It was an extremely unique bowl season for college football to say the least. Several bowl games were outright cancelled, the New Mexico Bowl took place in Texas and Mississippi State was an underdog in their game against a ranked Tulsa squad. With all the outside noise and cancellations though, some games managed to be played and there were NFL prospects worth talking about. So in the final college football recap article, let’s talk up those potential prospects who stood out in their respective bowl games.
Zach Wilson QB (BYU)
In what ended up being the capstone on an all-time great season for the young quarterback from BYU, Wilson sliced and diced the UCF defense with his arm and his legs. His accuracy at the short and intermediate areas of the field was something to behold as he constantly hit receivers on crossing routes in stride. As mentioned, his scrambling and rushing ability also made him a huge weapon, as the coaches dialed up some trick plays and quarterback sneaks that led to two rushing touchdowns. Overall the junior had 425 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, 16 receiving yards and 12 rushing yards with the aforementioned two on the ground.
Brevin Jordan TE (Miami)
The Cowboys jumped out to a 21-0 lead early against Miami, but the Hurricanes steadily got back into it thanks to targeting their dynamic receiving tight end. The offense force-fed the junior in the passing game on a variety of deception-based routes as well as routes out of the backfield. It’s the latter type of formations that allowed him to show off his blocking and really demonstrate Jordan’s likely future in the NFL as a physical, tight end/H-back hybrid.
Jack Sanborn LB (Wisconsin)
A force to be reckoned with against Wake Forest, Sanborn excelled at shooting the gaps in the run game and being a downright monster blitzer up the middle as well. Finishing the game with double-digit tackles and two for a loss tells you a lot. Where you wouldn’t expect the junior to excel is in coverage, but despite his plodding speed he managed to come down with a masterful interception early in the fourth quarter that put the game away for the Badgers. The guy has some soft hands.
Trey Sermon RB (Ohio State)
The day wasn’t quite as productive as Sermon’s previous game against Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship, but it was one that was just as impressive. Finishing with 193 yards on 31 carries, the senior running back’s tough brand of running ensured that the Clemson offense was stuck on the bench and unable to find a rhythm. Again and again, Sermon took advantage of holes his offensive line opened up for him and just refused to go down upon first contact and usually required several defenders to gang tackle him.
Ronnie Perkins EDGE (Oklahoma)
I’ve mentioned Perkins before, but in his return from injury he has been on a complete tear as perhaps the best pure pass rusher in the Big 12. Against Florida, his burst off the line combined with some nice hand usage, led him to a tackle for a loss and two hurries. But when you watch the tape, he was a hair’s breadth from several sacks. Several of his pressures also came from timely stunts, where his acceleration is even more of an asset.