Week seven of the college football season is in the books, and with it came many standout performances. Here are three players who had what could be breakout weeks as they take the next step in their progression.
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report
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The skinny: After trimming his list down to USC, Iowa, Ohio State and Notre Dame, Ware committed to the Trojans late in the summer. While he still planned to take official visits to each of the four schools after his announcement, he ended up only taking one visit to Los Angeles. After only receiving 12 carries as a true freshman, Ware has earned more playing time this fall. However, it wasn’t until Saturday’s victory over Arizona that Ware truly shined. Rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries, he may form a formidable backfield trio with Ronald Jones II and Justin Davis through the remainder of the season.
Farrell’s take: A rare commit to USC from Texas, Ware was overshadowed by Jones, ironically also from Texas, in his recruiting class, but impressed enough to be a four-star prospect and top-30 player nationally at his position. He had good speed, showed vision and toughness and sometimes took a little bit to get into a rhythm, but we saw him as a prospect who would take some time to adapt and find his role but once he did he could be a workhorse. He hasn’t shown that yet, but this could be a start.
The skinny: Walters’ recruiting process was rather quiet, with offers gradually coming in from West Virginia, Minnesota, South Florida and Western Michigan. An early December official visit to Morgantown was more than enough to convince him that West Virginia was the place for him, as he committed while on campus. After redshirting in 2012, Walters struggled to make a major impact at linebacker during the next three seasons. Walters, who entered the Texas Tech game with only six tackles on the season, became a key piece of a West Virginia defense that shut down the potent Red Raiders offense. He notched three tackles, one sack and an interception in the game. It should be interesting to see if Walters is able to be a consistent playmaker for the undefeated Mountaineers during the remainder of the season.
Farrell’s take: While he hasn’t shown to be a tackling machine yet as we projected as a mid-level three-star and he has grown out of his projected safety position, Walters brings with him the football sense of a man in coverage with the quickness to cover a lot of ground. His versatility - he could play free or strong safety or undersized linebacker - was what made us tag him with that mid-level three-star ranking, and this could be a jumping off point for him.
The skinny: Howard was favoring North Carolina for several months, but it was an unofficial visit to Chapel Hill for a game that put the Tar Heels over the top. A day after returning home from his visit, Howard publicly committed to North Carolina. Howard has been productive with the Tar Heels since his true freshman season, but his performance Saturday during a 20-13 victory over Miami was eye-opening. Howard, who entered the game with 19 receptions for 273 yards, teamed up with quarterback Mitch Trubisky to snag 10 receptions for 156 yards to help the Tar Heels beat Miami and Florida State in the same season for the first time.
Farrell’s take: A national top-100 wide receiver, Howard had great size and could elevate and was a long-strider who could beat you down the field. He wasn’t a polished route-runner, but you couldn’t question his productivity, catching 115 passes for 1,630 yards as a senior. There were many things in addition to the route-running issue that kept him from being ranked higher (mainly strength), but he showed a bit of that high school production this past weekend.
