Players to watch: pre-New Year's Day bowls

Dillon didn't have the statistical impact he did last year, his freshman season. Some of it had to do with defenses keying on him (he wasn't a surprise anymore), while some of it is due to the Eagles having a few more offensive weapons. He rushed for 1,108 yards and 10 touchdowns despite missing two games due to injury. 

Boston College faces Boise State in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. 

Last year, the Bears won just one game. This year, they are in a bowl. Much of that has to do with the development of sophomore quarterback Charlie Brewer. While not having an outstanding statistical season, he started to show the leadership and ability needed to keep building Baylor back into contender status. His father, Robert Brewer, quarterbacked the Texas Longhorns in the 1980s. (His grandfather and uncle played quarterback for the Longhorns as well.) 

Baylor faces Vanderbilt in the Academy Sports & Outdoors Bowl. 

Dungey owns many of Syracuse's passing records and will be ending one of the best careers in Orange history. This season, he completed 60 percent of his passes for 2,565 yards and 17 touchdowns while rushing for career bests 732 yards and 15 touchdowns. He's been Mr. Everything for the Orange this season and would love to go out with a bang. 

Syracuse faces West Virginia in the Camping World Bowl. 

Finley was named to the first team All-ACC after a fantastic season. He completed 67.9 percent of his passes for 3,789 yards and 24 touchdowns, and the Gator Bowl ends a career where he threw for over 11,000 yards and 62 touchdowns. Wolfpack quarterbacks tend to make a splash at the next level (see: Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson), and scouts have had their eye on Finley for quite some time. 

NC State faces Texas A&M in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. 

Hall may be the best player on the field when Virginia takes on South Carolina in the Belk Bowl. He is a lockdown cornerback who sticks his man and has a knack for breaking up passes. He likely will be a first-round pick if he makes himself available for the NFL Draft. 

Virginia faces South Carolina in the Belk Bowl. 

This is how good scouts believe Herbert can be: He threw for 2,985 yards and 28 touchdowns, and people feel he had a rocky season. Well he did, especially right after Stanford came back to beat the Ducks in Eugene. What was once a Heisman season collapsed with several games where he failed to pass for at least 225 yards. Scouts still love him if he decides to declare for the draft, and Heisman voters may love him if he takes another crack at college. 

Oregon faces Michigan State in the Redbox Bowl. 

Johnson made the Big Ten's first-team — becoming the first Golden Gopher offensive player since 2014 to do so — after a solid season. The hometown kid caught 74 passes for 1,112 yards and 10 touchdowns for Minnesota. He had six 100-yard games, and his ability to stretch the offense has opened up space for running back Mohamed Ibrahim. 

Minnesota faces Georgia Tech in the Quick Lane Bowl.

Jones has had an up-and-down season and missed two games due to injury, but he is still a guy who NFL teams are taking a good look at. He threw for 2,251 yards and 17 touchdowns. When he's good, he is really good (27-of-42, 396 yards, four TDs against Pitt), but when he's bad he can be awful (17-of-35, 130 yards, interception against Miami). 

Duke faces Temple in the Walk-On's Independence Bowl. 

Kunaszyk made the all-Pac 12 team this season after leading a defense that finished third in the conference in yardage. The senior linebacker has taken a long winding road to his final college game. After not receiving any Division I offers, he attended American River College where his play on the field as well as his leadership skills shined and got him to Cal. This season he had nine games where he recorded at least nine tackles. 

California faces TCU in the Cheez-It Bowl.

Lock had a rather ho-hum season just one year after leading the SEC in passing. Lock threw for 3,125 yards and 25 touchdowns this season for the 8-4 Tigers. He may have thrown 19 less touchdowns this season than last, but his completion percentage rose again to 64 percent. He hasn't thrown for 300 yards since Octo. 20 against Memphis...and now he and his team are playing in Memphis. 

Missouri faces Oklahoma State in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. 

Love shocked many by returning for his senior season after finishing second in the 2017 Heisman voting, and this season certainly didn't go as planned. The preseason Heisman front-runner battled injuries, and he ran behind an iffy offensive line to gain just 838 yards from scrimmage. (That was after gaining 2,151 yards last year.) He recorded just one 100-yard rushing game this year, one year after failing to rush for 100 yards just once. In his final game at Stanford, he may want to put his stamp on his Cardinal career. 

Stanford faces Pittsburgh in the Hyundai Sun Bowl. 

The Yellow Jackets are a run-heavy outfit, and Marshall has done a fantastic job running retiring coach Paul Johnson's offense. Marshall led the team in rushing yards (824) while running in 11 touchdowns. He passed the ball only 100 times (completing just 44 of them) for five touchdowns. 

eorgia Tech faces Minnesota in the Quick Lane Bowl.

Minshew...and his mustache...has been a smash this season. He led the nation in passing yards during the regular season with 4,477 yards and 36 touchdowns. Aside from his dismal showing in the Apple Cup loss to Washington in the snow, he's thrown for 300 yards in each game. In fact, in the game prior to the Huskies loss, he threw for 473 yards and seven TDs against Arizona. 

Washington State faces Iowa State in the Valero Alamo Bowl. 

Moore...just a freshman...led the nation in receptions with 103. He also finished tied for seventh in receiving touchdowns (12) and 11th in receiving yards (1,164). He's had seven games of at least 100 yards, and over the last three outings he has caught 29 passes for 331 yards and five touchdowns. 

Purdue faces Auburn in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. 

Ollison has pretty much been the focus of the Panthers offense all year. Just a month ago, he ran for 235 yards and three TDs against Virginia Tech and had a 192-yard effort against Syracuse earlier this year. He's also had some low points, rushing for under 60 yards in four of the last five games. 

Pittsburgh faces Stanford in the Hyundai Sun Bowl. 

You can trace the turnaround of the Cyclones season to the game in which Purdy entered and sparked a win. After beginning the season as the third-string quarterback, he came in a game against Oklahoma State and spearheaded a win which began a 6-1 run for Iowa State. The freshman threw for 1,935 yards, 16 touchdowns and just five picks in those seven games. 

Iowa State faces Washington State in the Valero Alamo Bowl. 

Miami had another great defensive season, and one of the reasons is the impact that Quarterman has had this season. Even though the Hurricanes had a great defense, only Quarterman finished as a first team All-ACC selection. He is a high-motor player who relishes his role as a leader and go-to guy. 

Miami faces Wisconsin in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. 

It's been a tough year in Ft. Worth, but Reagor has made the most of it. Despite having different quarterbacks all season, Reagor still managed to catch 72 passes for 1,061 yards and nine touchdowns. His TDs are on par with his freshman season, but his targets went way up this season, as he had five games in which he caught eight passes. He has gained over 86 yards in each of the Horned Frogs' last five games and has caught a touchdown in each of the last seven games. 

TCU faces California in the Cheez-It Bowl.

Rypien won the Mountain West Conference's Offensive Player of the Year award. He threw for 3,705 yards and 30 touchdowns this season, and his 13,581 yards is most in Mountain West Conference history. He's coming off one of the worst performances of the season in a loss to Fresno State in the MW title game, but over the last seven games he's thrown 16 TDs and just two interceptions. 

Boise State faces Boston College in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl.

Shurmur, son of New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur, has been a three-year starter for the Commodores and has come a long way. In this, his senior season, he completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,844 yards and 23 touchdowns. His accuracy went way up, as evident by throwing just six interceptions this year. (He threw 10 in each of his last two seasons.) 

Vanderbilt faces Baylor in the Academy Sports & Outdoors Bowl. 

In Sills' final game with the Mountaineers, he won't have his quarterback, Will Grier, throwing it to him. (Grier is skipping the bowl to concentrate on preparing for the draft.) Still, Sills has had one of the best careers in West Virginia history. Over the last two seasons, he has caught 121 passes for 1,876 yards and 33 touchdowns. 

West Virginia faces Syracuse in the Camping World Bowl. 

Sternberger is one of the premier tight ends in the nation. This season, he caught 47 passes for 804 yards and 10 touchdowns. Not bad for a guy who is playing for his third program in three seasons. He spent his freshman season at Kansas where he couldn't find an opportunity to get much playing time. After a year at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, he made the move back to the FBS by joining Texas A&M. (He was being recruited by Jimbo Fisher while he was at Florida State then went to College Station when Fisher took the job there). 

Texas A&M faces NC State in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. 

Despite Wisconsin's disappointing season, Taylor still had a great year. He rushed for 1,989 yards, which led the nation. He also scored 15 touchdowns and averaged an amazing 165.8 yards per game. He had just one game where he ran for less than 100 yards and four games where he ran for over 200. 

Wisconsin faces Miami in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.

Warren had a breakout season as the Bearcats' primary back. He's rushed for 1,163 yards and 17 touchdowns and has Cincinnati on the verge of winning 11 games for the first time since it went to the Sugar Bowl in 2009. Warren is expected to play in the Bearcats' bowl game after missing the season finale against East Carolina with a hip injury. 

Cincinnati faces Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl. 

Williams doesn't get many targets, but when he does catch a pass it is usually for a big gain. The freshman caught 24 passes this year for 479 yards — a 20-yard-per-catch average — and five touchdowns. He stretches defenses, which has been a plus since the rest of the offense has struggled a bit. This is a great start in a promising Tigers career. 

Auburn faces Purdue in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. 

Wright is one of the most explosive players in college football. As a returner, he ran back three kicks for touchdowns (two punts, one kickoff). He's averaging nearly 15 yards per punt return and 25 yards per kickoff return while also catching 33 passes for 368 yards and three more scores. Last week he even rushed for a touchdown (to go with a 99-yard kick return) in a blowout against UConn. 

Temple faces Duke in the Walk On's Independence Bowl.

Wallace is following in a long line of great Oklahoma State wide receivers. Wallace caught 79 passes for 1,408 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had a whale of a three-game stretch in early November when he caught 28 passes for 564 yards in games against Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma. A big time player in big time games. Oklahoma State faces Missouri in the Autozone Liberty Bowl.