Ranking the Top 10 performances in the first round of the College Football Playoff

The First Round of the College Football Playoff is in the books as we're now down to 8 teams pushing for a National Championship. While it's all about the team, each weekend, a team needs incredible individual performances to win especially in these tough games. This weekend, 10 players went above and beyond to give their team every chance to continue hunting the National Championship.

These 10 players delivered incredible performances in Round One

The Alabama defense needed to step up after falling in a 17-0 hole, and they did keeping Oklahoma in check allowing just one touchdown in the 4th quarter. Deontae Lawson was a massive force behind Alabama's win, turning in his best game of the season with 10 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a pass breakup. If Alabama is going to slow down Indiana it starts with the Senior in the middle continuing to make plays.

Oregon's game was a true tale of two halves as Dan Lanning is going to have a ton to clean up if this team is going to compete for the National Championship. Dante Moore helped this team put the game out of reach early as he was red hot in the first half, before he ended the half with a pick. As many wonder if Moore will enter the NFL Draft, passing for 313 yards with 5 total touchdowns and 2 interceptions leaves scouts with plenty to think about.

The Miami Hurricanes got star defensive back Keionte Scott back from injury right in time as he delivered an incredible performance on Saturday. Scott was all over, recording 10 tackles, 2 sacks, a forced fumble, and 3 tackles for a loss helping Miami hold Texas A&M to just 3 points. If Miami is going to pull off the upset of Ohio State, it starts with players like Scott continuing to unleash havoc.

Alabama cornerback Zabien Brown has found a way to flip the momentum of games with his play on defense which is tough to do. Against Oklahoma, Zabien Brown turned the game with his second pick 6 of the season crushing the Sooners who saw their 17-0 lead evaporate. Brown played 49 coverage snaps allowing just 4 catches while allowing a lowly 33.9 passer rating.

The Oklahoma Sooners saw their 17 point lead against Alabama get erased, but the team got several massive performances to give them a chance. Deion Burks stepped up giving the Sooners offense life, beating a great Alabama secondary for 107 yards and a touchdown on 7 catches. The team needed players on offense to step up to give them any chance in the Playoff and Burks gave the team has best game of the season.

If there was ever a perfect time for Lotzeir Brooks to score his first career touchdown it was when Alabama was behind 17-0 going for it on 4th and 2. Alabama's star freshman had the best game of his young career catching 5 passes for 79 yards and a pair of touchdowns, setting career highs in all 3 marks. With Ryan Williams' struggles this season, Brooks has stepped up in a big way to give this offense a spark.

If there was any concern that the Ole Miss offense would struggle without Lane Kiffin, it was quickly gone on Saturday as the Rebels beat Tulane 41-10. Trinidad Chambliss was in total control, passing for 282 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 36 yards and a pair of scores. Ole Miss now faces Georgia in a rematch, and Chambliss is going to need to play one of his best games to bring home the win.

After failing to make a massive impact at Alabama and Florida State, many wrote Malik Benson off, but he's quietly been key for Oregon. With all of the Ducks' injuries at wide receiver, Benson stepped up for Oregon, building a ton of momentum heading into the Playoff. While it was against a lesser James Madison team, Benson went off, catching 5 passes for 119 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

When you think of a game wrecker, you think of the game that Rueben Bain Jr had on Saturday against Texas A&M. Bain did it all, blocking a field goal on special teams while racking up 7 QB pressures and 3 sacks. Miami's best path to winning it all is their defense, and if Bain keeps playing at an insane level, they're going to be almost impossible to count out.

The Miami Hurricanes game wasn't pretty, but when they needed to dig deep and win the game, Mark Fletcher Jr stepped up. Mark Fletcher Jr finished the game with 172 yards rushing on 17 carries, averaging 10.1 yards per carry against an impressive Texas A&M defense. When Miami needed Fletcher the most, he marched them down the field, rushing for 75 yards, setting up the game-winning touchdown.