College football’18: 5 players to watch in Week 5

Each week, The Game Haus will highlight five players to watch from college football games featuring Top 25 teams. From established stars to players on the verge of breaking out, we’ll offer some names to remember every week of the college football season.

Here’s a look at five players to watch in Week 5 (All times Eastern):

Adrian Frye, CB, Texas Tech

Matchup: vs. No. 12 West Virginia, Noon, Saturday

Breakdown: At 6-foot-1, 190 pounds there is a lot to like about the redshirt freshman defensive back. Watch his play through the first quarter of the season and there’s even much more to like. Frye, whose only Power 5 offer came from the Red Raiders, enters the weekend tied for second in the nation with three interceptions and his nine passes defended are tied for fifth among those players. One of those picks came in last weekend’s 41-17 victory over then-No. 15 Oklahoma State, which was shut out in the second half. The task is tougher this week, with Will Grier and West Virginia’s potent offense in town.

Quentin Harris, QB, Duke

Quentin Harris (Photo by abc11.com)

Matchup: vs. Virginia Tech, 7 p.m., Saturday

Breakdown: This is a matchup of backup quarterbacks, but for the moment, the edge must go to Harris, who has shown this season he’s capable of guiding the Blue Devils offense when asked. Harris stepped in during Duke’s second game of the season at Northwestern when Daniel Jones was injured. He helped the Blue Devils pull out that road victory, and in wins over Baylor and North Carolina Central that followed, the junior threw for 376 yards and six touchdowns without an interception. He also rushed for a touchdown. The Hokies present a potentially stiffer challenge this week, but after being surprisingly ravaged by Old Dominion last weekend, Harris and the Blue Devils should remain confident.

Ian Book, QB, Notre Dame

Matchup: vs, No. 7 Stanford, 7:30 p.m., Saturday

Breakdown: Barring injury or some other freak occurrence, Book should remain under center for the Irish the rest of the season. Notre Dame did not score more than 24 points in its first three games this season with the versatile, but inconsistent, Brandon Wimbush as the starter. Last week at Wake Forest, Book got his second career start and went 25 of 34 for 325 yards with two touchdowns and also ran for three scores. The sledding should be tougher Saturday against Stanford, but it’s obvious the Irish are a more dangerous team with Book at the helm.

Miles Sanders, RB, Penn State

Matchup: vs. No. 4 Ohio State, 7:30 p.m., Saturday

Breakdown: Nittany Lions fans haven’t quite forgotten about Saquon Barkley, but Sanders certainly hasn’t left that fan base pining for him, either. Sanders is averaging 7.0 yards per carry while gaining 495 yards on the ground – 200 of which came on 22 carries in last week’s rout of Illinois. Sanders should be in the spotlight Saturday against an Ohio State defense that did allow TCU to run for 203 yards and has yielded six rushing touchdowns this year.

Evan Weaver, LB, California

Evan Weaver (Photo by postregister.com)

Matchup: vs. No. 19 Oregon, 10:30 p.m., Saturday

Breakdown: One of the reasons Cal finds itself 3-0 and ranked No. 24 is because of a solid defense that’s allowing 19.3 points per game. One of that unit’s leaders is Weaver, a junior middle linebacker who ranks second in the nation with 25 solo tackles. If Weaver and the Golden Bears hope to stay in the Top 25, they likely need to contain an Oregon rushing attack that averages just 4.4 yards per carry but has produced 12 touchdowns.

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