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.
Georgia Tech at Duke
Game Recap: Duke started the game strong with 19 points in the first quarter on their way to a 34-20 upset over Georgia Tech. Duke was actually outgained by nearly 50 yards on the day, but a few key turnovers and big special teams plays are what really fueled the victory for the Blue Devils. Duke’s defense stopped Georgia Tech 4 times on 4th down, twice of which were in the first half. Duke also forced 2 turnovers, including a late fumble by Justin Thomas that all but iced the game.
Key Players: The stand-out player for Duke’s offense was by far running back Shaquille Powell. Powell rushed only 14 times for 88 yards and 3 touchdowns, in addition to catching a couple passes for 6 yards. Shaun Wilson actually started the game for the Blue Devils, but after fumbling on the first series he was quickly replaced by Powell who took advantage of the opportunity. Thomas Sirk had a rough outing as he passed for only 114 yards and a touchdown while throwing a couple of interceptions both in the second half.
Georgia Tech was largely ineffective rushing the ball, as nobody could really get consistent yardage while big plays came at a premium with only 1 rush greater than 20 yards (by the quarterback). Patrick Skov was the clear lead back again, rushing 19 times for 75 yards. Justin Thomas really struggled both passing and rushing the ball, as he only completed 6 of his 21 pass attempts and rushing for only 2.4 yards per attempt.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: We have our eye on Shaquille Powell for Duke going forward, but still expect Shaun Wilson to get a chance to take some carries away again. Next week against Boston College, it will be tough to justify any Duke players against one of the country’s best defenses.
For Georgia Tech, we will continue to watch the pricing on Patrick Skov. Georgia Tech attempts to avoid losing 3 straight next week against North Carolina, a team which has allowed the 15th most rushing yards per game this season. Skov should be in a very good spot and could be a nice start if priced down after the rough outing last week. Justin Thomas could be on our radar as well depending on his price, but he would be a tournament-only option since he has not looked good at all this season.
LSU at Syracuse
Game Recap: Syracuse kept this game surprisingly close, pulling to within a touchdown in the 4th quarter—however the Orange could not overcome Leonard Fournette’s 244 rushing yards as Syracuse fell 24-34 to LSU.
Key Players: Zach Mahoney received the start over Eric Dungey this week. Mahoney was not great on paper as he completed only 16 of his 38 passes for 154 yards, but he did throw for 3 touchdowns—a rare feat against the stout LSU defense. Mahoney also led the team in rushing with 40 yards on 6 carries.
Key Injuries: Quarterback Eric Dungey remains out with a head injury and is questionable to play Oct 10th in their next game against South Florida.
Players to Watch: Zach Mahoney was not very efficient, but he did show that he could rush the ball as he put up 40 yards in this tough matchup. We would not recommend anyone in this offense on a regular basis, but in the right matchup Mahoney could be an outside-the-box tournament punt option on 2-QB sites.
Indiana at Wake Forest
Game Recap: Wake Forest tried to mount a 4th quarter comeback, but fell short in a 24-31 loss to Indiana. Quarterback Kendall Hinton was one of my big plays of the slate last Saturday, and things definitely did not look great from a fantasy perspective for the first 3 quarters of this game. Then, in the 4th quarter after throwing a pick 6 to put Wake Forest down by 3 scores, Hinton finished off a 75-yard drive with a 14-yard rushing touchdown followed by another 90-yard drive completed by a highlight reel 29-yard touchdown pass to bring Wake within a touchdown. The flurry of productivity was great for my fantasy team, but unfortunately not enough to lift the Demon Deacons past the Hoosiers on the day.
Key Players: Kendall Hinton and tight end Cam Serigne were the 2 main players on the day. Hinton finished with 245 yards and a touchdown through the air with an awful 41% completion percentage. Hinton led the team by a landslide in rushing as he ran for 22 of their total 32 attempts, totaling 57 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. Serigne led the team in receiving with 5 catches for 71 yards, most of which came on a few big plays in the 4th quarter.
Key Injuries: Quarterback John Wolford remains out with an ankle injury and is questionable for this week against Florida State.
Players to Watch: Wake Forest faces Florida State in a tough matchup next week. Kendall Hinton looked bad when it counted in this game, so we don’t expect much improvement against a stout Florida State defense ranked 8th in total yards per game allowed this season. Serigne is always on our radar as a cheap WR / TE play, but Hinton or Wolford will likely be out of the question due to their lack of upside in this matchup.
Northern Illinois at Boston College
Game Recap: Boston College was led by another dominant defensive performance as they get the win 17-14 over Northern Illinois. The Huskies were only allowed 153 yards of total offense, with 1 of their touchdowns coming on a kickoff returned for a touchdown and the other coming on the heels of a 79-7ard interception return. Boston College amassed 234 total rushing yards as their typical ground-dominant approach led them to the victory.
Key Players: Jon Hilliman finally broke out in this game, as he rushed 24 times for 119 yards and a touchdown. Hilliman received twice as many carries as backup Tyler Rouse, who was much less effective averaging only 3.5 yards per carry. This was Hilliman’s first game above 100 yards as he has struggled for carries all season.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: It was very encouraging to see Jon Hilliman receive a large share of carries in this game. While Tyler Rouse will still be involved, we see no reason why Hilliman shouldn’t be the lead back going forward. Boston College will be tested next week as they visit Duke in what we anticipate being a very low scoring affair with a couple of top defenses involved.
Virginia Tech at East Carolina
Game Recap: The Virginia Tech defense started strong in this game as they forced an interception and fumble on the first two East Carolina possessions; however, those would be their only two turnovers forced in a game where East Carolina proceeded to move the ball almost at will throughout the remainder of the second half and into the third quarter as they handed Virginia Tech the 28-35 loss.
Key Players: Virginia Tech quarterback Brenden Motley could not do it all in this game as the Hokies ground game just was unable to get anything going as non-quarterbacks accounted for only 73 rushing yards on 23 carries. Motley had a decent day statistically as he passed for 281 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 85 yards and another touchdown on the ground. WR1 Isaiah Ford characteristically led the team with 8 receptions and 95 yard, putting up yet another consistent performance. Bucky Hodges also had a decent day with 5 receptions for 73 yards, but he failed to find the end zone.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Virginia Tech gets a tougher matchup next as they host Pittsburgh. Isaiah Ford will continue to be a consistent target in this offense and a viable DFS play if priced down again this week. Bucky Hodges paid off his salary this past week, so he continues to be on our radar at tight end—but he really is touchdown-dependent to put up really big numbers as 6-7 receptions should typically be his ceiling.
NC State at South Alabama
Game Recap: NC State continued their impressive start to the season as they stomped South Alabama 63-12 to move to 4-0 on the year. The Wolfpack put up nearly 600 yards of total offense led by their 1-2 punch of Matt Dayes and Shadrach Thornton on the ground, accounting for a combined 261 total yards and 5 touchdowns.
Key Players: Matt Dayes and Shadrach Thornton continue to split carries in this explosive Wolfpack rushing attack. Thornton out-carried Dayes 12 to 8 on the day, but Dayes scored 3 touchdowns on the ground including a huge touchdown run for 77 yards. Dayes was also used heavily in the passing game as he led the team in receptions with 6 for 46 yards. Thornton ended the day with a respectable 111 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: NC State should finally be on another slate this week as they host Louisville to kick off their conference play for the season. It has been all candy canes and lollipops thus far for the Wolfpack as they really have not faced any quality competition this season. But still, this is a run-first team facing a Louisville defense that has allowed an average of 175 rushing yards per game, including 139 yards to Clemson’s leading rusher Wayne Gallman in week 3. With Dayes and Thornton still splitting carries, it is tough to play either for cash games—however depending on their price, Matt Dayes may be worth a shot in tournaments as he has the added upside of regular usage in the passing game (15 receptions thru 4 games this year).
Samford at Louisville
Game Recap: Louisville’s Lamar Jackson accounted for almost 400 total yards as he led the Cardinals to a blowout win 45-3 over Samford. Louisville’s rout was fueled by 2 early turnovers forced by their defense, each followed by drives ending in a Lamar Jackson rushing touchdown.
Key Players: Lamar Jackson was the star of this game as he finished with 184 rushing yards, a school-record for a quarterback. Jackson also completed 15 of his 22 pass attempts for 212 yards and a touchdown. With Jackson running the show, the rest of the offense really was a non-factor as Jackson usurped 18 total carries and spread the ball to 11 different players through the air.
Key Injuries: Quarterback Will Gardner has a rib injury and is questionable to play October 3rd against NC State---not that he would have played anyways, as Lamar Jackson looks to be the starter.
Players to Watch: Lamar Jackson appears to have grabbed the starting job with his performance from last week. Reggie Bonnafon did see some snaps, but Jackson is the odds on favorite going into this week against NC State. Other offensive players receive a significant downgrade with Jackson at quarterback due to his rushing potential.
Delaware at North Carolina
Game Recap: North Carolina cruised to a 41-14 victory over Delaware in a game where backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky absolutely stole the show in relief of Marquise Williams. North Carolina put up 568 yards of total offense while their defense held Delaware to only 24 passing yards but 279 rushing yards on the day.
Key Players: After Marquise Williams went down hard on the last play of the first half, sophomore quarterback Mitch Trubisky came in to take over to start the third quarter. Trubisky had looked good in relief previous to this appearance, but nobody expected this. After fumbling on his first series, Trubisky proceeded to complete 17 of his 20 pass attempts for 312 yards and 4 touchdowns in addition to 39 rushing yards from his 6 rush attempts. Trubisky was a machine as he threw these 4 touchdown passes on 4 consecutive drives to put the game away. The North Carolina receivers all had decent stats, with Mack Hollins benefitting from a couple of long touchdown passes to lead the team in 100 yards from only 3 receptions.
Key Injuries: Quarterback Marquise Williams was hit hard at the end of the first half and did not play again. It appears he was held out just as a precaution since North Carolina fully expected to run away with it. We did not get much information about Williams’s status after the game, but coach Larry Fedora said there are no changes in the team’s quarterback situation and Williams does not appear on any injury reports.
Players to Watch: North Carolina takes on Georgia Tech this week in what we expect to be a game where a decent amount of points are scored. Georgia Tech is one of the slowest tempo teams in the league, so we do expect North Carolina to be somewhat slowed down—but if their passing attack looks anything like it did in the second half of this game, opposing tempo should not be much of a problem. If Mitch Trubisky is somehow starting, look for him to be a great cheap play at quarterback. Mack Hollins is good for tournaments as the big-play receiver. Also note, The Tar Heels gave up 279 yards on the ground to Delaware—so just think of what the Georgia Tech rushing attack might do to this defense come Saturday…
Boise State at Virginia
Game Recap: Boise State and Virginia squared of Friday night in a game that the Cavaliers will try to soon forget. The first play of the game set the tone as Virginia quarterback Matt Johns’ pass was intercepted for a 21-yard touchdown return. Johns contributed to 16 total points for Boise State as he was sacked for a safety in the 2nd quarter and intercepted for another touchdown late in the 3rd quarter. Boise State went on to demolish Virginia 56-14.
Key Players: The Virginia offense struggled mightily. Matt Johns completed only 48% of his passes as he went for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns, but threw 3 interceptions (2 of which were for touchdowns). The rushing attack was not at all effective, averaging only 1.2 yards per carry with 40 total yards. Taquan Mizzell found literally no room to run as he rushed 7 times for only 2 yards. Mizzell did lead the team in receptions with 5 for 59 yards and a touchdown. WR1 Canaan Severin was also shut down, catching 4 balls for only 34 yards.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Virginia gets the week off this Saturday and returns to face Pittsburgh on Oct. 10th. Taquan Mizzell has shown absolutely no promise in the rushing game, but he continues to produce as a reliable target in the passing game with 22 receptions for 292 yards and 3 touchdowns on the season.