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Here is a game-by-game recap of each team in the ACC conference to catch you up from last weekend’s action, including Key Players, Injuries, and Players to Watch.
Clemson at Syracuse
Game Recap: Clemson rolled yet again to the 37-27 victory over Syracuse to remain undefeated and #1 in the country. While Syracuse surprisingly kept it close as they rushed for 242 yards and 3 touchdowns, Clemson managed to dominate in the end as the Tigers gained nearly twice as many first downs and around 250 more total yards of offense.
Key Players: Deshaun Watson has yet another big performance, passing for 360 yards and 2 touchdowns while rushing for 105 yards and another touchdown. This was Watson’s 2nd straight game with 100+ rushing yards and his 5th rushing touchdown of the season. Artavis Scott was his usual favorite target as he hauled in a season-high 12 receptions but for only 73 total yards and no touchdowns. Charone Peake has a big 64-yard catch on his way to a team leading 120 yards with a touchdown. Running back Wayne Gallman was limited due to Watson carrying the ball so often as he finished with only 66 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Zach Mahoney started at quarterback for Syracuse and was largely ineffective through the air averaging only 3.8 yards per pass attempt. Mahoney did however make plays with his legs as he rushed 10 times for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns—so had you played him at his very cheap salary, this actually helped him pay off.
Key Injuries: Clemson’s Wayne Gallman rolled his ankle here, but the coach says he should be OK. He is officially listed as questionable. Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey remains questionable with a concussion.
Players to Watch: Clemson faces off against a weak Wake Forest defense next week, making everyone here in play. We will be watching Wayne Gallman’s health, but if he is good to go, we expect a huge workload on the horizon. Charone Peake may be underpriced here too as he should have big game upside for your GPP’s.
Syracuse travels to NC State, and we will not be targeting anyone on the Orange offense if this game makes any slates.
Miami at North Carolina
Game Recap: North Carolina continued its dominance as they won an 8th straight game in the 59-21 rout of Miami. This game was extremely one-sided as the Tar Heels outscored the Hurricanes 52-7 through 3 quarters on the heels of a big performance by none other than Marquise Williams
Key Players: Tar Heel Quarterback Marquise Williams was again the standout player of this game as he had another very solid fantasy day. While his passing numbers were way down from last week at only 105 yards and a touchdown, he made up for it in the rushing department with 101 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. Running back Elijah Hood carried 17 times for 132 yards and a touchdown as North Carolina pounded the rock often due to the blowout nature of this game. This is Hood’s 4th straight week with at least 17 carries, but his first week over that span to average more than 5 yards per carry.
Miami’s quarterback Brad Kaaya had a decent fantasy day with 326 passing yards but only 1 touchdown with 1 interception. Running back Joseph Yearby didn’t have many opportunities due to this game flow, but he looked good in his minimal carries averaging 5.7 yards per attempt for 74 total yards. Yearby’s utilization in the passing game was very encouraging as he led the team with 79 receiving yards from 4 receptions, but his failure to find the end zone limited his day from a fantasy perspective.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Marquise Williams for North Carolina will continue to be a top flight option at quarterback, however he rolls into a relatively tough matchup at Virginia Tech this coming week. The Hokies are allowing the 7th fewest passing yards per game, however they have been much weaker against the run allowing the 64th most rushing yards per game. This is not a great matchup, but we look for Williams to be in play if not priced too high. Elijah Hood will be a punt option if priced down as he has seen constant utilization.
Miami faces off against a decent Georgia Tech defense. We liked the passing usage of Yearby in this last game, and he has seen a consistent workload on the ground, so look for him to be in play. We should see a decent game from Kaaya as well, but Georgia Tech usually slows the pace of games down, so we likely will avoid the matchup if this game even makes a slate.
Pittsburgh at Duke
Game Recap: Duke continues its late season struggles as the Blue Devils fell to Pittsburgh 31-13. Duke caught Pittsburgh on the wrong week as we saw the Panthers in one of their best games of the season with nearly 450 total yards of offense and 3 turnovers forced.
Key Players: Pittsburgh quarterback Nate Peterman tied a career high with 3 touchdowns, none of which went to his stud wide receiver Tyler Boyd. While Peterman is not a reliable option going forward, we were really disappointed by this performance by Boyd as we saw his worst game of the season and his second straight outing with a season low 3 receptions. While Boyd did have a season-best 79 rushing yards from 8 attempts, the usage is not at all what we had come to expect as he really disappointed fantasy owners. Running back Qadree Ollison had a big day with a career-high 26 attempts. While he only averaged 4.3 yards per carry, his 111 yards and 1 touchdown alongside 2 receptions for 19 yards made for a very solid performance out of the reasonably priced back.
The Duke quarterback situation took quite a few of us by surprise as Thomas Sirk was ruled out only a few minutes before kickoff, leading to a Parker Boehme start that some of you took advantage of. Given how low he was priced, it would not take much for Boehme to pay off. His stat line was not great, but some early success led to 80 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown combined with 248 passing yards—enough to pay off his very low salary if used in cash games.
Key Injuries: Duke’s Thomas Sirk is now listed as probable for this week as he is recovering from an upper body injury.
Players to Watch: Pittsburgh hosts Louisville this week in a game that we may not see on many DFS slates. Louisville has been playing relatively well on defense this season as they rank in the top third overall with a rushing defense ranked 11th in the country. It will be tough to trust any of the Panthers here.
Duke will take on Virginia, and with how the Blue Devils have been playing, they are making it tough to trust anyone. We look for Sirk to be back, so he should be a serviceable option if this game even makes the slate.
Virginia at Louisville
Game Recap: In what was an unexpected offensive battle, Louisville held on for the 38-31 victory against Virginia as the Cardinals win their 4th straight game to become bowl eligible this season. This game was close the whole time before Louisville’s Brandon Radcliff busted loose for a 36-yard touchdown run to seal the deal late in the 4th quarter putting Louisville up by 2 touchdowns.
Key Players: Louisville’s Brandon Radcliff rushed for a career high 146 yards with 2 touchdowns as he absolutely dominated Virginia as the workhorse back. Radcliff had 21 of the team’s 37 rushing attempts as Louisville went on to amass 266 rushing yards total. Tight end Cole Hikutini put forth yet another impressive performance here with 4 receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown. This is 2 weeks in a row with a touchdown, amassing 7 receptions for 87 yards in that stretch.
Virginia’s Canaan Severin had an explosion here as he caught 8 balls for 116 yards and a career high 3 touchdowns. This we his best fantasy day of the year. Another guy with his best fantasy day of the year was quarterback Matt Johns as he passed for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns against a relatively strong Louisville defense. Taquan Mizzell had yet another solid game with 9 receptions for 129 total yards. While Mizzell was not at all effective rushing the ball against one of the country’s best run defenses, he continued to excel through the air with his 5th straight game of at least 5 receptions.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: We will watch Louisville close the season out with a couple of road games, the first of which comes against a Pittsburgh team at the top of their game. The Panthers have been decent against the run allowing just under 140 yards per game, but with the way Brandon Radcliff is playing he would have to be considered if this game makes the slate. Tight end Cole Hikutini has also earned his right to be considered with back to back touchdown weeks.
Taquan Mizzell has been extremely consistent this season given his usage in the passing game, but with only 5 touchdowns on the year and none within the past 4 weeks, it’s tough to consider him outside of cash games. Canaan Severin and Matt Johns could both be viable options against a struggling Duke team.
NC State at Florida State
Game Recap: This was by far one of the sloppiest games we have seen by Florida State, but even after benching their starting quarterback, they still managed to complete the blowout of NC State for a 34-17 victory. The Wolfpack started strong with a quick 17 points in the first quarter, however they went absolutely flat after that as the Seminoles defense stepped up and their offense found some sense of stride with Sean Maguire taking over.
Key Players: Dalvin Cook had yet another impressive performance with 138 yards and 2 touchdowns, making this the 11th 100+ yard rushing performance of his career and his 5th game this season with both 100+ yards and 2+ touchdowns. We saw wide receiver Kermit Whitfield lead the team with 117 yards and 2 touchdowns for his 2nd 100+ yard game of the season. Whitfield has been relatively inconsistent this season however as he had only 85 yards and 0 touchdowns in his 3 games since that last 100+ yard game. Jesus Wilson had a solid game for his price with 7 receptions for 78 yards, but he has not scored since Week 2.
NC State left much to be desired with a lackluster performance overall. The tight ends dominated their offense as both David Grinnage and Jaylen Samuels amassed 15 receptions for 86 yards combined. Samuels was the only receiver to find the end zone, but only 28 receiving yards and 23 rushing yards limited his overall ceiling despite the very encouraging usage in all facets of their offense.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Florida State gets a powderpuff matchup against Tennessee Chattanooga this week before facing powerhouse Florida to close the season. We don’t expect the Seminoles to be on a slate next week as they should be 30+ point favorites, but if they sneak in there, Dalvin Cook could very well rush for 200+ yards on the first 3 drives alone!
NC State will take on Syracuse, and we will be taking a hard look at Jaylen Samuels considering his huge usage in this offense via both the passing and rushing attacks. He is the only option worth considering if this game makes a slate.
Notre Dame at Wake Forest
Game Recap: Wake Forest put forth a dismal effort against one of the top teams in the country as they lost 28-7 to Notre Dame. While the Demon Deacons actually dominated Notre Dame on the stat sheet with more total yards, time of possessions, and first downs, the Irish was able to capitalize on its few opportunities including an interception return for touchdown and an explosive 98-yard run by Josh Adams while filling in for CJ Prosise.
Key Players: There are no players worth mentioning outside of KJ Brent leading the team in receiving with 5 receptions for 82 yards.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: If you thought it couldn’t get worse after facing the #4 team in the country, you would be wrong in Wake Forest’s case. The Demon Deacons travel to #1 Clemson this week in what should be another forgettable performance for this offense.
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech
Game Recap: In a battle of the ACC Tech’s, the Hokies came out on top of Georgia Tech in a close 23-21 victory. After being down by 14 at the end of the first quarter, Virginia Tech put together a couple of 75+ yard drives to score twice in the second quarter to even it up. Freshman star Travon McMillian then punched in the go-ahead 4-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter that then allowed the Hokies defense to put this game on ice for the win.
Key Players: Travon McMillian continued his run of 100+ yard games here as he rushed 24 times for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns as the clear stand-out player in the game. McMillian is averaging a whopping 29 carries and 127 yards per game in his last 3 games, with a couple of 95 yard games right before he started his 3-digit streak. He is a special back who is looking to have some huge upside to close out this season.
Georgia Tech really had minimal fantasy standouts here as the turnovers plagued their offensive attack yet again. Marcus Allen led this unpredictable rushing attack with 16 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown, but unless we hear something encouraging from their coaching staff, we would not trust Allen going forward as this was only his first game being involved in any substantial offensive role.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: The Hokies take on a hot North Carolina team this week. With as explosive as the Tar Heels have been lately, this will be a good opportunity to see what the Hokies’ offense is made of as they will be struggling to keep up. While we see McMillian’s workload decreasing slightly, he may grab a few receptions and should still be in store for a healthy 20+ carries with plenty of upside against North Carolina’s 110th ranked rushing defense.
Georgia Tech will visit Miami, and we continue to avoid their offense as you cannot predict anything whatsoever about it.