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College football Week 12: Players to watch
Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

College football Week 12: Players to watch

This weekend is a bit odd when it comes to matchups. Much of the SEC is stepping outside the FBS for easy wins before facing their rivals after Thanksgiving. There are only three games pitting ranked teams against each other (Syracuse-Notre Dame, Cincinnati-UCF, Iowa State-Texas), while the top eight teams are all huge home favorites. Needless to say, this isn't a week filled with many compelling games.

Of course, the rest of the season will be the contrary.

So this week's edition of college football players to watch involves some players who typically don't get much light shone on them (we're heavy on the American Athletic Conference this week) but are quietly having solid seasons with some big games on the line — maybe not nationally big games but important ones in regard to conference championship runs. There are also guys who are looking to pile up some stats before playing defining games next week.

So here are Week 12's players to watch. 

 
1 of 15

Isaiah Bowser, Northwestern

Isaiah Bowser, Northwestern
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Who is this guy? Where has he been? The Wildcats have a depleted stable of running backs due to injuries and a retirement and have to rely of freshman Bowser to carry the load. And he's done a great job of it. After having just two career carries, he got his big break against Rutgers four weeks ago. He would run for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Since then, he has gained 117, 93 and 165 yards in the last three games and has added two more scores (he even had three receptions in a win over Iowa last week). Now Northwestern is ranked and in the driver's seat in the Big Ten West when they travel to Minnesota this Saturday.

 
2 of 15

Taylor Cornelius, Oklahoma State

Taylor Cornelius, Oklahoma State
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Sure, Oklahoma State has lost four of their last five games but Cornelius has been ballin'. Last week in the Bedlam game against Oklahoma, he threw for 501 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-47 loss. He's thrown for 3,133 yards and 23 touchdowns this year and should be in another shootout when West Virginia rolls into town. It may be another loss, too, but that doesn't mean Cornelius isn't a blast to watch. 

 
3 of 15

Eric Dungey, Syracuse

Eric Dungey, Syracuse
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Who knew that Syracuse at Notre Dame in mid-November would be a matchup of top 15 teams with national championship implications? The Orange have been a pleasant surprise this season as Dungey is closing out his brilliant career. He has become Syracuse's all-time leader in several statistics and has delivered one of the best seasons the program has enjoyed since the early 2000s. He's third in the ACC in passing yards and gets a shot to have one more big moments as they try to take down the Irish's title hopes.

 
4 of 15

Travis Etienne, Clemson

Travis Etienne, Clemson
Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

Etienne leads the ACC in rushing yards (1,076) and rushing touchdowns (15) for the undefeated Clemson Tigers. His Heisman hype has hit the skids a bit since the Tigers have turned into more of a passing team under new quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He's had more than 11 rush attempts just once in the last five games and more than 16 attempts just once all year. Still, he's had four games where he gained at least 150 yards on the ground and he's still piling up touchdowns. Clemson has already clinched the ACC's Atlantic Division and gets a very good Duke team this weekend before ending the regular season against rival South Carolina.

 
5 of 15

Will Grier, West Virginia

Will Grier, West Virginia
Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

Grier faces a must-win at Oklahoma State this weekend. If they beat the Cowboys this Saturday, that would set up a huge game with Oklahoma next week for a guaranteed spot in the Big 12 title game. Grier is having another huge year for West Virginia (2,961 passing yards, 31 touchdowns). Over the last three weeks, he has thrown for over 340 yards and exactly three touchdowns each week. Last season, Grier had one of his worst games, tossing four picks in a 50-39 home loss to the Cowboys. 

 
6 of 15

Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State

Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State
Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Haskins has been great all year (the one game the Buckeyes lost, he threw for 470 yards) with Ohio State still in the hunt for a Big Ten title and a playoff berth. He leads the Big Ten in passing yards (3,280 yards) and touchdown passes (33) and helms one of the nation's top offenses. That offense should have another big day against a Maryland team that has lost three of four games. That sets up another big Ohio State-Michigan game after Thanksgiving. 

 
7 of 15

Darrell Henderson, Memphis

Darrell Henderson, Memphis
Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

The AAC West is quite the race. Memphis trails SMU, Houston and Tulane by one game in the standings and have the Mustangs and Cougars remaining on their schedule. If the Tigers are going to win a conference title, Henderson is going to carry them to it. He's second nationally in rushing yards (1,446) and rushing touchdowns (17) and has ran for at least 130 yards in four of his last five games. Last season against SMU, he rushed for 147 yards on just ten carries. 

 
8 of 15

D'Eriq King, Houston

D'Eriq King, Houston
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Cougars have had a tough couple weeks with back-to-back losses to SMU and Temple, but King has continued to shine. Last week in the loss to Temple, he threw for 322 yards and 5 touchdowns while rushing for 125 yards and another score. He has had a whale of a month as he's thrown for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns over his last four games. Houston hosts Tulane in a huge game that will clear up some of the clog atop the AAC West standings. King needs to keep his hot stretch going. 

 
9 of 15

Jordan Love, Utah State

Jordan Love, Utah State
Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports

People are sleeping on Utah State. They've won nine in a row after losing to Michigan State in their opener. Quarterback Jordan Love has nearly all of the season (he was atrocious in a win over Wyoming several weeks back). Last week against San Jose State, he tossed five touchdowns and 491 yards -- in just three quarters. He's thrown 24 touchdowns this season and just four interceptions. Utah State heads to Colorado State this week before ending the season in a huge contest with Boise State. . 

 
10 of 15

McKenzie Milton, UCF

McKenzie Milton, UCF
Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

UCF has won 22 straight games and looking for another undefeated season and AAC title. They host Cincinnati in a game big enough that ESPN's College Gameday will be there. McKenzie has thrown for 2,309 yards and 21 touchdowns (just five interceptions) and rushed for 8 scores. Last season, Milton lit up the Bearcats for 374 yards and 5 TDs on just 16 completions. He shows up in big games and for the rest of the season, UCF will have nothing but big games. 

 
11 of 15

Gardner Minshew, Washington State

Gardner Minshew, Washington State
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Minshew has had a great couple of months. He has the Cougars atop the Pac-12 and on the outskirts of playoff consideration ... plus he's snuck into the Heisman race. He has attempted at least 50 passes in 9 of 10 games this year and leads the nation in passing yards by a wide margin (3,852). The graduate transfer from East Carolina is having a season to remember. This weekend, Washington State hosts Arizona before they take on Washington in a game with huge postseason implications. 

 
12 of 15

Darnell Mooney, Tulane

Darnell Mooney, Tulane
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Mooney has just 41 receptions this season but he's averaging 20.2 yards per reception. Last week against East Carolina, Mooney caught six passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns in the win. The Green Wave has suddenly won three straight and find themselves tied with SMU and Houston ... their next opponent ... in the American Athletic Conference West Division. Houston's defense is good, but they have been involved in some shootouts this season. Tulane and Mooney hope for another one. 

 
13 of 15

Kyler Murray, Oklahoma

Kyler Murray, Oklahoma
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Murray has closed the gap a bit in the Heisman race. He has thrown for 3,038 yards, 32 touchdowns and just 5 interceptions. He's also rushed 640 yards and 7 TDs this year ... most likely his last in football. Despite his great season, he is due to report to the Oakland Athletics after the season to begin his professional baseball career. He gets to run over Kansas this weekend before facing West Virginia in Morgantown (the Sooners and Mountaineers may face off for the Big 12 title the following week as well). Let's enjoy one of best athletes in college football.

 
14 of 15

James Proche, SMU

James Proche, SMU
Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports

Don't look now, but the SMU Mustangs lead the AAC West. They are currently tied with Houston and Tulane for first in the division but have already beaten both of those teams. This week, they get Memphis in a primetime nationally televised game that could give SMU tiebreakers over all the division contenders. Proche has been solid of late, catching at least six passes in each of the last five games. He's caught 70 for the season for 883 yards and 9 touchdowns and has pulled in some huge plays all year long. Memphis has a high-octane offense so Proche will need to come up with some big plays for SMU to hang on to the division lead.

 
15 of 15

Miles Sanders, Penn State

Miles Sanders, Penn State
Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

This is basic math: Sanders has already rushed for 1,000 yards this year and goes up against a Rutgers defense that has been terrible and who is currently on a 9-game losing streak. Last week against Wisconsin, Sanders rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown in the win. That was his third game he rushed for over 150 yards for the season (for perspective, he only rushed for 191 yards all last season). The Nittany Lions have split their last six games during a grueling schedule so they look to get loose against the Scarlet Knights on Saturday. 

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