Is there a better player in college football than Stanford’s Bryce Love?

College football is right around the corner and the Star-Telegramis bringing you its Top 25 teams going into the season.

Today we look at No. 12 – Stanford.

Top 25 to date

LSU (25); Texas (24);

Central Florida (23); Oregon (22); Florida State (21); Boise State (20); USC (19); Mississippi State (18); Michigan (17); Virginia Tech (16); TCU (15); Notre Dame (14); West Virginia (13).

Nuts and bolts

Location: Stanford, California

Coach: David Shaw (73-22, seven seasons at Stanford)

2017: 9-5, 7-2 in Pac 12 (lost to TCU 39-37 in the Alamo Bowl)

Last league title: 2015

Three things to know

1. All Love. Stanford has arguably the best player in the country on its team – running back Bryce Love.

Love, the Heisman runner-up in 2017, is coming off a season in he rushed for 2,118 yards and 19 touchdowns. He was a unanimous All-American.

Not even TCU, which had the Big 12’s best rushing defense a season ago, could contain Love in the Alamo Bowl. Love had 145 yards on 26 carries with two TDs in that game.

The Cardinal offense will ride Love as far as they can this season.

2. QB watch. Love can’t do it all if Stanford wants to make a run this season. Quarterback K.J. Costello has to improve on last season.

Costello is said to be having a solid fall camp so far, and the junior needs to step up in the regular season. He finished last season completing 58.8 percent of his passes for 1,573 yards with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions.

The Cardinal return their top four receivers and four linemen from last season, so the talent is there for Costello to have a breakout season.

3. Defensive makeover. The top two tacklers from last season’s squad are gone – defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and safety Justin Reid – so the Cardinal has to overcome its defensive inexperience in a hurry.

The good news is they do have promising players such as safety Frank Buncom, linebacker Bobby Okereke and defensive end Jovan Swann.

Three games to watch

1. Sept. 8 vs. USC. USC rolled Stanford in this game a season ago, and then held on a for a three-point victory in the Pac-12 championship. Stanford is looking to avenge those losses.

2. Sept. 22 at Oregon. An early road test at one of the Pac-12 favorites should be entertaining.

3. Sept. 29 at Notre Dame. September is the make-or-break month for the Cardinal. They could end it on a high with a win in South Bend.