College football Week 10: 15 players to watch

Carter missed the Bulldogs' last two games with an MCL injury but returned for the win over Florida last week. His presence resonates with the rest of the defense -- he sets the tone for that front line and the defense as a whole. Carter will likely be a high draft pick next April due to his size and athleticism and the way he disrupts offenses. This week that will be important as the Dawgs host arguably the most electric offense in the SEC nation, Tennessee. With Vols' quarterback Hendon Hooker playing at a Heisman level, Carter and the Georgia defense will need to apply pressure on him and slow down the big-play potential of their offense.

How great has Charbonnet been? He rushed for 198 yards (his third straight game with over 150 yards rushing) and 3 touchdowns (his second such game) and added five receptions for 61 yards -- his best day as a receiver. Charbonnet is nearing the 1,000-yard mark and is averaging 7.5 yards per carry this season...plus he rushed for 100-yards in the last nine games he's carried the ball at least 20 times. UCLA thrives when he's eating. The Bruins travel to Tempe to take on Arizona State.

Corum is 4th nationally in rushing yards and has rushed for over 120 yards in five straight games (he's also rushed for a TD in each game this season). This week, Michigan takes on Rutgers, who just let Minnesota's Mohamed Ibrahim rush for 159 yards and three touchdowns on them last week and earlier this season gave up 189 yards and five TDs to Ohio State's Miyan Williams. So expect Corum to have another huge day as the Wolverines gear up for their showdowns with Illinois and Ohio State to end the season. 

Daniels went off against Ole Miss last week. He threw for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Rebels while also rushing for 121 yards and 3 TDs...marking the second straight game he's rushed for three scores. The Arizona State transfer has played extremely well since putting up an awful game against Auburn on October 1st (8 of 20 for 80 yards) despite playing some tough opponents (Tennessee, Florida, Ole Miss). The beat goes on with the Tigers' brutal schedule as they take on Alabama on Saturday. 

TCU keeps winning and is about to embark on a key two-game road trip to Texas and Baylor...after hosting Texas Tech this week. Texas Tech likes to get into shootouts, and that's great news for Horned Frogs' quarterback Max Duggan, running back Kendre Miller, and receiver Quentin Johnson. Duggan has been amazing this season and was fantastic last week against West Virginia. He completed just 16 passes, but they went for 341 yards and three touchdowns against the Mountaineers. That was buoyed by a 71-yard touchdown pass to Taye Barber and a 55-yard TD to Johnson. There should be more big plays this week against the Red Raiders, who gave up 442 yards to Baylor last week. 

As mentioned before, the Wake Forest-NC State game lost some of its luster as both teams are limping into the contest. On the Demon Deacons' side, they are coming off a baffling loss where they committed eight turnovers in the second half -- six in the third quarter alone -- in a 48-21 loss to Louisville. Hartman threw three picks and lost three fumbles, stunning for a team that turned the ball over just five times all year. Two of those interceptions were pick-sixes, including a 90-yard interception return at the end of the 3rd quarter. So on to rival NC State, who Hartman threw three picks against in last year's win over the Wolfpack. He also threw three TDs and ran for another in the 45-42 win. I'm looking for Hartman to have a big game and get the bad taste of what happened against Louisville out of his mouth. 

The biggest game of the week is Tennessee at Georgia and no one has been better in big games than Vols' receiver Jalin Hyatt. Three weeks ago, Hyatt caught 6 passes for 207 yards and 5 touchdowns against...Alabama! After torching UT-Martin (174 yards, 2 TDs), Hyatt produced against a really good Kentucky defense for 138 yards and 2 TDs. No one has more receiving touchdowns than Hyatt's 14. Georgia's defense will be a test, but Hyatt has been passing everyone of late. 

Thursday night is a great opportunity to see the most well-known Sun Belt team travel to take on its best. Appalachian State heads to Coastal Carolina to take on Grayson McCall and the Chanticleers. McCall is coming off an off game, throwing for just 121 yards in a win over last-place Marshall -- which is a turnaround from his 358 yards and 3 TDs in a loss to Old Dominion.  McCall leads the Sun Belt in passer rating and wants to avenge his only loss in 2021. Last season, he threw for 291 yards in a loss to Appalachian State, despite having a 14-point first-quarter lead. He was outplayed by the Mountaineers' Chase Brice, setting this rubber match up to be a classic. 

The Ducks' season has gone as Bo Nix has gone. When most people think of Oregon, they remember that opening week 49-3 spanking they got from Georgia. To many, the loss was just another example of how Nix...who transferred in from Auburn ... just wasn't that guy. Since then, the Ducks have gone 7-0 and Nix has been outstanding. Last week against Cal, Nix threw for 412 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for three more TDs. Over the last four games, Nix has been responsible for 18 touchdowns rushing and passing and hasn't thrown an interception. Oregon finds itself back in the top ten and taking on lowly Colorado this Saturday before a tough finale stretch of Washington, Utah and Oregon State. 

Penix Jr. leads the nation in passing yards, just 66 yards short of 3,000 for the season. Two weeks ago against Arizona, Penix Jr. completed 36 of 44 passes for 515 yards and 4 TDs ... and last week against Cal, he attempted 51 passes for 374 yards and a couple of touchdowns. Those wins ended a two-game losing streak and keeps the Huskies in the Pac-12 race as they play host to Oregon State on Friday night. He's thrown for at least 300 yards in all eight games this season, with 24 total touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. 

Quarterback Spencer Sanders has been dealing with injuries this season and was knocked out of the Cowboys' eye-popping 48-0 blowout loss to Kansas State last week. If Oklahoma State plans on getting past Kansas this week, look for Mike Gundy to lean on running back Dominic Richardson. Richardson hasn't been a big yardage guy this year -- he hasn't topped the 100-yard mark since Week 2 against Arizona State -- but he has been able to find the endzone this season. He's scored in each of the Pokes last four games and in six of the seven games, he's played.

Tulsa welcomes No. 19 Tulane to Skelly Field, giving the Golden Hurricane a great shot at spoiling the Green Wave's season. Tulane will need to slow down Tulsa receiver Keylon Stokes, who is second in the AAC in receiving yards. Stokes is known for his big plays, like his 50-yard touchdown against SMU last week or his 76-yard TD against Navy earlier this season. Both of those games ended in losses, however. Stokes is in his sixth year at Tulsa and has set the school's record for receiving yards (a record that stood for nearly 60 years).

Stetson Bennett, Hendon Hooker, C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Max Duggan, Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and even J.J. McCarthy are quarterbacks of top ten teams who have no worries about being benched at any time. And then there is Clemson's D.J. Uiagalelei,  who was benched during the Tigers' win over Syracuse two weeks ago. After turning the ball over three times in just over one half of football, Dabo Swinney sat Uiagalelei for elite prospect Cade Klubnik, who led Clemson to a win over the Orange. D.J. Uiagalelei  will start against Notre Dame with all sorts of drama surrounding him. How quickly will Swinney pull him if the Tigers' offense looks lethargic? If he does get benched, will that be a permanent passing of the torch? Ironically, Uiagalelei's first big moment was also at Notre Dame (this week's opponent) when he threw for 371 yards and a couple of TDs in a loss to the Irish in 2020. He started that game because Trevor Lawrence was in COVID protocol and many felt the program would be in good hands when Lawrence left for the NFL. That hasn't been the case and the Syracuse game was the first sign that a change could be made. All this as Clemson is undefeated and vying for an ACC championship and a College Football Playoff berth. How will he respond? 

Williams had a sensational game last week against Arizona and did so without his top receiver, Jordan Addison. He threw for 411 yards and 5 touchdowns against the Wildcats, his second straight week throwing 5 TDs. In fact, he's thrown 24 touchdowns this season and just one interception putting him right in the thick of the Heisman race. USC host Cal, who just gave up 412 passing yards to Oregon's Bo Nix and 374 yards to Washington's Michael Penix Jr. Look for Williams to pad his stats. 

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner has been a bit under the radar this season...if that's possible. He missed time with injury and there's always the Alabama fatigue factor, but Young has had a solid season despite no one seemingly caring. What the Tide need to do is be better on the road: they barely escaped Texas with a 20-19 victory and their lone loss was at Tennessee. It's hard to blame Young, since he went 62-of-91 for 668 yards and 3 touchdowns in those two games and was knocked out of Bama's other road game, a win at Arkansas. This is a big deal since Alabama is heading to Baton Rouge to take on the surging LSU Tigers. Night games at Tiger Stadium are tough, though Bama has won their last five trips there. Expect a big game from Young.