Trying to single out college football’s best player is pretty easy this year – without much question, it’s been Louisville QB Lamar Jackson. But trying to figure out who has been the nation’s second-best player is much more fun, because that’s actually a debate. So let’s throw a handful of names out who I really like (in no order at all) and talk about them, cool? And let us know which players you really like (and why!) in the comments, we’d love to read about them.
- Deshaun Watson: Clemson’s quarterback beat Jackson last week, and while he’s gotten off to a slow start this year, he is still fantastic. Every time he makes a mistake, you go “this is all part of his plan for…something.” And every time he does something amazing, you go “well yeah, it’s Deshaun Watson, what else do you expect?” He’s so good that his great moments are second-nature to all of us.
- JT Barrett/Curtis Samuel: Ohio State has mowed through teams thanks to Barrett finding his form from 2014 and Samuel becoming a terror in the rushing (41 carries, 328 yards, 8 YPC, 2 touchdowns) and passing (24 targets, 23 catches, 345 yards, 3 touchdowns) games. The Buckeyes have like six other guys who can be on here. A team being this good at football is unfair.
- Jabrill Peppers: He’s a safety-turned-linebacker who can play some cornerback and is the single scariest return man in the nation, and if Jim Harbaugh ever wants to, he can throw Peppers on offense. Michigan’s superstar is the most versatile player in America and it’s not even close.
- Christian McCaffrey: We’ll talk about him more a little later in this post, but he’s still the man. He had 223 total yards (144 on returns, 49 rushing, 30 receiving) last week. By his standards, that’s an awful game, because he has very high standards of what is a good football game.
- Greg Ward: Houston may make the Playoff this year. If they do, it’ll probably be because Ward is able to out-duel Jackson on Nov. 17. Until then, he’ll probably keep slicing up defenses like he’s been doing all year.
- Myles Garrett: Texas A&M’s stud defensive lineman is the scariest football player in America and I cannot be convinced otherwise.
- Donnel Pumphrey: You’ve probably gone without watching the best running back in the country play for some time. You should change that. Find a San Diego State game and watch him cook.
- Ejuan Price: If you have a backfield, Pitt’s delightful defensive end probably lives in it.
That’s just an incredibly incomplete list! There’s so much talent in college football this year, it’s awesome. You should treat yourself and spend your Saturday watching these dudes play along with some of the other ultra-talented guys across America. Here’s a handy watch guide to help you figure out which dudes you’ll enjoy this weekend:
Friday
7:30 p.m.: Clemson at Boston College (ESPN)
Going to Chestnut Hill on a short week after an emotional, hard-fought win is always dangerous, plus Boston College is good for one inexplicable 10-6 win a year. Of course, it’s far more likely that Clemson wins by at least three touchdowns, but it’s college football, so who the hell knows?
Saturday
Early Slate
FRONT AND CENTER
Noon: Texas at Oklahoma (FS1)
This is my favorite rivalry in football. It’s a football game played at a fair! That rules! We need more sporting events at fairs – if Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals happened at a fair, at least the Warriors could have gotten some funnel cake or something after the Cavs won and everything would have been alright because everything is alright when you have funnel cake.
It’s also my favorite because this game is so much fun. That has been the case over the last few years – even as Texas has been down, this game always seems to be really good – but that’s especially true this year. Neither defense is all that good this year (Oklahoma is 66th in S&P+, Texas is 97th), whereas both offenses have been awesome (again using S&P+, the Sooners are sixth and the Longhorns are ninth). Both teams have ran the ball really well behind a good duo of running backs – Texas has D’Onta Foreman and Chris Warren III, Oklahoma has Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon. Both have quarterbacks (Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Texas’ Shane Buechele) who can carve up opposing secondaries. Both have defense with gobs of talent that just haven’t quite put it all together. And at least one of them has a coach who really, really needs a win in this game (Charlie Strong) because, if they have a job opening, they are the frontrunners for the Tom Herman sweepstakes. Meanwhile, the other team’s coach is a legend (Bob Stoops) who has at least one former player calling for him to be fired.
This game is going to end something like 55-49, and there may be some unrest among fans of the losing team. I cannot wait.
SECOND SCREEN SPECIAL
12:30 p.m.: Maryland at Penn State (Big Ten Network)
I originally had LSU at Florida in here, and I had a big ol’ plea for that game to get canceled. Since that happened, and since the rest of the early schedule is kind of rough, I’ll do the homer thing and tell you to watch Penn State’s game against Maryland. The Nittany Lions are 36-2-1 all-time against the Terrapins, but Maryland is a small favorite (about a point or two) on the road in Happy Valley. The two things D.J. Durkin’s squad does exceptionally well are run the ball and rush the passer. Penn State’s biggest weaknesses are its front seven on defense, and while its offensive line has improved over the last two years, it has still had some issues. Still, the Nittany Lions have Saquon Barkley, and he is great. But still…
*takes off person who writes about college football hat*
*puts on the fanboy hat*
[Extremely Blair Watch Project voice]: I’m so scared.
Dog Day Afternoon
FRONT AND CENTER
3:30 p.m.: Tennessee at Texas A&M (CBS)
4 p.m.: Colorado at USC (Pac-12 Network)
Tennessee has been the most fun team to watch in college football over the last few weeks. Two weeks ago, the Vols beat Florida thanks to a comeback that still seems improbable. Last week, they somehow managed to beat Georgia on a Hail Mary shortly after Georgia looked like it was going to win on a big play of its own.
Basically, Tennessee has been the kind of team that you can’t count out, because every time it looks dead, the Volunteers have managed to get a somewhat improbable win. Having said that, this week, they’re going on the road to take on Texas A&M, and under no circumstance can they fall behind early in the game and try to come back against a nasty Aggies defense. This is especially true because Jalen Hurd, the team’s workhorse running back, is out for the game. Oh, and if the Aggies are able to open up a lead, things can go off the rails for the Tennessee offense, because that’s when Myles Garrett, Daeshon Hall, and some of the other monsters in Texas A&M’s front seven pin their ears back and terrorize backfields. Plus the crowd at Kyle Field is going to be wild. This game will be fun.
Also potentially fun is the matchup between Colorado and USC. Colorado is actually pretty good this year – the Buffaloes are ranked No. 21, which is a very weird thing to type after the last decade of Colorado football – while USC has gotten off to a brutal start to 2016. Some of that is due to the fact that the Trojans haven’t scored too many points, but through five games, their schedule has been brutal – their three losses have come in a neutral site game to Alabama and road trips to Stanford and Utah.
This game is so intriguing because it could answer two questions: Are the Buffaloes for real, and are the Trojans as mediocre as their record suggests? Colorado’s offense has been really, really fun to watch – it’s No. 1 nationally in Passing S&P+ – behind the quarterback duo of Sefo Liufau and Steven Montez (the latter has stepped in due to an injury to the former, and both dudes have been really good this season) and a pair of diminutive running backs in Phillip Lindsay (5-foot-8, 190 pounds) and Kyle Evans (5-foot-6, 175 pounds). Plus the Buffaloes’ defense has been really, fun as their linebackers and defensive backs are both ranked 11th nationally in their position’s havoc rates.
But USC looks like it may have a star in the making in redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Darnold. He took over the full-time job against Utah, and his stat line from two games (55-for-81, 741 yards, five touchdowns, one interception) suggests that he may be the real deal. This is good, because USC so desperately needed someone who could get the ball to WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, plus RB Justin Davis has had his two best games by a wide margin with Darnold under center. The Trojan defense still needs some work, but if the offense can start scoring some points (and with Darnold under center, I think it can), then DB Adoree’ Jackson and Co. may not have to worry as much about having to ball out.
SECOND SCREEN SPECIAL
3:30 p.m.: Indiana at Ohio State (ESPN)
3:30 p.m.: Virginia Tech at North Carolina (ABC/ESPN2)
Is Indiana good? I think Indiana might be pretty good. The Hoosiers pulled a home upset last week against Michigan State – which is another team that may be decent, but no one really knows and the evidence suggests that they’re not. It looks like the Hoosiers have a legit defense for the first time in eons (per S&P+, their defense is ranked higher than their offense, which is a weird thing to write about Indiana). A good way to find out how good they are is a road game against Ohio State, which very well could be the best team in the country. The Buckeyes have won four games by a combined score of 228-37. Sure, three of those games were against teams that aren’t great, but they beat Oklahoma in Norman by 21. Ohio State is terrifying.
Virginia Tech and North Carolina also seem like they’re pretty good. This isn’t a surprise for the Tar Heels – which, shocker, has a really great offense that makes up for the fact that their defense hasn’t been all that great – but for the Hokies, it’s an encouraging sign to see that they’re ranked 14th in S&P+ four games into the Justin Fuente era. This is a classic game of strength vs. strength, as Virginia Tech’s stout defense (namely its indomitable passing defense, which is ranked second in passing S&P+) will go up against Mitch Trubisky and North Carolina’s high-powered offense. But make sure you pay attention to Jerod Evans, Virginia Tech’s junior quarterback who looks like a future star.
Under the Lights
FRONT AND CENTER
7 p.m.: Alabama at Arkansas (ESPN)
8 p.m.: Florida State at Miami (ABC)
Alabama has had exactly one close game: a 48-43 road win over Ole Miss. Other than that, the Crimson Tide have grinded opponents into dust en route to a 5-0 record. Arkansas, meanwhile, has been a perfectly fine 4-1 team with a thrilling overtime win on the road against TCU and a loss in Arlington at the hands of Texas A&M.
Having said that, it’s not crazy to think that Arkansas still misses a bowl. Its next seven weeks: Alabama, Ole Miss, at Auburn, Bye, Florida, LSU, at Mississippi State. That’s crazy. Also crazy is that the Razorback running game hasn’t been the dominant group we’re used to – it is ranked 102nd nationally in Rushing S&P+, while its Passing S&P+ ranking is 48th nationally. So basically, if the Hogs want to have a chance in this game, they’re gonna need Austin Allen (who is really, really good) to have a big game against the terrifying Crimson Tide defense.
Oh, and its defense (which has been not great against the two Power 5 teams it played) needs to become the first defense to prevent Alabama’s balanced offense from scoring more than 34 points. It’s possible that Arkansas wins, but it will be an uphill battle for Bret Bielema’s squad to pull off the home upset.
In maybe the most interesting game of the weekend, Florida State has to travel to Miami. The game is still on despite Hurricane Matthew hitting the sunshine state, and assuming that remains the case, this game is going to be fascinating.
Florida State is a good team; at the very least, the Seminoles are better than their 3-2 record. QB Deondre Francois and RB Dalvin Cook are great, as is the rest of the Florida State offense, but their defense has underwhelmed. Part of this is due to the fact that star safety Derwin James has been out for a few weeks due to injury (defensive lineman Derrick Nnadi and Josh Sweat have been banged up, too), part of this is due to the fact that they had to face Lamar Jackson and they were on the wrong end of a game-winning field goal. But it feels like Florida State, if it can keep teams from scoring, is on the verge of reminding everyone why they were considered a favorite to win the ACC.
On the flip side, no one expected Miami to be this good this quickly under Mark Richt. The Hurricanes have been great this year – they are fourth nationally in scoring offense (47 points per game, which is a bit inflated by a 70-3 win over Florida A&M to start the year) and second nationally in scoring defense (11 points per game). QB Brad Kaaya is somehow still a little underrated, Mark Walton and Joseph Yearby take no prisoners in the running game, and the defense has lived in backfields all year. Ten Miami defenders, led by DLs Demetrius Jackson and Chad Thomas, have at least three tackles for loss, while the team is tied for 16th nationally with 16 sacks.
Again, assuming the weather holds up, this game is going to be fantastic. Miami hasn’t beaten Florida State since 2009, and since 2005, the ‘Noles have won nine of the 11 times these teams have played. Florida State needs to get its first win in the ACC, while the Hurricanes could use a big win over their rivals to show that they deserve to be mentioned among the best teams in the conference.
SECOND SCREEN SPECIAL
7:30 p.m.: Washington at Oregon (FOX)
So Mark Helfrich’s hot seat is getting to the point of being unbearable, and college football fans know that when coaches get fired, their firings tend to happen during the team’s bye week. Washington, meanwhile, is coming off a complete and utter dismantling of Stanford. It’s also been a while since Washington won this game:
https://twitter.com/MattSBN/status/784388196826247168
Will the Ducks rebound, play for their coach, and pull the upset? Will the Huskies maul another Pac-12 team? Can Helfrich survive that? Will Washington be on a post-Stanford hangover? There are so many questions surrounding this game, it’ll be fascinating.
The Late Show
FRONT AND CENTER
10:30 p.m.: Washington State at Stanford (ESPN)
Stanford is almost definitely going to want to come out and obliterate Washington State after what happened last week against the Huskies. I won’t dive too deep into this one, but look for Christian McCaffrey – who was bottled up by Washington’s defense – to try and embarrass the Wazzu defense. And of course, Washington State is going to try to throw the ball a ton with the brilliant Luke Falk, but: 1) the Cougars may try to run the ball with its solid trio of running backs (Jamal Morrow, James Williams, Gerard Wicks) and, 2) the Cardinal are going to be super angry and try to allow negative points. I really want to see what happens if this game is close towards the end of the game, especially because if Stanford gets shaken up by a close game, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a home upset. Or a 40-point win by the Cardinal. Either/or.
SECOND SCREEN SPECIAL
10 p.m.: Arizona at Utah (FS1)
Is Rice-Eccles Stadium the most underrated stadium in college football? Every time I’ve ever seen Utah on TV that place seems like it’s hell for opposing teams. Anyway, Arizona has to go there this week. Utah lost last week, so they’ll probably do their best to smother the Wildcats and punch them in the mouth repeatedly. Should be a blast. #Pac12AfterDark never disappoints, after all.
