You could fill a book with the reasons why Purdue went 3-9 and Colorado went 10-4 last year. Aggressive pass defense would have an entire chapter.
Colorado's star-laden secondary helped the Buffs yielded just 193 passing yards 21.7 points per game. Two of their three NFL-bound defensive backs, cornerback Akhello Witherspoon and safety Tedric Thompson, combined for 46 passes defended. They had 23 apiece, or more than Purdue had as an entire team.
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Here are four other instances in which individual players significantly outproduced entire teams in 2016.
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Anthony Wales – RB, Western Kentucky
Total Touchdowns: 29
Entire teams failed to score 30 total touchdowns last year? Yes, quite a few actually.
Eight teams scored 29 or fewer touchdowns in 2016, including seven that had 28 or fewer. Anthony Wales surpassed that number by himself. The Western Kentucky running back scored an incredible 29 touchdowns, in addition to his 1,954 total yards. Among those with fewer were UConn (19) and a Hilltoppers' 2017 opponent, Illinois (28).
Though Wales fell well short of Barry Sanders' single-season touchdown record of 37, it was still one of the most productive seasons of the last decade from an FBS running back.
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Zay Jones – WR, East Carolina
Receptions: 158
Zay Jones set the FBS record for most receptions in a season (158) and career (399) during a sensational senior campaign. The Buffalo Bills' second-round draft pick's 158 receptions were more than 12 other FBS teams had. He had 26 more receptions by himself than Army and Air Force had combined.
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Tarvarus McFadden – CB, Florida State
Rasul Douglas – CB, West Virginia
Interceptions: 8
Tarvarus McFadden and Rasul Douglas tied for the FBS lead with eight interceptions. Each of their eight interceptions were more than nearly one-fifth of teams.
Twenty-five of 128 teams had seven or fewer interceptions, including a team that beat McFadden and the Seminoles: North Carolina. The Tar Heels had one single interception, or the same number that McFadden had in eight separate games.
In all, 254 players had more interceptions by themselves than North Carolina had as a team.
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Harold Landry – DE, Boston College
Sacks: 17
East Carolina had eight sacks the entire season. Boston College defensive end Harold Landry had eight sacks by himself by Oct. 22 — and he even missed their first game.
Landry had six games with more than one sack. The Pirates had two such games.
