College football Week 1: 15 players to watch

Last season the Seminoles didn't go to a bowl game for the first time since Ronald Reagan's first year as president, so this is a huge rebound season in Tallahassee. Head coach Willie Taggart named Blackman as the guy to lead the rebuild over transfers Alex Hornibrook and Jordan Travis. After starting 12 games as a freshman in 2017 and just one game last season he has won the job due to his knowledge of the system. The 'Noles first game is against Boise State in Jacksonville, which figures to be a shootout. Blackman needs to get off to a big start to the season if Florida State is planning on turning its program around. 

Auburn's defensive front could very well be the best in the nation this season and will get a stiff test against Oregon in the 2019 AdvoCare Classic in Arlington. Brown is the leader of that front; he has freakish athletic ability to move his huge frame (6-foot-5, 320 pounds) past offensive linemen and gobble up ball-carriers in the backfield. He will need to get in Justin Herbert's face if the Tigers want to slow down the Ducks' Quack Attack on Saturday. 

Dillon is a long shot to be a legit Heisman Trophy candidate, but he can be dark horse to win the ACC's Offensive Player of the Year — which is no small feat with Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne in the same division. Dillon's numbers took a small dip last year as he suffered some injury issues in the middle of the season. His ankle is healthy, and his Eagles host a Virginia Tech team that also desires a turnaround season. Dillon put up 96 yards and a touchdown against the Hokies last season.

A year ago Fields was a top recruit who was supposed to challenge Jake Fromm for the starting quarterback job at Georgia. That didn't happen, and now Fields finds himself in Columbus beginning a new era at Ohio State. He is a unique talent who reminds many Buckeye fans of Braxton Miller and, with backups Tate Martell and Matthew Baldwin transferring, he's definitely the guy new head coach Ryan Day is hitching his wagon to. Fields goes up against Lane Kiffin's Florida Atlantic, so it should be a perfect opportunity for him to finally show college football fans what he can do. 

Is there a better name for a middle linebacker playing in the Chicago area (OK, other than Dick Butkus)? Fisher was the ultimate glue guy for a Wildcats team that stunned everyone by winning the Big Ten West division a year ago. This season the division is tougher, but so is Fisher and Northwestern fully believes it can get back to the Big Ten title game. Fisher will go up against a pro-style offense in Stanford that is breaking in some new parts but brings back quarterback K.J. Costello — two smart guys and two academically elite schools teeing off to begin 2019!

Many felt that Herbert would have been the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft had he declared last spring. Instead he's returning for his senior season and wants to leave Eugene with the Ducks back on top in the Pac-12. The first game is a doozy, as Herbert will face off against that brutal Auburn Tigers defensive line filled with future NFL players. If he is to get Oregon back to national prominence (and have his Heisman campaign taken seriously), this is the moment he'll need to show everyone why scouts are so high on him. 

Hurts has had one of the most unique careers in college football history, and his senior season begins as the quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners. The last two guys who held that job won Heisman Trophies, while Hurts has spent the last three years going 26-2 with Alabama and going to three straight national championship games. Despite his success in Tuscaloosa, he doesn't instantly become the next great QB in Norman. He barely won the Oklahoma starting job last week and isn't known as the passer that Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray were. The Sooners get a tough task in the opener against Houston. 

In 2018 King threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 36 touchdowns while rushing for 674 yards and another 14 scores for the Cougars. Now he's playing for Dana Holgorsen, who ran a high octane offense in West Virginia so King should be able to shine even brighter. Houston opens at Oklahoma, which has notoriously been weak defensively of late, so we could get to see the Cougars put up a lot of points. Fun fact: The last time King played against Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts in a game was back in 2015 during the Texas high school playoffs. King's school won that game, 71-21.

The last time we saw Lawrence, he was carving up Nick Saban's Alabama defense in the College Football Playoff championship game en route to the Tigers' second title in three years. He's now a Heisman favorite and...in a bit of a scheduling quirk...plays ACC foe Georgia Tech in Clemson's season opener. Tech brings transitioning from the Paul Johnson era, but Clemson should have little problem with the Jackets. Lawrence is the star of the 2019 season, and all eyes will be him on Thursday night. "Sunshine" at night in South Carolina.

Martinez has Heisman buzz coming into the season, and that will be directly tied to how Nebraska's season goes. Last year the Huskers got off to a horrible 0-6 start, but when it started to click for Martinez then it started to click for the Nebraska program. In the final six games of 2018, Martinez averaged 241 yards passing and 11 total passing touchdowns while adding 339 rushing yards and five TDs. He'll get a national audience at noon against South Alabama, one of the worst defenses in the nation last season. 

I implore you to stay up late and watch the Utah-BYU game on Thursday night. Other rivalries get the publicity, but this is true hatred that has been ratcheted up as they've spent all summer throwing darts at each other in anticipation for the season opener. It will be a physical game (any Utes game will be), and a guy like Moss will be the key. The senior has rushed for over 1,000 yards and 10 TDs the last two seasons and should continue to be a workhorse for Utah. Moss missed last year's game against the Cougars and rushed for just 21 yards back in their 2017 meeting, so he's itching to have a huge game against the hated in-state rival.

Ridder had a fantastic season, leading the Bearcats to an 11-2 mark in 2018. He threw for 2,445 yards, 20 TDs and just five interceptions while rushing for another five scores. His skill as a dual-threat quarterback makes him dangerous, especially for a defense as suspect as UCLA's — Cincy's opponent to start the year. Last year's meeting between the two was Ridder's first-ever college game as he threw for just 100 yards; however Cincy did win the game.

If there is anyone who knows how quickly things can change in college football, it is Tua Tagovailoa. He went from a guy who was set to transfer out of Alabama to leading the team to a national championship in mere hours. He also was the runaway Heisman front-runner most of 2018 until poor showings in the SEC championship game and the College Football Playoff championship game knocked him off the pedestal. He's back and the Alabama offense is loaded, so he should find himself in the Heisman hunt once again. He may not play deep into the game in this week's opener against Duke, but rest assured he will be looking to make a statement when he's on the field. 

Taylor followed up one of the greatest freshman seasons for a running back with an even better sophomore year. He rushed for 2,194 yards and 16 touchdowns and won the Doak Walker Award despite the Badgers having an uncharacteristically off year. Wisconsin has an interesting opener at South Florida, a program that won at least 10 games in 2016 and 2017 but lost its final six games last season after starting the year 7-0. The Bulls defense was bad last season, so expect Taylor to stretch his legs quite a bit.

Wimbush began the 2018 season as the starting quarterback for a Notre Dame squad that would go undefeated during the regular season. This year he is the starting quarterback for a UCF program that hasn't lost a regular-season game since 2016. Wimbush transferred from Notre Dame after losing his job to Ian Book and won a heated QB competition at UCF as McKenzie Milton recovers from a gruesome leg injury. In 2017, Wimbush threw for 16 TDs and ran for 14 scores, so he will keep the dual-threat dimension of the Knights offense as the team begins its quest for a third straight undefeated regular season. First up is Florida A&M on Thursday.