This week in the SEC Conference, we had two new starting quarterbacks take the helm for their teams. One produced some solid results while leading his team to victory while one struggled mightily as his team fell in a key division battle. Let’s get started with the quarterback change deep in the heart of Texas.
South Carolina @ Texas A&M
Game Recap: Freshman Kyler Murray took the reins for the Aggies and showed off his highly-touted dual-threat ability while leading the team to a 35-28 victory.
Key Players: South Carolina – The ground game ruled the day for the Gamecocks as the team combined for 253 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Brandon Wilds led all backs with 17 carries for 128 yards and two scores. Perry Orth contributed 64 yards and a touchdown on the ground but only threw for 192 yards and two picks while failing to find the end zone through the air. Nine different receivers caught passes on Saturday, with Hayden Hurst leading the way with 47 yards – all coming on his lone catch of the day. Pharoh Cooper chipped in 38 combined yards.
Texas A&M: Kyler Murray debuted in a big way on Saturday by throwing for 223 yards and a score. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 156 yards and ran for another score. It was an efficient day on the ground for the Aggies as a whole as the team combined for 321 rushing yards and three scores. Tra Carson carried the rock 21 times for 122 yards and a score. Ricky Seals-Jones paced the receivers with six catches for 88 yards. Josh Reynolds was on the other end of Murray’s lone touchdown pass.
Key Injuries: None.
Players to Watch: South Carolina – The Gamecocks have another tough road matchup straight ahead as they travel to Tennessee on Saturday. Orth has not offered anything special behind center and can be avoided for DFS purposes. Wilds put forth his second consecutive 100-yard day and deserves consideration, especially after finding the end zone twice this past week. The receiving corps can be avoided with the exception of Pharoh Cooper. Even with less than stellar play at the quarterback position, he has produced 44/609/4 this season.
Texas A&M: The Aggies welcome Auburn to town this Saturday for what could be a high-scoring affair. Murray deserves to be on the short list after Saturday’s exceptional debut. There’s no definitive word as to whether he’s earned the job for the rest of the season so monitor the news just in case. Carson flies under the radar a bit for DFS purposes, but is typically an affordable source of points. We’ll have to see who emerges as Murray’s preferred target. Christian Kirk held the mantle of the Aggies most productive receiver for a few weeks, but has been held in check for the past two games. Seals-Jones has at least 75 yards receiving in each of the last three games.
Tennessee @ Kentucky
Game Recap: Joshua Dobbs scored four total touchdowns and led a balanced Volunteers attack to a 52-21 victory over the Wildcats.
Key Players: Tennessee – Joshua Dobbs had another exceptional game, both through the air and on the ground. He threw for 233 yards, two touchdowns and a pick and also ran the ball seven times for 51 yards and two scores. The team rushed for a combined 249 yards and three scores. Jalen Hurd had 98 combined yards and found the end zone twice, once on the ground and once as the result of a 37-yard pass from Dobbs, Hurd’s lone reception of the game. Josh Malone was the standout wide receiver as he caught four passes for 103 yards and a touchdown.
Kentucky: A pretty close game at the half turned into a blowout in the third quarter and the Wildcats couldn’t generate enough offense to keep pace. Patrick Towles completed only 16 of 33 passes for 184 yards, one touchdown and one pick. With Stanley Williams leaving the game due to injury in the second quarter, rushing duties fell to Mikel Horton, who carried the ball 14 times for 109 yards. Garrett Johnson paced all receivers with two catches for 50 yards and a score.
Key Injuries: Kentucky RB Stanley Williams left the game in the second quarter with an elbow injury.
Players to Watch: Tennessee – The Volunteers have a home date with South Carolina this Saturday. Dobbs can be fired up at will. He has 11 total touchdowns over the past three games and has completed at least 59% of his passes in each of them. Jalen Hurd is also in the midst of a productive stretch with three touchdowns over the past two games. Outside of these two players, the Volunteers can be safely avoided for DFS purposes.
Kentucky: The Wildcats head to Georgia for a matchup with the Bulldogs on Saturday. Georgia is pretty stout defensively and should be in a foul mood after being embarrassed by Florida this past week. Towles has only one passing touchdown over the past three games versus four picks, but he has rushed for two touchdowns over the same time period. Williams appears doubtful after Saturday’s elbow injury.
Ole Miss @ Auburn
Game Recap: Chad Kelly and Laquon Treadwell hooked up for a fourth quarter touchdown to seal away a 27-19 victory for the Rebels.
Key Players: Ole Miss – The Rebels racked up 558 yards of offense on Saturday. Once again, Chad Kelly provided a nice return on investment for DFS purposes. He threw for 381 yards, two touchdowns, two picks and chipped in 21 yards rushing. The team combined for 156 yards rushing, led by Jaylen Walton’s 20 carries for 78 yards. Laquon Treadwell found the end zone for the fourth consecutive game and exceeded 100 receiving yards, also for the fourth week in a row. He finished the day with 7/114/1 and also completed one pass for 21 yards.
Auburn: The Tigers accumulated a healthy amount of yardage on Saturday with 427 total yards, but only found the end zone once and settled for four field goals. Sean White struggled, completing only 12 of 28 for 258 yards, one touchdown and a pick. Jovon Robinson received the bulk of the work in the backfield, carrying the ball 18 times for 91 yards. Ricardo Louis again led all receivers, this time with four catches for 137 yards and a touchdown.
Key Injuries: None.
Players to Watch: Ole Miss – The Rebels face off with the Razorbacks at home on Saturday, a team that’s pretty tough against the run. You can safely avoid Rebel running backs this week. The Razorbacks are allowing 273.0 yards per game through the air but have only allowed eight passing touchdowns so far this year. Chad Kelly and Laquon Treadwell can be rolled out with confidence,
Auburn: The Tigers have a tough road matchup with Texas A&M up next. The game could be relatively high-scoring, but most of the Tigers have been pretty unreliable for DFS purposes. The lone exception of late has been Ricardo Louis, who has 17 receptions, 370 yards and a touchdown over the past three games.
Florida @ Georgia
Game Recap: Florida picked off new starter Faton Bauta four times on Saturday as part of a dominant defensive effort and sailed to a 27-3 victory.
Key Players: Florida – A dominant ground game helped lead the Gators to victory on Saturday. The team combined for 258 yards and two scores on the ground, led by Kelvin Taylor’s 25 carries for 121 yards. Taylor ran in both of the scores. Treon Harris threw for 155 yards and a score, a 66-yard hookup with Antonio Callaway. He also ran the ball 10 times for 39 yards.
Georgia: The Bulldogs rolled out a new starter on Saturday and it did not go swimmingly. Faton Bauta completed 15 of his 33 passes for 154 yards and four picks. The ground game was held in check by a smothering Gator defense as the team combined for a total of 69 rushing yards. Malcolm Mitchell led receivers with four catches for 60 yards.
Key Injuries: Georgia RB Sony Michel injured his hand and exited briefly but was able to return.
Players to Watch: Florida – The Gators have a matchup with Vanderbilt on Saturday and all eyes should be on Taylor, who has five touchdowns over his last three games. Harris could be a GPP flier for 2 QB sites, just don’t expect huge production.
Georgia: The Bulldogs have to regroup quickly as they turn around and face Kentucky on Saturday. Monitor the news for who will be this week’s starting quarterback and hold expectations in check for whoever is at the helm. Perhaps the Bulldogs will lean heavily on the ground game. If so, Michel should have a solid day against the Kentucky defense.
Tennessee-Martin @ Arkansas
Game Recap: Alex Collins ran for five touchdowns and the Razorbacks racked up 63 points on their way to defeating overmatched Tennessee-Martin.
Key Players: Brandon Allen was an efficient 14 of 19 for 265 yards and two touchdowns and also found the end zone on the ground. Alex Collins had an absolutely dominant day of carrying the football. He had 16 carries for 173 yards and five touchdowns. Seven different receivers caught passes on the day. Dominique Reed’s 71 yards was good for tops on the team.
Key Injuries: Arkansas WR Drew Morgan injured his shoulder on Saturday. His status for this week is unclear.
Players to Watch: Arkansas travels to Ole Miss this week for a tough matchup with the Rebels. Allen and Collins can be targeted but temper expectations. If choosing between the two, lean towards the passing game.
Vanderbilt @ Houston
Game Recap: Houston forced four turnovers from Vanderbilt and dominated play on both ends to earn a 34-0 victory.
Key Players: As would be expected with a shutout loss, there weren’t too many bright spots for DFS purposes. Ralph Webb was the lone player with a decent outing as he produced 102 combined yards. Johnny McCrary and Kyle Shurmur combined for 44 passing yards and three picks.
Key Injuries: QB Kyle Shurmur left Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury.
Players to Watch: Things don’t get easier this week for the Commodores as they travel to Florida to take on the Gators. It would be wise to fade the Commodores as they will be matched-up with an imposing defense. Webb is the only player even slightly worthy of consideration.
Other SEC Teams: Alabama, LSU, Mississippi State and Missouri had the week off.
