College football Week 4: Players to watch

Where did that come from? In the first two games of the season, Blough went 18-of-26 for 122 passing yards and zero touchdowns. Against Missouri, Blough went 39-of-55 with 572 yards and three TDs. Sure, you can get in a shootout against Mizzou, but is this what the 0-3 Boilermakers need to be to have success this year? They get Boston College this week, and Blough may need a big passing day to get that first win.

While former Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes is tearing up the NFL, current Red Raiders signal-caller Alan Bowman is having his own big year. Last week against a really good defensive Houston squad, the freshman Bowman completed 43 of 59 passes for 605 yards and five TDs. Next up is Oklahoma State in Stillwater for his first Big 12 contest. 

Last week against Wake Forest, in front of a national audience, Dillon showed he is one of the best backs in the country. He ran for 185 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Demon Deacons. Now the Eagles are ranked for the first time since 2008 and will test that ranking against a struggling Purdue squad in West Lafayette.

Etienne exploded against Georgia Southern last week, rushing for 162 yards and two touchdowns. The Tigers head to Georgia Tech this week to face a Yellow Jackets defense that allowed Pitt to have success running the football last week. Etienne has scored at least one touchdown in seven of his last eight games.

A week after hearing some chatter about his passing ability, Fitzgerald threw for 243 yards and two TDs against Louisiana. Nice, but it was running for over 100 yards and four touchdowns that made his day truly magical. This week, Fitzgerald and the Bulldogs head to Lexington to face a rising Kentucky squad eager to take out another ranked foe.

It took Gaskin until the third game of the season to finally stretch out. After gaining just 130 yards in the Huskies' first two games, he ran for 143 yards and a touchdown against Utah. He wishes to get a little bit of revenge against Arizona State, which slowed him down in their meeting last season (the only game last year in which Gaskin did not score a touchdown).

Grier may be the Heisman leader at this point. He's averaging 380.5 passing yards this season and has thrown nine TDs.  He's also chomping at the bit to get back on the field after last week's game at NC State was canceled due to Hurricane Florence. Grier faces Kansas State in the Mountaineers' Big 12 opener. Last year against the Wildcats, Grier threw for 372 yards and four TDs.

Herbert has gotten off to a fantastic start this season. He has thrown for 840 yards and 12 TDs so far. (He's thrown at least three touchdowns in each game played.) This week the Ducks go up against Stanford in a huge Pac-12 North battle. Thus far, Oregon has played Bowling Green, Portland State and San Jose State, so this is a big test to see if this offense is for real.

Great name, great game. Humphrey is a big-play receiver for the Longhorns, and they'll need it against TCU. He's averaging 21 yards per reception this year, and his 47-yard touchdown grab right after halftime against USC last week completely turned that game around. 

There's a lot of offensive weapons on the Crimson Tide this year, and Jerry Jeudy is a name you need to know. He has scored two touchdowns in each of Alabama's three games this year. Last week at Ole Miss, he reeled in a 79-yard TD grab and currently averages 26.1 yards per catch this season. 

Johnson was a one-man wrecking crew against Miami-OH last week. He caught nine passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns against the Redhawks, giving him five scores for the season. He's averaging an impressive 14 yards per reception on the year. This week, the Golden Gophers travel to Maryland where Johnson could light up the scoreboard some more.

Not many people realize how good Mizzou's Drew Lock is. In three games this year, he's already thrown for over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns. (He's also ran in two scores.) Lock easily led the SEC in passing yards last year and is already at the top this season. He goes up against the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs this week a year after tossing four TDs against them.

Penn State will travel to Illinois in the Big Ten's new Friday night games, which will give fans an opportunity to catch up with Trace McSorley. Even with Saquon Barkley doing his thing in the NFL now, McSorley hasn't missed a beat. Last week against Kent State, he threw for two touchdowns and ran in another three. His passing yardage isn't astronomical, but he's thrown or run for 11 TDs this season. 

Singletary still hasn't rushed for 100 yards in a game thus far, but he surely blew up last week against Bethune-Cookman. He finished with 84 yards rushing and five touchdowns against the Wildcats, continuing his streak of 16 games with a touchdown run. (Eleven of those are multiple score games.) The Owls head into Conference USA favorite UCF for a huge Friday night tilt in front of a national audience.

When White is good this season, he's very good. When he's bad, he's been awful. Last week against Georgia State, he passed for 269 yards and five TDs. The five touchdown throws match his effort in Week 1 against Mercer. In the Tigers' loss to Navy, he threw for only 145 yards and no scores. This week against South Alabama allows for another chance to put up huge numbers.