College football Week 10: 15 players to watch

Book has been coming alive of late, which is great news as the Irish is set to play their biggest conference game in their illustrious history. Notre Dame welcomes Clemson into South Bend, and while the big story will be about who won't be playing, Book needs to make the postgame narrative about him. While Book's stats aren't gaudy (he's thrown seven touchdown passes all year), his command of the offense and running acumen (he has rushed for five TDs) will give the Tigers some trouble. While Notre Dame relies on its running game, Book will need to make plays if the Irish are to topple the Tigers.

Hubbard was not very effective in last week's loss to Texas. He rushed for 72 yards and averaged fewer than three yards per carry and failed to break off a run longer than 10 yards. This goes against what he had been doing over the Cowboys' first four games, when he was averaging 120 yards and scored five touchdowns. The last time Hubbard played against this week's opponent, Kansas State, he ran for 296 yards.

Minnesota's season certainly hasn't gone as hoped as the Gophers opened with losses to Michigan and Maryland. Ibrahim, however, has been a bright spot for the Golden Gophers. He ran for 140 yards and two touchdowns against the Wolverines and busted out for 207 yards and four TDs against the Terps. He has been a workhorse, carrying the ball 41 times against Maryland. Minnesota will lean on him to right the ship against Illinois on Saturday.

Since King's dreadful performance against Clemson, he's put together two solid ballgames. He threw four touchdown passes against Pitt and threw for 322 yards and a score on Oct. 24th against Virginia. With Clemson and Notre Dame facing off this week, the door is opening for Miami to make a run for the ACC Championship Game. This week's opponent, N.C. State, is coming off a thrashing from North Carolina a couple of weeks ago, setting King up for a huge day.

Knox has been superb this season and has been one of the best Group of 5 players. He's rushed for at least 100 yards in his last four games and has scored eight total touchdowns this season. Last week against Florida Atlantic, he broke off a 58-yard catch and run for his first career receiving touchdown. Marshall hosts lowly UMass on Saturday, and Knox should pile up some more yards.

With all that's been going on in college football, could Texas A&M be a serious contender for a College Football Playoff spot? Yes, especially if Mond keeps playing like he has been this year. Mond is becoming the quarterback Aggies fans have been waiting on; he's been a more efficient passer, and his two 300-yard games this season have come against A&M's two biggest opponents. He's coming off 260-yard, three passing TD game against Arkansas last week and heads to South Carolina, where the Aggies should win if they fancy themselves a national championship contender.

Is Indiana for real? After squeaking by Penn State in their opener and coasting past an improved Rutgers team, the Hoosiers get another test by hosting Michigan this week. Penix has been fantastic thus far, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for two more in their two wins. His stretch for the two-point conversion to beat Penn State will be talked about for generations, and he has Indiana in the top 15 of both the major polls. Beating Michigan would be huge -- the Hoosiers haven't beaten the Wolverines since 1987 and have lost 39 of their last 40 games in the series.

Pitts has been the best tight end in the FBS so far this season. The junior has 22 catches for 355 yards and seven touchdowns in just four games this season and is averaging 16.1 yards per catch. He will be a critical part of the Gators' offense as Florida faces rival Georgia with the SEC East division lead on the line. Georgia's defense is arguably the best in the nation, but Pitts is the kind of X-factor who can create cracks.

With all that happened last week, the biggest winner might have been Cincinnati. The Bearcats are the highest-ranked Group of 5 team, they are blowing good teams out and their quarterback is now in the Heisman chase. Ridder went off last week, completing 21 of 26 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns while tacking on 41 rushing yards and two more scores. In wins over SMU and Memphis, he's totaled nine total touchdowns and has been the best player on the field. Up next: Houston.

The Pac 12 favorite kicks off its season this week in a nice position. With losses by a lot of playoff hopefuls over the last couple of weeks, the door is wide open for a late starter such as Oregon to get in. The biggest question in Eugene is the quarterback spot -- Is Tyler Shough the guy? He has been in a battle with Anthony Brown for the starting gig and looks to have won the job. But with little to no room for error, is he ready to hit the ground running? He'll be buoyed by a stout offensive line and a capable running game. Oregon hosts Stanford to open the season.

USC's first game of the season will both be late as well as early. The Pac-12 begins its season this week, becoming the last power conference to start play, but the Trojans' game with Arizona State will begin at 9 a.m. local time. Slovis rallied the Trojans to five wins in their last six regular-season games in 2019. There are both expectations and a sense of urgency within the program, and there will be a lot of weight on Slovis' shoulders during this abbreviated season. 

Great name. Great game. Even though Justin Fields has gotten off to a fabulous start, Teague is still able to get the Buckeyes' run game going. He scored twice in the Buckeyes' opener against Nebraska and ran for 110 yards and another touchdown last week against Penn State. Fields is great, but the best Ohio State teams tend to have a potent back, and Teague is emerging as one. Ohio State takes on old pal Greg Schiano and Rutgers this week.

The biggest story of Week 10 is Trevor Lawrence's absence when Clemson travels to Notre Dame in one of the biggest games of the season. His replacement, D.J. Uiagalelei, is an elite prospect who has had some success already this season. In his first start, the freshman completed 31 of 40 passes for 342 yards and three total touchdowns in a win over Boston College. While those numbers were impressive, he also showed poise as the Tigers were down 18 points late in the first half. Going to South Bend will be a big moment for Uiagalelei, and a win would put Clemson in the driver's seat for a playoff berth.

The feel-good story of Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett took a turn last week when he attempted only 13 passes in a 14-3 win over Kentucky ... and two of those passes were intercepted. Georgia looks like a defensive team that will rely on running the football. Last week, Zamir White ran for 136 yards and a touchdown in the win and has become the Dawgs featured back. With a showdown with rival Florida in Jacksonville on tap, White will be leaned on to steady Georgia's offense.

As you know, I've been on the Zach Wilson bandwagon all year, but this is the most important week of the Cougars' season. After seven weeks of beating up opponents with a combined record of 20-27, BYU heads to Boise State to play a program that also fancies itself as the best team in the Group of 5, which should set a special battle on the blue turf. Wilson has already thrown for over 2,152 yards and 19 touchdowns and has rushed for seven more.