College football Week 8: 15 players to watch

You probably haven't paid much attention to Purdue until they destroyed then-No. 2 Iowa last week, but wide receiver David Bell is having one heck of a season. Against the Hawkeyes, Bell caught 11 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown in the win. He's had at least 120 yards receiving in four of the five games he's played in this year and has been a big-play threat all season. The Boilermakers host Wisconsin on Saturday. 

While UCLA lost some steam to their season with losses to Fresno State and Arizona State, running back Zach Charbonnet still has been one of the best backs in the Pac-12. He's rushed for 697 yards and 7 touchdowns this season and averaging 6.4 yards per carry. While he hasn't found the endzone in three weeks, he is coming off a 131-yard performance against Washington. That was the fifth time he's reached the 100-yard mark this season -- all wins -- while the two games he failed to reach the century mark were both losses. Needless to say, the Bruins need to get him going against No. 10 Oregon on Saturday. 

Davis-Price has blown up over the last two weeks. After eating up 147 yards and 2 touchdowns in a loss to Kentucky, he went nuclear last week in an upset win over Florida. The junior from Baton-Rouge carried the ball 36 times for 287 yards and 3 TDs! Before this two-game stretch, Davis-Price carried the ball only 45 times this season and now he's not only become the featured back but LSU's workhorse. With Ed Orgeron leaving the program at the end of the season, look for Davis-Price to keep getting the rock as the Tigers head into a grueling second half of the season. Up next: Ole Miss. 

When I talk about Jerome Ford, Desmond Ridder goes off. When I talk about Ridder (like  I did last week), Ford goes off. Ford had himself a day against UCF last week, rushing for 189 yards and four TDs -- all scores coming in the first half. The Alabama transfer has rushed for 338 yards and 6 TDs over the last two weeks and already this season has surpassed his career totals for yards and touchdowns. Look for Ford and the Bearcats to unload on Navy this Saturday. Or Ridder.

I know Iowa State as a team has severely disappointed this season, but running back Breece Hall has still been churning out yards. He's topped the 100-yard mark for four games straight and has scored a touchdown in every game this season .... including two TDs in each of the last four games. Last week was the Hall we know: 30 carries, 197 yards, 2 scores in a win over Kansas State. The Cyclones could provide a big trap for No. 8 Oklahoma State on Saturday. Last year Hall piled up 185 yards and a TD in their meeting.

Crazy season? Wake Forest is currently the highest-ranked ACC school. How's that for crazy? They deserve it, as does quarterback Sam Hartman. Hartman has been solid for the Demon Deacons, throwing for 14 TDs and 1,615 yards on the season. He's not going to get the publicity as other ACC quarterbacks (one will be mentioned in a bit) but Hartman has been clutch this season. He threw the game-winning walk-off touchdown against Syracuse last week, two great drives late to beat Louisville the week before, then held his own against Virginia's Brennan Armstrong prior to that. Plus he has a great-looking beard. Wake steps out of the league to face Army at West Point. 

In today's football, you want your safeties to be able to cover a lot of ground, stick with receivers as well as provide run support. When you find a guy like that, he can be a key that unlocks your defense's potential. Hill is that kind of safety. He is seemingly everywhere -- at the line of scrimmage helping stuff run plays one minute, flying around the secondary the next. Last week he made a spectacular interception against Nebraska ... jumping the route to tip the ball in the air and then somehow coming down with it while laying on the ground. Up next: Northwestern.

I've been a Sincere McCormick fan for a couple of years now and he has his Roadrunners ranked for the first time in program history. McCormick is in the top ten in rushing this year and is coming off a season where he rushed for nearly 1,500 yards. He is one of the most consistent backs in the nation (check out his 41 carries for 184 yards and 3 TDs vs. Memphis earlier this year) who can carry his team on his back. No. 24 UTSA heads to Louisiana Tech this week. 

SMU is the other team in the AAC making waves and while their matchup with Cincinnati is still a month away, you can get a good look at the Mustangs this Thursday night against Tulane. Quarterback Tanner Modecai is fun to watch; a gunslinger who is not afraid of airing it out. He's already thrown 26 touchdowns this season, including a school-record 7 TD passes against Abilene Christian in the opener in his first start for the Mustangs. Mordecai transferred to SMU after sitting behind Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, and Spencer Rattler at Oklahoma (that start against Abilene Christian was his first start since high school in 2017). 

What if I told you that in Week 8, Clemson would play at Pittsburgh and the ranked team in that matchup was Pittsburgh? You'd call me crazy, but that's the reality of the situation as the Tigers get into a catfight with the Panthers. Pickett has been phenomenal. He's second in the ACC in passing yards but leads the league in touchdowns (21) while throwing just one pick all season. Ironically, last year's game against Clemson was Pickett's worst in his collegiate career, throwing for 209 yards and getting intercepted four times in a spanking at the hands of the Tigers. Pitt comes into this game with the offensive pedigree and the hot quarterback. 

USC is having another mediocre season, but quarterback Kedon Slovis is back slinging the football. The last time we saw the Trojans, Slovis put up the ball 51 times for 401 yards in a loss to Utah two weeks ago. So while USC isn't very good this year, they have shown an ability to throw it around the yard ... although it doesn't always go where it's supposed to (three picks against Oregon State can attest). After a year off due to the pandemic, USC faces rival Notre Dame once again with a lot on the line for the Irish and programs like Cincinnati who need the Irish to have a really good season. As a freshman, Slovis threw for 255 in a 30-27 loss to Notre Dame two years ago. 

It's Halloween-time which means movies and shows about zombies will be flooding your TV and streaming services. Texas A&M may be the most interesting college football team that has risen from the dead and the Aggies are terrorizing the SEC all of the sudden. After popping Alabama two weeks ago, A&M ran all over Missouri last week ... led by Isaiah Spiller's 168 yards and a touchdown. Spiller came into the season as one of the top backs in the league but has been up and down in 2021. His rushing game totals this season: 113, 20, 117, 95, 100, 46, 168. Spiller and the Aggies face a reeling South Carolina team this week. 

Don't look now but the Buckeyes are starting to click. Sure it was against Rutgers and Maryland but Stroud has found a nice groove in his first season as the starting QB. In those two games, he has completed 41 of 56 passes for 736 yards, 10 touchdowns, and zero picks and he's beginning to get strong Heisman love. Despite some folks turning on Ohio State after their early season loss to Oregon (where Stroud threw for 484 yards and 3 TDs), the Buckeyes have a great shot at getting back into the College Football Playoff and have a formidable slate over the second half of the season. It starts on the road at Indiana on Saturday. 

Williams' first start has calmed down the Sooners but may have ignited a championship fire in the fan base. Against TCU, he completed 18 of his 23 passes for 295 yards and 4 TDs in the 52-31 victory. That's the Oklahoma we expected to see this season ... albeit with Spencer Rattler running the show. In a spectacular turn of events, Rattler is sitting and Williams looks like the guy that can lead the Sooners back to the College Football Playoff. And in a wild season, he's even getting Heisman love on betting sites. The love should grow as Williams and the suddenly surging Sooners offense heads to lowly Kansas on Saturday. 

Alabama has lost a lot of receiving talent to the NFL over the last few seasons (including last year's Heisman Trophy winner), but Jameson Williams looks like he could be the next great receiver that gets to the next level. He's a big-play machine. Last week he caught just two passes in the win over Mississippi State, but one went for a 75-yard touchdown. He also has an 81-yard TD grab and a 94-yard touchdown this season. Williams flat-out makes big plays. Alabama hosts struggling Tennessee on Saturday.