College football Week 13: 15 players to watch

Have you ever stopped to think that Book could be having one of the best Irish seasons for a QB in quite some time? He won't win a championship this year, but he's had a great season. He's thrown for nearly 2,300 yards and 26 touchdowns while also rushing for 421 yards and four touchdowns and has had some huge games (and that stinker against Michigan). Last week against a good Navy team, he threw for 284 yards and five touchdowns in the 52-20 win ...marking his third five-TD game this year. The Irish host old rival Boston College this weekend, and you never know what can happen when those two hook up. 

Brown has seen his carries increase over the last three weeks, as Noah Cain has been banged up and James Franklin's trust in him has been rewarded. Two weeks ago against Minnesota, he rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns in the loss and last week gained 100 yards and a TD in the win over Indiana. He now leads the Nittany Lions in rushing and has tied Cain in rushing touchdowns. If Penn State is to topple Ohio State in Columbus this Saturday, Brown will need to continue to be a workhorse: The more Penn State is churning out yards and first downs, the less Justin Fields and the Buckeyes offense is on the field. 

Chase, a sophomore receiver from Harvey, Louisiana, has been on a roll of late. He has caught at least 100 yards worth of passes in four of his last five games and has caught 12 touchdowns over the last seven games. Last week against Ole Miss, he caught eight passes for 227 yards and three TDs, as the Tigers won 58-37. This Saturday LSU hosts rival Arkansas, who have yet to win an SEC game this season.

This season has certainly not gone the way that Longhorn fans had hoped. Sure, the losses to LSU and Oklahoma were competitive and excusable, but losses to TCU and Iowa State over the last three weeks have been season killers. Ehlinger has been great this year and other than a four-interception game against TCU, he has kept the 'Horns afloat when things weren't going good. Texas has another tough game on tap as it heads to Baylor to take on a Bears team that blew a 28-3 lead to Oklahoma and a shot at a national championship. Last year Ehlinger was knocked out of the Baylor game, so he's been looking forward to this rematch for quite some time. 

The Cougars haven't been as good as they were the last few seasons, but it isn't because Gordon hasn't been fantastic this season. He leads the nation with 4,314 passing yards, 39 touchdowns and a ridiculous 515 pass attempts (124 more than the next highest total). You'd be correct in thinking that of course if he is throwing so much then he'd have more opportunities to pile up yards. But he's also in the top 10 nationally in completion percentage (71.3 percent, which is nearly identical to Tua Tagovailoa). Watching the Cougars has been fun this season, especially when you're up late at night and just want to see some offense. This week, they'll be up against Oregon State. 

Hubbard has led the nation in rushing virtually all season long. Last week he ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Kansas, marking his eighth straight game over the century mark and continuing his streak of scoring a touchdown in every game this season. Hubbard lit up West Virginia, the Cowboys' opponent this weekend, in their matchup last season. He ran for 134 yards in the win last year and has been tearing up the Big 12 this season. 

Let's take a moment to appreciate Jalen Hurts' season. He's seventh in the nation in passing yards and passing touchdowns and 23rd in the nation (third among QBs) in rushing yards and sixth in rushing touchdowns. He's had a Heisman-worthy season, and the Sooners' comeback win over Baylor has them back in the national championship hunt. And, sad to say, with Tua Tagovailoa's season-ending injury, there has to be some "what ifs" from Alabama fans. Hurts' performance in the second half against Baylor was lights-out and puts the Sooners back atop the Big 12. Oklahoma hosts TCU this Saturday and a win puts the Sooners back in the Big 12 title game. 

Will there be another player in America who will be looked at more closely than Mac Jones? Not only will he be replacing one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the history of college football, but he's also doing so while trying to get his team into the College Football Playoff as it's a bit behind the eight-ball. Jones did play extremely well in his lone start this season, a 48-7 win over lowly Arkansas, and he should do just fine against Western Carolina this Saturday. But how will he handle being the guy for the rest of the season? Surely Nick Saban will lean on his running backs to shoulder more of the offensive load, but Jones will have to make plays. The Western Carolina game is a dress rehearsal for the Iron Bowl showdown with Auburn. Tide fans don't want the CFP committee to be able to point at the quarterback situation as a reason for keeping them out of the Playoff.

There is a huge game happening late Saturday night in the Mountain West. Boise State, which leads the Mountain Division, travels south to face the Utah State Aggies who are lurking right behind them. How Aggies quarterback Jordan Love plays will be the key to this game. Love's season hasn't been as glorious as last year's when he threw 32 TDs to just six interceptions. He's tossed 14 interceptions already this season — which is one more than his 13 touchdowns thrown. Last year against Boise State, he threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns in a loss. If he can get that kind production this time around, the Aggies could pull off the upset. 

The Golden Gophers' loss to Iowa put a damper on what has been one of the best seasons in program history. While the loss ends Minnesota's undefeated season, the Golden Gophers are still in the lead in the Big Ten West standings and have an outside shot at getting to the College Football Playoff. They visit defending division champ Northwestern this week before hosting Wisconsin in the finale. Quarterback Tanner Morgan has been fantastic this year, passing for nearly 2,500 yards and 22 touchdowns to just four interceptions and showed how good he can be in the win over Penn State a few weeks back. Morgan is rarely asked to single-handedly win games with his arm, but he's come up huge in some big moments all year. Look for him to continue his great season against the Wildcats. 

Ohio State hosts Penn State is what is easily the Buckeyes' biggest game of the season (sorry, Wolverine fans), and we all know that the big names like Justin Fields, J.K. Dobbins and that defense will need huge games for Ohio State to keep its undefeated mark intact. Keep your eye on receiver Chris Olave. He's had a great stretch of four games where he's caught 21 passes for 335 yards and five touchdowns, including a 139-yard game last week against Rutgers. Two weeks ago the Nittany Lions gave up 203 receiving yards to Minnesota's Rashod Bateman and last week gave up 131 yards to Indiana's Ty Fryfogle, so this could set up for a big day for Olave. 

What if the Shea Patterson we saw against Michigan State was around all season? Patterson was brilliant against Michigan State, tossing 384 yards and four touchdowns against one of the better defenses in the Big Ten. If anything, he's taken care of the ball all year (just four picks), and he's coming off his best game of the season. The Wolverines head to Bloomington to face an Indiana team that has been one of the more pleasant surprises in the country. With Ohio State looming, Patterson needs to focus and continue his hot play.

Pittman is coming off two outstanding games. Last week he caught 11 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown in a win over California, which was after he caught 13 passes for 146 yards against Arizona State. He's had some huge games this season and leads the Pac-12 in receptions and receiving yardage. The Trojans have a chance at getting to the conference title game, as they take on rival UCLA. Last year Pittman had over 100 yards against the Bruins, so you should expect another big game.

Last week Taylor did what Taylor does: run up 200-plus yards on Nebraska. He did it for the third straight season and has put up 674 rushing yards in his career against the Cornhuskers. That was his 11th game where he's rushed for at least 200 yards, tying him with Marcus Allen, Ricky Williams and Ron Dayne for most in FBS history. This week the Badgers face struggling Purdue, and Taylor could break that tie while keeping Wisconsin's Big Ten title hopes alive. 

Thomas threw for 256 yards and four touchdowns in the 29-point win over Georgia State last week. He also ran for 52 yards and another touchdown in the game, his sixth rushing score this season. Taylor is back on track after a low-yardage game against South Carolina and a loss to Georgia Southern. App State goes up against lowly Texas State this weekend, which Taylor lit up last season and allowed six touchdown passes to Troy last week.