North Carolina at South Carolina
Game Recap: North Carolina struggled to score against the South Carolina defense when it counted in this game. Much fewer points were put up than we thought considering UNC’s high powered offense and seemingly lackluster defense.
Key Players: Marquise Williams struggled, throwing 3 interceptions inside the South Carolina 25 yard line and getting sacked 4 times on the day. Williams had 232 passing yards for 1 touchdown rushed for only 9 yards on 10 attempts. Elijah Hood was the first running back on the field, surprising us by getting the majority of carries (13) and rushing for 138 yards.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Elijah Hood looked good averaging 10.6 yards per carry with a nice long 44-yard run. He should get more carries next week against a much weaker North Carolina A&T defense. Watch for Marquise Williams to bounce back next week as well.
Youngstown State at Pittsburgh
Game Recap: The Pittsburgh ground game led them to a victory in what was a closer than expected affair with Youngstown State. We saw the Pittsburgh defense may be weaker than we thought, and their offense takes a huge blow with the loss of James Conner.
Key Players: With James Conner out for most of the game, 3rd team running back and redshirt freshman Qadree Ollison busted out with 207 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Backup Chris James initially came in after the Conner injury, but after a 46 yard run on Ollison’s first attempt early in the 2nd quarter, the Panthers stuck with the hot hand for the rest of the game.
Key Injuries: James Conner suffered a right knee injury that upon further examination ended up being a torn MCL. Conner will unfortunately miss the entire season. Look for backup Chris James to get the starting job, Quadree Ollison not far behind him in competition for carries.
Players to Watch: Tyler Boyd returns next week, so he will be back on our radar as a top wide receiver against an Akron defense that gave up 439 passing yards to Oklahoma this week. With Conner out, Chris James becomes an instant RB1 upside play with Quadree Ollison to be considered in tournaments if priced down.
Wofford at Clemson
Game Recap: This game went as expected, ending in a Clemson rout of Wofford and the starters seeing around one half of playing time. Deshaun Watson performed well in his limited playing time, passing 18 for 22 with nearly 200 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Key Players: Watson played well, but was nowhere near living up to his price tag for fantasy purposes as he was benched just before halftime. Freshman Ray-Ray McCloud stepped up to lead the team in receptions (8 for 80 yards), partially due to Mike Williams’ early exit due to injury. Wayne Gallman had a solid day as well, playing into the third quarter rushing for 92 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Key Injuries: Star wide receiver Mike Williams was carted off with a very scary neck injury in the 1st quarter. The MRI revealed a small neck fracture that could keep Williams out all season. He will be reevaluated in 6 weeks.
Players to Watch: With the injury to wide receiver Mike Williams, Artavis Scott sees a significant bump in value since he should without question be Watson’s primary target. Germone Hopper is listed as WR3 behind Scott and Charone Peake. Look for Deon Cain and Ray-Ray McCloud to take big steps forward, as both are freshmen 5-star recruits with a ton of talent.
Elon at Wake Forest
Game Recap: Quarterback John Wolford exploded for a career high 323 passing yards and 3 touchdowns along with a 70-yard touchdown run as he led the Demon Deacons to a blowout win over Elon.
Key Players: John Wolford took us by surprise with his career performance, putting up the 4th most fantasy points of any quarterback on all slates this weekend. A good chunk of his points came from that one 70-yard touchdown run, which we do not expect going forward as Wolford is not known for his mobility. Cam Serigne was one of our top tight ends, and he had a respectable outing with 60 yards and a touchdown on 3 receptions.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Elon is an atrocious team (1-11 in FCS), so we expect John Wolford to come back down to earth at Syracuse next week. Expect Serigne to continue to get looks in the passing game next week.
Alcorn State at Georgia Tech
Game Recap: Georgia Tech plowed through Alcorn State with a 69-6 blowout. All but 1 touchdown came on the ground, with 13 different players carrying the ball at least once.
Key Players: Patrick Skov led the team with 3 touchdowns on 12 carries, showing that Tech may be favoring him out of the backfield. Freshman backup Marcus Marshal went for 49-yard and 64-yard touchdown runs on his way to 184 total yards, good for a 23 yards per carry average. Justin Thomas was a big fantasy letdown, only carrying the ball 3 times for a net 2 yards and a touchdown along with a passing touchdown as he was benched before halftime due to the rout.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Justin Thomas remains a dangerous fantasy quarterback in more competitive games, but right now they look to be 4-TD favorites over Tulane next week—so we could need to wait even longer on him. It looks like Skov may be a favorite for carries and especially redzone work, but in this backfield, it is obvious that anyone could stand out.
Duke at Tulane
Game Recap: Duke dominated Tulane in a 37-7 victory led by Thomas Sirk as he went 27 for 40 passing for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns plus 68 rushing yards.
Key Players: Thomas Sirk was unproven coming into the season, but he showed some real talent in this game against Tulane as he artfully led the read option offense with a nice mix of passes and rushes. Johnell Barnes garnered most of Sirk’s attention in the passing game with a whopping 11 receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown, good for the 17th best wide receiver point total on the week. Shaun Wilson filled the lead back role as we expected, but with no touchdowns he underperformed our projections.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Thomas Sirk stole the show this week—with his dual threat ability, he will be an exciting play if priced well going forward. Johnell Barnes had a great connection with Sirk, putting up the monster numbers that remind us of his predecessor Jamison Crowder.
Rhode Island at Syracuse
Game Recap: Syracuse rolled past Rhode Island in a 47-0 shutout, but don’t jump to conclusions here because the Rhode Island Rams are no team to write home about sporting a 4-34 record over their last 38 games as an FCS team.
Key Players: Syracuse may be celebrating an elite defensive performance (64 total yards allowed), but they are mourning the season-ending injury of their starting quarterback, senior Terrel Hunt. True freshman Eric Dungey stepped in and threw for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns, but we expect no fantasy relevance from him going forward. Running back Jordan Fredericks rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown, but we would not expect a repeat performance against a real defense.
Key Injuries: Senior quarterback Terrel Hunt suffered a torn Achilles tendon that will end his season. Eric Dungey will step in as the starter, but should bring no fantasy relevance.
Players to Watch: Running back Jordan Fredericks had a nice game, and we do think Syracuse will be forced to run more often with their sudden quarterback change. Let’s see how Fredericks performs next week before making any bold predictions here, as this is the Syracuse offense we are talking about.
Maine at Boston College
Game Recap: Boston College squeaked by late with a couple of touchdown runs by Tyler Rouse that made the game look much more one-sided than it was the first 3 quarters. The Eagles offense was again very run heavy, putting up 203 rushing yards on 49 attempts.
Key Players: Even though he was not even listed on the depth chart, Tyler Rouse stole the show late with a couple of long touchdown runs that vaulted him to 81 total yards and 2 touchdowns on the day. Jon Hilliman disappointed with only 47 yards on 16 carries and no touchdowns. The rushing defense was absolutely dominant, holding Maine to only 7 rushing yards and yet again showing that opposing running backs may need to be avoided when facing the Eagles.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Jon Hilliman should continue to be the feature back, so let’s see if he can bounce back next week against another weak opponent in Howard.
Virginia at UCLA
Game Recap: Virginia was easily handled by UCLA, allowing 503 total yards of offense and forcing zero turnovers. The Virginia offense was not moving the ball effectively, converting only 4 of their 14 third downs and rushing for less than 100 yards.
Key Players: Taquan Mizzell stood out in the passing game with his 8 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown, vaulting him to the 23rd best fantasy running back on the day. However without those receptions and garbage time touchdown, Mizzell looked highly inept on the ground rushing 16 times for only 45 yards—that 2.8 yards per attempt was the worst among any back in the top 100 points scored this week.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: If Mizzell can increase that yards per attempt and continue to catch 5+ balls per game, he will be on our radar. But in reality, we are not watching anyone in the immediate future as Virginia welcomes Notre Dame to town next in what will be a tough matchup.
Louisville at Auburn
Game Recap: Louisville fought hard at the end, but fell 24-31 to Auburn. Bobby Petrino surprised everyone by giving freshman quarterback Lamar Jackson the majority of snaps amidst what we thought was a 3-man battle for the starting job with Jackson on the outside looking in.
Key Players: Lamar Jackson is now listed as the starting quarterback for the Cardinals after what was a short, yet lackluster showing from Reggie Bonnafon. Jackson was not the best passer in his 2+ quarters of work (9/20 for 100 yards and 1 interception), but he rushed for a team-leading 106 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Radcliff also started slow, but finished the game with a couple touchdown runs and 76 total rushing yards. No wide receivers stood out to us, as the team only had 167 total passing yards.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: With Lamar Jackson winning the starting quarterback job out of nowhere, let’s watch to see if he comes in underpriced.
Bethune-Cookman at Miami
Game Recap: Miami shut out Bethune-Cookman with an impressive performance by their running backs and defense. We didn’t get a great feel for the Miami backfield in this game, as 3 backs each scored a touchdown with starter Joseph Yearby and backup Mark Walton splitting carries in the first half.
Key Players: Brad Kaaya played for less than 3 quarters, passing for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Yearby finished last in yardage with only 40, while Mark Walton led the team with 10 carries for 85 yards. WR1 Rashawn Scott had a good day with 6 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown, while tight end Standish Dobard also found the end zone.
Key Injuries: Starting slot receiver Stacey Coley (knee) and backup receiver Braxton Berrios (ankle) both left in the first quarter due to injuries. Neither was on our radar as an impact player.
Players to Watch: Joseph Yearby has talent, so we’d like to see how many more carries he gets in a slightly more competitive game coming up at Florida Atlantic.
Troy at NC State
Game Recap: NC State ran all over the Troy Trojans to a 49-21 victory in which the Wolfpack amassed 251 total rushing yards. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett played the entire game, completing 21 of his 23 attempts for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Key Players: With starting running back Shadrach Thornton suspended (first 2 games), Matt Dayes had a great outing rushing for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns on 24 carries. Tight End Jaylen Samuels actually saw some goal line carries, accounting for 3 touchdowns on only 4 carries.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: If for some reason NC State appears on a slate this week, Jaylen Samuels could be a steal if still classified as TE or WR. We would suspect his role to disappear once Shadrach Thornton returns in Week 3. The Wolfpack defense looked porous surrendering a few big plays and allowing the Troy starting running back to go rush for 124 yards on them.
Texas State at Florida State
Game Recap: Florida State rolled past Texas State with 636 total yards in a 59-16 blowout led by a very impressive debut by new starter Everett Golson as he went 19 for 25 for 302 yards and 4 touchdowns with no turnovers.
Key Players: Everett Golson led this team to victory, but running back Dalvin Cook was not far behind with a monster game of his own, rushing for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns on 19 carries. Golson and Cook both had the 15th best fantasy performance at their respective positions on the week.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Dalvin Cook and Everett Golson are the main guys to watch here, but we would expect each to be priced up if their game is on any slates this week. Not a single receiver had more than 4 receptions, but Travis Rudolph should be the primary target in a more competitive contest.
Ohio State at Virginia Tech
Game Recap: After actually leading 17-14 at halftime, Virginia Tech fizzled in the second half as they fell to Ohio State 42-24 in an exciting game full of big plays on offense. The Virginia Tech defense was gashed for 572 total yards, while their offense was reliant on those big plays since their rushing attack was not effective at all going for only 128 total yards.
Key Players: Before going down with a collarbone injury in the third quarter, quarterback Michael Brewer was 11 for 16 with 156 yards and 2 touchdowns. Backup Brenden Motley replaced him and was ineffective, squeaking by only one decent pass of 36 yards for a touchdown to Isaiah Ford.
Key Injuries: Michael Brewer broke his collarbone in his left non-throwing shoulder and is expected to miss 4-5 weeks.
Players to Watch: Tight End Ryan Malleck led the team in receptions with 4. He finished with 48 yards and a touchdown—this usage is encouraging for a tight end. The rushing attack was anemic, while no other receivers significantly stood out.
