We just finished another exciting weekend of college football, in which some newcomers announced their presence with authority (Washington), some familiar faces re-established their dominance (Clemson), and some just continued to be the favored children of the College Football Gods (Tennessee).
But who were our players of the week?
Well, we're glad you asked.
National Player of the Week
Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson: If you really wanted to, you could put together a solid argument that Watson wasn't even the best quarterback in his own game, and you'd certainly have a strong case. We're going with Watson over Lamar Jackson, however, because Watson came out on top, and at the end of the day it's wins over everything.
Watson certainly had his struggles, as he threw three interceptions, but he was able to overcome the turnovers in time to throw for five touchdowns while passing for 306 yards and rushing for 91 more. And, when the chips were down, Watson put together his best drives to help Clemson battle back in the fourth quarter to knock off the Cardinals and remind us all why we thought this was the best team in the ACC coming into the season.
SEC Player of the Week
Derrius Guice, RB, LSU: Who needs Leonard Fournette?
LSU went into its first game without Les Miles without its stud running back, but Guice filled in just fine. Guice finished the day with 163 yards rushing on only 17 carries and scored three touchdowns. It was a masterful performance against what had been a solid defense so far this season. Both Guice and Darrel Williams (who had 130 yards of his own with three touchdowns and easily could have been the SEC POTW himself) led LSU to 418 rushing yards as a team.
Welcome to The Orgeron Era!
Freshman Player of the Week
Steven Montez, QB, Colorado: Do you know who Steven Montez is? Maybe you should familiarize yourself with him because he's one of the more interesting stories of the season so far -- as is the team he plays for.
Montez began the season as Colorado's backup quarterback behind Sefo Liufau, but Liufau was hurt in Colorado's lone loss of the season against Michigan. In stepped Montez, who started his first career game on the road against Oregon and led the Buffaloes to a 41-38 win. On Saturday, in his second start, Montez threw for 293 yards and three touchdowns as Colorado routed Oregon State 47-6. So, thanks in large part to Montez, the Buffs are 2-0 in Pac-12 play and sitting atop the Pac-12 South all by themselves.
We all totally saw that coming, right?