College football Week 3: 15 players to watch

Two years ago Abraham led the nation in completion percentage (73.1%) and 4th in completions per game. While his percentage went down a tad last season (67%) his yardage (3,496) and touchdowns (19) went up. He may not blow you away with his athleticism but his big arm can pop off some big plays. Abraham originally went to Louisiana Tech ... this week's opponent ... before leaving to play at Northwest Mississippi Community College for a year and ending up at Southern Miss.

Carter didn't get the most carries last week against Syracuse (that was Javonte Williams) nor did he score a touchdown (Williams scored three) but Carter is the big play threat that is big in the running and passing game. Last week he caught six passes for 60 yards and rushed seven times for 78 yards -- 13 touches for 138 yards. This week the Heels take on in-state foe Charlotte where Carter should get a chance to put up big numbers again.

UPDATE: Charlotte canceled its game with North Carolina

Cunningham had a huge game last week against Western Kentucky. The junior threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns while also running in a 14-yard score. Cunningham's name gets lost in the shuffle of some stellar ACC quarterbacks but he is a big play QB with some big time weapons around him. This week the Cards host the Miami Hurricanes in the first game between ranked teams this season. 

Can UCF get back to a New Year's Day bowl? We will get our first look at the Knights on Saturday as they travel to Atlanta to play surprising Georgia Tech. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel is back after throwing for 3,653 yards and 29 touchdowns as a freshman in 2019. The only time Gabriel played against a Power Five team was a win over Stanford where he completed 22 of 30 passes for 347 yards and 4 TDs. 

Harris had a big day against a very good UAB defense last week. The junior rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns in the win ... including a 66-yard TD romp in the first quarter. The Canes head to Louisville in a big ACC clash on Saturday, a rematch of Miami's destruction of the Cardinals defense a year ago. In the 52-27 win, Harris ran for 78 yards on just eight carries.

We'll try this again. Last week, Oklahoma State was set to open their season against Tulsa before the Golden Hurricane asked the game be pushed back a week. Hubbard broke out with over 2,000 yards rushing last season (plus 21 touchdowns) and finished 8th in the Heisman Trophy voting. He would skip the NFL Draft and stay in college at least one more season, which became a question mark during the offseason when he threatened to leave due to a shirt worn by head coach Mike Gundy's. All is reportedly good now in Stillwater and the Cowboys are looking for a Big 12 title.

Pickett is putting the finishing touches on a nice Pitt career. Last season, he threw for over 3,000 yards and 13 touchdowns during a disappointing season offensively. A 55-0 spanking of Austin Peay to start this season gets the Panthers and Pickett (70% passing, 277 yards, 2 total TDs). If the Panthers ... who host Syracuse on Saturday ... want to get back to the ACC championship game after a year away then Pickett's leadership will be key.

Can Cincinnati make a run towards an AAC title and a New Year's Six bowl? Quarterback Ridder will be a major factor in that. The Bearcats are trying to become a better passing team in 2020 so expect Ridder to air it out a bit more or last year's starter could find himself benched. Ridder has rushed for over 1,000 over his two year Bearcats career and has led the program to back-to-back 11-win seasons. Cincy opens up their season against Austin Peay.  

Georgia Tech is in the middle of a grueling transition from a flexbone offense into a more traditional style so the Yellow Jackets win last week at Florida State was a major moment for the program. Quarterback Sims ... who was once a FSU commit ... led the Jackets' to a fourth quarterback comeback behind 277 yards passing and a TD pass late to tie the game. Sims, a true freshman, will make some mistakes along the way (he had two bad interceptions against the Seminoles) but he showed he is willing to keep his head in the game and keep pushing. Tech hosts UCF in a rare non-conference game on ABC.

With the Big Ten and Pac 12 not playing this year, the rankings are showing some new names. Louisiana is one of them, due to exciting back Chris Smith. His stats won't blow you away but his speed does. He rushed for only 25 yards on just eight carries but he made his presence felt with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to tie the game. The Cajuns want to get Smith more touches but Trey Ragas is their top back. Still, when Smith does get the ball ... watch out!

While Green Wave back Cameron Carroll scored two touchdowns for Tulane last week, it was Spears who was breaking off big runs against South Alabama. The redshirt freshman out of Ponchatoula, Louisiana rushed for 105 yards on just 11 carries, including a 36-yard romp in the win. He has the ability to break off big plays -- last season he had a 52-yard touchdown run and an 88-yard TD reception in a game against Missouri State. He will get a big shot in the limelight as Tulane hosts Navy on ABC this Saturday.

What a game Swinney had last week against Army. The senior recorded four sacks and forced a fumble in ULM's 37-7 loss to the Black Knights ... which is amazing since he didn't record a sack last season. Sure, the sacks are a technicality since Army runs a triple option attack and recording sacks is a bit easier to come by ... but four is a game in quite an achievement. ULM hosts Texas State this week on ESPNU.

Who? Why would I put a backup quarterback on this list? Well, Trevor Lawrence will start and look great in what should be a blowout win over The Citadel but he should step aside at some point in the game for Uiagalelei. The freshman from California will be the heir apparent at Clemson when Lawrence heads for the NFL after the season. So on a light week with not many premiere matchups, check out the future of Clemson.

Georgia Southern will host Florida Atlantic on ESPN at 3:30pm ET this Saturday -- a big deal for the program competing in just its seventh FBS season. Last week, quarterback Shai Werts ran for 155 yards and a touchdown in a one-point win over Campbell. In July 2019, Werts was pulled over for a traffic violation and a $2 field test kit used on his car's hood tested positive for cocaine (the substance was actually bird poop). Werts was jailed and briefly suspended from the team before the charges were dismissed over a week later. The senior has thrown for 27 career TDs and rushed for 22 and has been vocal about social justice issues since the incident.  

The Mountaineers ran the ball 50 times against Charlotte last week with a trio of backs getting most of the work, but it was Williams who gained the most yards. The senior rushed for 117 yards, including a 34 yard burst and a TD run in the second quarter to give App State a lead that they would never relinquish. During his career in Boone, Williams has been known to break off long runs which sets him apart from the three-headed monster they have in the backfield.