College football Week 3 players to watch: Will Gunner Stockton keep firing TD passes against Arkansas?

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Week 3 of the 2026 college football season features one of the biggest games of the season. But there are plenty of other things to pay attention to outside of Oxford, Mississippi. Here are some of the players to watch.

  • No. 2 Georgia at Arkansas, Noon ET (ABC/DIRECTV)

Can we introduce you to a quarterback who has thrown twice as many touchdowns as incompletions this season? Yes, the caveat emptor here is that Georgia has played Tennessee State and Western Kentucky, but Stockton has been scarily efficient in his limited time on the field in those blowouts.

So far, Stockton is 28-of-32 passing for 436 yards and eight touchdowns. And he's very capable of putting up some more comical numbers against Arkansas. The Razorbacks gave up 43 points in their Week 2 loss to Utah as Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin combined to go 20-of-28 for 301 yards.

  • NC State at Vanderbilt, 12:45 p.m. ET (SEC Network)

Like Clemson QB Tait Reynolds, Curtis is in line for his first career start after he was named the team's starting quarterback on Wednesday by coach Clark Lea. The former five-star recruit also gets the opportunity for two full games at home before a trip to Georgia in Week 5. After NC State in Week 3, Vanderbilt hosts Auburn in Week 4.

Curtis played most of the Commodores' Week 2 win over Delaware, throwing for one score and rushing for two others. Overall, he's 21-of-31 passing for 270 yards.

  • Wagner at Cal, 3:30 p.m. ET (ACC Network/DIRECTV)

The Oregon transfer had the game of his career in Week 2. Lopa intercepted Syracuse QB Steve Angeli three times and his final interception put Cal ahead for good. Lopa returned a pick 24 yards for the go-ahead touchdown in the Bears' 21-18 win over the Orange. He also added five tackles.

Thanks to an interception of Nico Iamaleava in Week 1, Lopa already has four picks this season. The odds of him getting another one against the Bears' FCS opponent in Week 3 are slim, but we're not discounting the possibility entirely, either.

  • Western Kentucky at No. 4 Indiana, 4 p.m. ET (Peacock)

Consider Becker the wide receiver version of Stockton at the moment. He can't stop scoring touchdowns. Becker has just seven catches through the first two games of the season as Indiana has been able to play a lot of backups in wins over North Texas and Howard. But when he does catch the ball, it's been in the end zone. Of those seven catches, five have gone for touchdowns. He's averaging over 20 yards a grab too.

  • Michigan State at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC/DIRECTV)

If the Spartans are pulling a massive upset, Edwards is going to need to have a big game. The UConn transfer ran for 1,240 yards and 15 scores on just 210 carries a season ago and is well on the way to another 1,000-yard season in 2026. Through two games, Edwards has carried the ball 48 times for 250 yards and three touchdowns. In the Spartans' 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan in Week 2, Edwards rushed 21 times for 152 yards and two touchdowns.

  • No. 7 LSU at No. 8 Ole Miss, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC/DIRECTV)

All eyes are going to be on Lane Kiffin as he comes back to Ole Miss after his messy departure. It's one of the biggest games of the season for a reason.

But don't forget about someone else who also spent the 2025 season in Oxford. Umanmielen — who is currently being sued by Ole Miss for leaving after signing a revenue-sharing agreement with the school in January and was served papers on Tuesday at LSU's football facility — followed Kiffin to Baton Rouge. And he's been one of the top pass rushers in college football in the early stages of the season. After recording two sacks and another half tackle for a loss in LSU's blowout win over Clemson in Week 1, Umanmielen had three sacks and another tackle for loss in the Tigers' Week 2 win over Louisiana Tech.

  • Montana at Oregon State, 11 p.m. ET (USA/DIRECTV)

Legree has been simply unstoppable so far in 2026. And he's a true freshman. Legree has 13 catches for 376 yards and three scores already this season and it's not like he's done it against bottom of the barrel competition.

In Week 1, Legree had five grabs for 136 yards and a score in Oregon State's 33-20 loss to No. 22 Houston. In Week 2, he was even better against a team higher up in the AP Top 25. No. 13 Texas Tech had no answer for the Beavers receiver as he had eight catches for 240 yards and two touchdowns.

  • Purdue at UCLA, 11 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network/DIRECTV)

The James Madison transfer scored 11 career rushing touchdowns over four seasons at JMU before he went to UCLA with coach Bob Chesney.

He's already only five UCLA TDs away from tying that total. Knight has rushed for three scores in each of UCLA's first two games of the season. Against Cal in Week 1, Knight had eight carries for 71 yards and then he had 13 carries for 97 yards against San Diego State in Week 2. Given the way Purdue has played over the past few seasons, Knight could keep the touchdown streak going.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos