Shirtless fans, $500K kick: Week 9's CFB superlatives

From more sets of fans going topless to coaches ready to do anything possible to help their teams out, it was another week in which some of the best game-day storylines came from nowhere near the actual field of play.

As always, we handed out a number of nontraditional superlatives paying homage to some of the sport's distinct oddities.

Shirtless section spotlight of the week: Virginia Tech

If you're a college football team enduring a listless start to the season, there's a decent chance by now that your fans have attempted to generate a spark by going shirtless. First it was Oklahoma State's Section 321 army in Week 7. Soon after, Wisconsin students unleashed their own shirtless section in a blowout loss to Ohio State, with UCLA also getting in on the action.

While UNC and Wake Forest also hopped on the latest trend, this week's spotlight goes to Virginia Tech for a simple reason: the game's final result. Hokies fans set the tone on Friday night, with Lane Stadium's bare-chested contingent proving to be a possible good luck charm -- Virginia Tech earned a late-night win against California. The Tar Heels came close to earning their first ACC win, taking Virginia to overtime, but couldn't get the job done.

Coolest postgame photo: Drew Mestemaker

North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker lit up the scoreboard on Friday night in his squad's 54-20 win over Charlotte. Mestemaker completed 37 of his 49 passing attempts, racking up four touchdowns... and a staggering 608 yards

After the game, Mestemaker paid homage to another legendary statistical outpouring -- recreating Wilt Chamberlain's iconic 100-point game photo by holding up a piece of paper with "608" written on it.

#GMG🦅 pic.twitter.com/vrDWFuDpQa

Kick of the week: Tyler from Vanderbilt

Normally, the weekly kicking competition on "College GameDay" produces lukewarm results. More kicks miss than split the uprights, and even the kicks that go through generally tend to be closer to "just barely" on the likelihood scale than "sure thing."

Not in Week 9.

Perhaps aided by the training his school offered -- Commodore kickers Brock Taylor and Nick Haberer gave out tips to students earlier in the week -- Vanderbilt student Tyler Hwang delivered what Kirk Herbstreit and Pat McAfee deemed to be "the best kick we've ever had" on Saturday morning.

Hwang's celebration didn't disappoint either -- he imitated the golf swing McAfee often used to punctuate big punts in his own playing days.

Most likely to still be ready to lace 'em up: Joe Harasymiak

With his squad down a number of players because of injury, Massachusetts head coach Joe Harasymiak added some new duties to his plate this week during practice: those of a scout team defensive back.

Unfortunately for the Minutemen, Harasymiak's contribution didn't help them in their matchup against Central Michigan, as they managed only 10 points in the first half.

Strongest commitment to diverse scoring methods: Dartmouth

Dartmouth enjoyed a big win over Columbia on Friday night, with the school's 49-3 triumph marking its largest margin of victory in over a decade.

The Big Green pulled away early on -- they led 21-0 by the end of the first quarter -- and did so with a wide variety of touchdowns. First, defensive back Tyson Grimm opened the scoring with a 75-yard pick-six. Quarterback Grayson Saunier found the end zone a few minutes later with a 24-yard run. Dartmouth's lead then ballooned to three scores thanks to a blocked punt return by No'Koi Maddox.

Just about every coach in the country stresses succeeding in all three phases in their game plans. But scoring via all three phases before the first quarter ends? Unheard of.

Most unique taunt: Oklahoma students

Ole Miss left Norman, Oklahoma, with a 34-26 win on Saturday to boost its College Football Playoff hopes -- and the action-packed contest brought some spice before the ball could even be kicked off. Rebels players looking toward the Sooner student section pregame may have seen an unusual taunt: the Gator chomp.

In most situations, Oklahoma fans doing the signature motion of another SEC school would appear outright bizarre. But this gesture (presumably) had a specific purpose -- Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has been linked to the recently vacated head coaching position at Florida, with ESPN's Molly McGrath reporting earlier in the week that Kiffin would be addressing said rumors with his squad.

Putting the team on his back award: Justin Joly

Remember that viral Madden clip a while back, where a player scores a touchdown with Greg Jennings despite his having broken his leg earlier in the game? NC State Wolfpack tight end Justin Joly did something similar with a 59-yard score. Joly didn't break his leg, fortunately (he appeared to pull a muscle and was on the exercise bike afterwards), but he definitely "put the team on his back."