College football Week 6: 15 players to watch

No one is expecting Utah State to go into Baton Rouge and take down the LSU Tigers, but that doesn't mean you can't check in to enjoy Gerold Bright. The senior from Pensacola had a tough start to the season but broke out last week with 36 carries for 179 yards in a win over Colorado State. Bright has been good for the Aggies over the years but has struggled against the better teams he's faced. This is arguably the best team Bright has gone up against, and he is welcoming the challenge.

SMU is ranked in the top 25 for the first time since the program received the death penalty in the 1980s. And like those teams of the Pony Express era, these Mustangs are flying high with a deft running game. Jones has taken over as the primary back for SMU and is making the most of his opportunity. Not only is he averaging 6.0 yards per run, but he's also already pounded the ball in the end zone an NCAA-best 10 times. (He's also caught a TD pass.) With Texas grad-transfer Shane Buechele behind center, it has allowed the offense to be more balanced and has given Jones and Ke'Mon Freeman more room to run. You have to let those Mustangs run free! SMU tests its new ranking against Tulsa on Saturday.    

LSU takes a week off from SEC play by hosting a Utah State squad this week. Burrow has been outstanding this season, completing 80 percent of his passes for 1,520 yards and 17 touchdowns. He'd thrown only 18 touchdowns passes in his career coming into the season, and LSU hasn't had a quarterback throw for more than 17 TDs since Zach Mettenberger in 2013. He's been slicing up defenses all season, and the Aggies shouldn't provide much of a deterrent for him to have another big day. 

It was going to be tough for anyone to replace Trace McSorley at Happy Valley, but Clifford has done a fine job. Last week, for example, Clifford completed 26 of 31 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns. The defense gets the lion's share of the credit, but this offense is averaging 50 points per game and Clifford has been fantastic leading this team. This week the Nittany Lions get a struggling Purdue offense just before a key three-game stretch that could determine if Penn State is a legitimate title contender. 

There may be no better hidden gem in college football than AJ Dillon. He's rushed for over 1,000 yards in his first two seasons in Chestnut Hill...including 1,589 yards in his freshman season...and is well on his way to another big season with 627 rushing yards already. He's on fire of late, running for at least 150 yards in each of his last three games. The problem is the Eagles aren't very good (BC lost two of those three games) and with him holed up in the top corner of the country, he doesn't get much publicity. You will see him playing on Sundays in the NFL and wonder where this guy came from. Right now you can look for him on Saturdays, and Dillon goes up against Louisville this weekend. 

Many people forget about Ehlinger and what he's doing down in Austin. He's thrown 15 touchdowns (just one interception) and put up 401 passing yards on that tough LSU defense last month. The Longhorns lost that game but if Texas (and LSU for that matter) can keep up its pace, then this is a team to watch in the Playoff race. We last saw Ehlinger go 20-of-28 for 281 yards and four TDs against a good Oklahoma State team two weeks ago. Texas travels to West Virginia this week in what could be a trap game before a huge matchup with Oklahoma on Nov. 12. Last year in one of his best performances, he put up 354 yards and four total touchdowns in a one-point loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Fields has shown the skills that made him a top-rated quarterback coming out of high school and has Ohio State poised to not only win the Big Ten but also claim one of the four coveted College Football Playoff spots. While he certainly has looked impressive, it isn't as if the Buckeyes were teeing off against defensive stalwarts. That changes in October when they will face Michigan State, Northwestern and Wisconsin in their next three games. Michigan State's offense can't hang with Ohio State, but Fields will have a chance to show that he can be this elite QB against a tough defense — Sparty has allowed only 15 points per game this year. Many experts feel that the Buckeyes may be the best team in the nation. This is a great opportunity to prove it.

Hubbard has been unreal this season. He leads the nation in rushing — and it isn't even close. He's totaled 938 yards rushing this year (nearly 300 yards more than second place J.K. Dobbins) and has already had two games where he's run for at least 250 yards. One of those happened last week in a huge win over Kansas State (296 yards, TD), which has the Cowboys positioned as a dangerous team in the Big 12. Hubbard and OK State head to Lubbock to face Texas Tech and the Red Raiders, which gave up 201 yards rushing to Oklahoma last week.

It is no secret that Jalen Hurts is really good, but he is having a monster senior season. Last week against Texas Tech, he threw for 415 yards on just 17 completions and is averaging 300 passing yards a game. Twice this season, he's rushed for at least 150 yards and he's thrown for exactly three touchdowns in each game this year. He is averaging a ridiculous 12.7 yards per play . Hurts is the front-runner for the Heisman and heads to Kansas to face Les Miles' Jayhawks in what could be a trap game before the Red River Showdown. 

Is Jones the guy who can be the consistent back the Irish need to return to the College Football Playoff? After a 110-yard effort in the season opener against Louisville, he carried the ball just 15 times for 38 yards in Notre Dame's next two games. Last week against Virginia, he got the rock 18 times and rewarded the trust with 131 yards and three touchdowns in the 35-20 win. The running attack has been the missing link for Notre Dame this season and if Jones can solidify that part of the Irish offense, then they could keep their name in the College Football Playoff race. Notre Dame hosts Bowling Green on Saturday. 

There is a lot on the line for Michigan in this weekend's homecoming game against Iowa in Ann Arbor. After the Wolverines were destroyed by Wisconsin a few weeks ago, they came back to life a bit against Rutgers in a 52-0 win last week. The Wolverines' season is very much on the line this week. A loss could definitely knock them out and raise a lot of questions even before they face Notre Dame, Penn State and Ohio State. Patterson needs to make that bigger step everyone believed he was set to make in his second season at Michigan. Carving up Rutgers may be a nice start, but it isn't going to impress anyone. Iowa provides another key opportunity for a statement win. 

The Bearcats open up AAC play with a huge game against UCF on Friday night in front of a national audience. Aside from a smackdown to Ohio State, Cincinnati has looked good this year and Ridder has been a big part of the program's rise. A year after throwing 20 touchdowns to just five interceptions as a freshman, Ridder has again looked sharp.  Against Marshall last week, he completed nearly 82 percent of his passes for 221 yards and four TDs. Last time he faced UCF it didn't go very well (11-of-26, 127 yards), so there is a big chip on his shoulder entering this big game.

Since taking over the Gators after Feleipe Franks' season-ending injury, Trask has seemingly added consistency to the quarterback position. His comeback win over Kentucky and workman-like wins over Tennessee and Towson have earned the confidence in his teammates and coaching staff. He completed a school-record 18 consecutive passes during that time and while he isn't putting up video game stats back there, he is controlling the game well. The bad news is that the Gators season is on the line over the next month, as Auburn heads to Gainesville this Saturday and LSU looms next week. (There's the Georgia game on Nov. 2 as well). All have outstanding defenses, and Trask's task will be to keep his sound play going if Florida plans on getting to the SEC title game. 

Weaver has been a problem this year for Boise State's opponents. He leads the Mountain West with six sacks and is currently third all time in program history with 26.5 sacks. The Broncos moved to more of a 3-4 defense to utilize Weaver's edge-rushing skills, which they've termed their "Stud" position. Since allowing 31 first-half points to Florida State in the opener, the Boise State defense has allowed just 36 points in the following three-and-a-half games. Boise State travels to UNLV this weekend.

As the Auburn offense is getting more and more confident, Williams is becoming a bigger part of the action. He had a career game last week against Mississippi State when he caught eight passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Typically he doesn't catch a lot of passes, but he does create some explosive plays. Auburn goes into Gainesville to face Florida in a clash of top 10 teams.