Who to watch in college football: September 20th … One might be tempted to think that if the ‘game of the week’ is Illinois versus Indiana (7:30 PM ET; NBC) that its probably a week in which one could just skip college football altogether, especially if one were looking for draft prospects to watch. One would be wrong however! True, the Illini and Hoosiers haven’t squared off in a meaningful national game since October 1950, but they’re both rising programs with interesting prospects for the 2026 draft. Both Illinois and Indiana have, for example, QBs that are getting some legitimate buzz in Luke Altmyer (#9, 6-2, 225) of the Illini and the Hoosiers’ Fernando Mendoza (#15, 6-5, 225). Both teams also feature an explosive ER with at least second-day potential in Gabe Jacas (#17, 6-3, 270) and Indiana’s Mikail Kamara (#6, 6-1, 265). For the record, Jacas already has 3.5 sacks on the season, while Kamara led all of FBS in QB pressures last fall including 10 sacks. Both teams also have corners with second-day potential in Xavier Scott (#14, 5-11, 195) of the Illini and Indiana All-American De’Angelo Ponds (#5-9, 175), although Scott is listed as questionable with an injury. All that said, Indiana’s best prospect ultimately may end up being WR Elijah Sarratt (#13, 6-2, 215), an explosive big-play threat who combines impressive size with track speed. Meanwhile, other players to watch in this game include rising Illinois LT JC Davis (6-5, 335) and Indiana LB Aiden Fisher (#4, 6-0, 235) who led the Big Ten in tackles last fall.
There’s actually a second game this weekend involving ranked teams and it too is between a couple of programs not usually included among the ‘usual suspects’ when #17 Texas Tech plays at #16 Utah (Noon ET; FOX). What makes this one particularly interesting is that the Utes’ two OTs – LT Caleb Lomu (#71, 6-6, 310) and RT Spencer Fano (#55, 6-6, 310) – will be tested by the Red Raiders disruptive DE David Bailey (#31, 6-3, 250). Fano in particular is a top 10-15 candidate for the upcoming draft, while Lomu and Bailey, who has 2.5 sacks already this year, are more second-day prospects.
A lot of eyes are also going to be on #22 Auburn at Oklahoma (3:30 PM ET; ABC) to check out Sooners’ QB John Mateer (#10, 6-1, 225), a gunslinger who appears to have taken an early lead in the Heisman Trophy race. However, the guys we’re interested in this game are Auburn DE Keldric Faulk (#15, 6-5, 285) and OT Xavier Chaplin (#65, 6-6, 345), while the Tigers’ other DE, Keyron Crawford (#24, 6-4, 255) who actually leads the team with 3.5 sacks, is also starting to draw some attention from pro scouts.
There’s a second potentially interesting game, at least from a scout’s perspective, Saturday evening when Arizona State plays at Baylor (7:30 PM ET; FOX) to kick off Big XII conference play. Both are 2-1 and neither is ranked but both have pretty good QBs in Sam Leavitt (#10, 6-2, 205) of ASU and Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson (#13, 6-3, 220), although neither appears all that likely to enter the upcoming draft. The Sun Devils. though, have the consensus top WR for the upcoming draft in Jordan Tyson (#0, 6-2, 200), a top 10-15 prospect if he can stay healthy, who has quite literally caught half of Leavitt’s completions thru the first three weeks; the Sun Devils also feature a rising candidate on the offensive line in hulking LT Max Iheanachor (#58, 6-6, 330).
