College football Week 15: 15 players to watch

Byrd is the latest in a line of high-volume receivers who have come out of Hawaii's program. His 91 catches are fourth-best in the nation, and he is in the top 25 in yards and touchdowns — not too shabby for a guy who plays alongside another top receiver in JoJo Ward. Can the Warriors offense translate to the cold Idaho weather? It must if Hawaii has any shot at beating Boise State and Byrd will need to come up with some big plays. 

Coxie had a huge game in last week's win over Cincinnati, catching six passes for 145 yards and a touchdown in the Tigers win. He's been on fire over the last five games, catching 27 passes for 562 yards and six TDs. He's fourth in the AAC in receiving yards, third in receiving touchdowns and is one of the best big-play receivers in the league (including the one-handed catch he made against SMU, pictured). He certainly was that last Saturday against Cincy and will need to bring an encore performance in the rematch. If Memphis beats the Bearcats, it could play in a New Year's Six bowl game. 

We know about Joe Burrow. We know about the great receivers in Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. We rarely give running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire his due.  He has been on fire, rushing for at least 100 yards in four of his last five games, highlighted by his ridiculous six-carry-188-yard-three-TD game against Arkansas a few weeks ago. Most people know him for his bulldozing running in LSU's win over Alabama where he scored four total touchdowns. Georgia will likely be the best defense LSU has faced this year and while I don't think it'll shut down Burrow, Edwards-Helaire can make his presence felt against the Dawgs. 

Etienne just does his thing. He is third in the ACC in rushing yards despite carrying the ball only 168 times. But those carries have been valuable, as he's gaining 8.3 yards per rush and scored an ACC-best 16 rushing TDs. Etienne's ability to not only move the chains but also break off a big play loosens up defenses and lets that passing game thrive. 

Both Fields and J.K. Dobbins had huge games against Michigan last week, but I feel Fields will be the favorite to win the Big Ten championship MVP against Wisconsin. He's had two 300-yard passing games in the last three weeks, four games in the last eight where he's completed at least 71 percent of his passes and hasn't thrown an interception in his last six games. In fact he has thrown 37 touchdowns and one pick all season long and should continue his great play indoors at Lucas Oil Stadium. He threw only 22 times for 167 yards in the Buckeyes' win over Wisconsin in their showdown earlier this season when Dobbins was the focus offensively. Look for that to change on Saturday. 

Boise State spent the last four seasons knowing that Brett Rypien was its starting quarterback. That hasn't been the case this season, as injuries to true freshman Hank Bachmeier and Chase Cord have forced the lineup to be shuffled a bit. Henderson has started the last three games for the Broncos and has managed to keep the team rolling to its first undefeated season in the Mountain West. In his first three career starts, he's thrown eight touchdowns and only one interception. Bachmeier and Cord both dressed and were deemed available to play last week against Colorado State but didn't see the field. Would head coach Bryan Harsin change horses midstream? Henderson will need to match Hawaii's offensive output (he did play in mop-up duty in the teams' earlier meeting) and likely will get the start. 

Herbert came into the season with a lot of expectations on his shoulders. He was crowned by several experts as the likely No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft but promptly lost the season opener to Auburn and has become a sort of forgotten guy to much of the country as other quarterbacks have surged onto the scene. In the meantime, he's second in the Pac-12 in passing touchdowns and third in passing yards while throwing for over 3,100 yards and tossing 31 TDs and just five picks. He'll get another shot at a big moment on Friday night when the Ducks face the Utes tough defense in Santa Clara. It will be a huge test, but he did throw for 288 yards and three TDs when these teams met last year, albeit in a loss. 

So Hurts most likely won't be the third consecutive Sooners quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy, but he fact he was in the thick of it for most of the season shows just how big a year he is having. Hurts leads the Big 12 in passing efficiency and is second in the conference in passing yards per game and rushing yards. You read that right. He's had a fantastic graduate season and has the Sooners on the brink of their fifth straight conference title ... the longest streak in the Big 12/Eight since Nebraska in the early 1990s. In Oklahoma's earlier meeting with Baylor, Hurts had a sensational second half to lead the Sooners to an improbable comeback win. 

At its heart, Baylor is a defensive team. Lynch, a junior defensive tackle from Round Rock, Texas, may be the heart of that defense. He leads the Big 12 in sacks (10.5) and fumble recoveries and is third in tackles for loss. When the Bears played the Sooners earlier this year, the defense did a great job in the first half of holding down Oklahoma's lethal offense. The second half? Not so much. Lynch and his mates must be able to keep pressure on Jalen Hurts while attempting to contain him from making big plays with his feet. How hard could that be?

Moss led the Pac-12 in rushing and touchdowns this season, and he has his Utes playing for their first Pac -12 championship. He's rushed for 100 yards in four of his last six games (the others were a 99-yard game against Arizona State and 88 yards in a blowout of Colorado last week) and has scored a touchdown in all but one game this year — when he was knocked out with a shoulder injury in Utah's only loss on the season, to USC. Utah wins with tough defense and a ball control offense. With the high-flying Ducks and Justin Herbert on the other side, look for the Utes to unload a huge dose of Moss in Santa Clara. 

Perkins is the main offensive weapon for the Cavaliers. The senior quarterback from Arizona leads the Cavs in passing yards, rushing yards, passing TDs and is second in rushing TDs. In his two seasons since transferring to the program, he's helped resurrect Virginia from a 2-10 team to playing defending national champion Clemson for the ACC championship. Not bad for a guy who broke his neck and collarbone three years ago and didn't know if he'd ever play football again. Instead he's setting school records and will play on the ACC's biggest stage on Saturday. 

All eyes will be on Swift's shoulder this week, as the junior was knocked out of last week's win against Georgia Tech. Head coach Kirby Smart said he is " hopeful" that Swift will be available for the Dawgs when they face LSU in the SEC championship game. They need him, as he is by far their main running option, and Georgia will need to be able to control the time of possession to keep LSU's dangerous offense off the field. Swift is third in the SEC in rush attempts and fourth in yards, so to not have him out there...or to have him banged up...will be something that could be devastating to the Dawgs' title hopes.  

Taylor has been on a tear of late, even though his streak of 200-yard rushing games ended in the Badgers' big win over Minnesota last week. He gained only 76 yards against the Gophers, but he carried the ball just 18 times (second-lowest total of the year). Now he takes on Ohio State in the Big Ten title game to avenge his worst game of the season (52 yards on 2.6 yards per carry in the 38-7 loss). After that horrible showing, Taylor began a three-game streak of 200-yard rushing games, which set the record for most 200-yard rushing games for a career. If Wisconsin pulls off the upset, Taylor will have a huge game. 

As Ward gained confidence during the season, the Chippewas made a run to the MAC championship game. Ward has rushed for 100 yards in six his last eight games — with Central Michigan going 5-1 over that stretch. He's scored a touchdown in his last seven games, including four rushing TDs against Ball State three weeks ago. Ward has rushed for 1,000 yards (he also did so in 2017) on the season after a dismal 2018. CMU has used a balanced attack to win the MAC West division title a year after going 1-11. Ward's resurgence has been a major part of that. 

The Bearcats loss to Memphis last week may have cost them a chance at a New Year's Six bowl. May have. The beauty of the AAC is that Cincinnati has another crack at the Tigers one week later. Cincy didn't have quarterback Desmond Ridder last week and it isn't known how effective he'll be this week if available. That's where Warren needs to step up. He's done so of late, as he's been a workhorse with Ridder's injury issues. He's rushed for over 100 yards in four of his last five games, including 122 against Memphis last week, and he's run for eight touchdowns during that stretch. Look for him to get a ton of carries on Saturday, as Cincinnati tries to bring home an AAC championship.