New stars emerge every week of the college football season, and Saturday was no different as some perhaps unexpected players stepped up and produced in a big way for their teams. Here are five players who made a name for themselves this weekend:
WR Kermit Whitfield -- Florida State Seminoles
Whitfield was Everett Golson's favorite target in #11 FSU's 41-21 win over Louisville, catching nine balls for an eye-popping 172 yards and a touchdown. You may not have heard Whitfield's name mentioned much on national TV shows, but you will tonight.
RB Akrum Wadley -- Iowa Hawkeyes
Wadley took over the reins as Iowa's #1 back after Jordan Canzeri went down with an ankle injury. He made the most out of his opportunity and then some, rushing 28 times for 204 yards and four touchdowns in #17 Iowa's 40-10 beatdown of #20 Northwestern.
RB Christian McCaffrey -- Stanford Cardinal
McCaffrey is the best RB in the nation that no one talks about. He keyed #15 Stanford's 56-35 win over #18 UCLA with 25 carries for 243 yards and two scores. He's a big reason why Stanford is back in the College Football Playoff picture.
QB Paxton Lynch -- Memphis Tigers
Lynch was the star of the biggest win in Memphis Tigers football history, throwing for 384 yards and three touchdowns against the once-vaunted Ole Miss defense in Memphis' 37-24 win over the #13 team in the nation.
QB Joel Stave -- Wisconsin Badgers
Don't look now, but Wisconsin is now 5-2 and still alive in the Big Ten title hunt. Stave made sure of that, completing over 75% of his passes for 322 yards to pace the Badgers in a critical 24-7. He did throw a pick, but he showed tremendous poise for a Badgers team that has been on the downslope.
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