because he is so reputable of a corner at this point that teams aren't going nearing him when attacking in the passing game.

Drew Wiley is probably the most consistent player on the defense right now. He might not have any splash plays that stand out, but he rises to the occasion every time the Wildcats are on the field and brings his lunch pail and goes to work.

Justin Gardner did have the splash play, but I do think that Mason Voth could have delivered on that one while blindfolded so the credit more goes to Jalon Daniels and Brent Dearmon.

For me, it came down to Wyatt Hubert and Boom Massie. They were the best, in my opinion, and it was so close. Boom has actually been the more consistent player this year and I already awarded Hubert earlier this year. Massie it is and it is well-deserved.

HONORABLE MENTION: Ekow Boye-Doe, Drew Wiley, Wyatt Hubert, Justin Gardner (Jalon Daniels), (Brent Dearmon)

If I get some flak for not picking a Kansas kid for any of these, I understand. I think they were just edged out in all three phases.

I can't give the special teams player of the game to anyone but Phillip Brooks. At least he's from Kansas City. If not Brooks, it would have went to Les Miles or Stanton Weber.

To continue to give Brooks chances is the steepest coaching malpractice I've seen in a power five college football game in some time and the buck stops with the Jayhawk head coach.

Stanton Weber was honored in the locker room after the game and he deserves it. The advantage that the Wildcats have in that phase of the game as soon as they step on the field is stark and he deserves credit for that, along with head coach Chris Klieman.

At the end of the day, Brooks had two scores and 189 yards. He wins.

HONORABLE MENTION: Brock Monty, Aamaris Brown, Stanton Weber, Tyler Burns