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.
Boston College at Clemson
Game Recap: Clemson came into this game facing Boston College’s #1 defense, and Clemson exited the game with a clear statement that they are one of the best teams in the country. Clemson absolutely cruised to the 34-17 victory here as they put up 532 total yards of offense against the Boston College defense that had only allowed 140 yards per game previous to that. The Clemson defense played well while their offense was finally led by a big game from star quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Key Players: Deshaun Watson threw for a season high in yardage for the second week in a row, amassing and impressive 420 yards and 3 touchdowns. Watson added on to his big fantasy day with 32 rushing yards and an extra touchdown on the ground. Artavis Scott was the obvious beneficiary of Watson’s success as he caught 7 more receptions than any other player on the team, finishing with a monster stat line of 10 receptions for 162 yards and a touchdown. We saw a couple of nice big plays from freshman Deon Cain as well, finishing with 2 receptions for 97 yards including a 67 yard bomb. Wayne Gallman struggled as Boston College’s elite run defense held him to only 2.8 yards per carry.
Boston College had a rough day on offense. While Tyler Rouse got the start, he only finished with 4 carries as we saw Myles Willis carry 15 times for a rather effective 88 yards (but no touchdowns).
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Clemson faces off against Miami this week, and we will have our eye on the usual suspects in Watson, Scott, and Gallman.
Boston College visits Louisville this week in what will be a difficult matchup. This is not a high performing offense, so nobody will be on our radar here—especially considering the uncertainty at running back.
Louisville at Florida State
Game Recap: This game started off pretty cold with only 1 touchdown in the entire first half as Louisville was leading 7-6. Then, as we have been accustomed to seeing, Florida State decided to play football in the second half as they proceeded to score 5 touchdowns on 6 drives on their way to the 41-21 victory.
Key Players: Dalvin Cook did what Dalvin Cook does as accounted for 2 touchdowns and 223 total yards of offense from 22 carries and 4 receptions. Cook had a highlight reel 54-yard touchdown run to the Seminoles’ explosive second half. Everett Golson played very well also as he threw for a season-high 372 yards and 3 touchdowns and maintained his clean season with 0 interceptions. Golson hit Kermit Whitfield for a huge 70-yard touchdown reception, just 1 of Whitfield’s team-leading 9 receptions as he finished the day with 172 total yards.
Louisville’s Lamar Jackson showed us a side we haven’t seen before as he actually passed the ball well with 307 yards and 3 touchdowns. Previous to this performance, Jackson has yet to exceed 1 passing touchdown in a game and had only cracked the 200-yard mark once. However in the area that Jackson usually excels, he only managed 32 rushing yards on 19 carries as Florida State shut down the Louisville rushing game as a while. Wide receiver James Quick had a huge day as he found the end zone 3 times from 130 yards and 5 receptions.
Key Injuries: Dalvin Cook is still nursing his hamstring injury, but it was rather obvious that he was not hindered much in this game.
Players to Watch: Dalvin Cook will remain an elite option as Florida State faces Georgia Tech this week. Georgia Tech is really struggling right now, and with their defense allowing 285 rushing yards per game, Cook will have a very juicy matchup.
Louisville faces off against Boston College, so we will not have much interest in the Cardinals rushing attack if they appear on a slate this week. Lamar Jackson and James Quick could be in consideration as tournament options only.
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech
Game Recap: Pittsburgh’s balanced offensive attack led them past the struggling Yellow Jackets for the 31-28 victory. Georgia Tech has now lost 5 in a row, while Pittsburgh is now 3-0 in the Coastal division for the first time since 2010.
Key Players: Quarterback Nathan Peterman had his best fantasy day of the year as he passed for 162 yards and 3 touchdowns while rushing for another 31 yards. Running back Qadree Ollison continues to shoulder the load as he received a team-leading 22 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown. Tyler Boyd showed why he is the ACC’s leading receiver as he caught another 8 receptions for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns. We are actually quite unimpressed with Boyd’s yardage totals this year, as he has only surpassed 100 yards on one occasion this year. Keep this interesting stat in mind though--- Tyler Boyd also only had only one 100+ yard performance thru Week 7 of last season before exceeding 110 yards in 5 of his last 6 games to close the 2014 season.
Georgia Tech’s Marcus Marshall had another big game here, fueled by a couple of 58-yard scampers including one for a touchdown marking the Yellow Jackets’ first score of the game. Outside of these big plays however, Marshall was very mediocre on the day. He finished with great numbers overall—159 yards and 2 touchdowns. Patrick Skov really fell of the map here as he carried only 4 times for 8 yards with a lone touchdown from near the goal line. Justin Thomas had yet another mediocre day as we have yet to really see him bust out this season—he did have an impressive 51-yard run, doubling his longest run of the season—but outside from that, Thomas was largely unimpressive.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: We saw last year that when the going gets tough, Pittsburgh leans on their best player in Tyler Boyd—let’s keep an eye on his salary going forward, especially in games where the Panthers may be a close favorite or underdog. This week against Syracuse may not be a great opportunity as Pittsburgh should be a favorited rather heavily.
As Georgia Tech takes on Florida State this week, are again not interested in anyone from this unpredictable and struggling offense.
Virginia Tech at Miami
Game Recap: Quarterback Brad Kaaya stepped up big again last week as he led the Hurricanes past the Hokies in a 30-20 victory. The Miami defense also stepped up here as they forced 4 turnovers and 3 sacks on the day. Virginia Tech could not overcome the pressure here as their offense could not convert on drives without coughing the ball up.
Key Players: Virginia Tech’s Brenden Motley did not have a great game as he threw for only 136 yards and a touchdown with 2 interceptions and a fumble. Running back Travon McMillan had a solid showing rushing 16 times for 99 yards, but nobody found a touchdown on the ground for the Hokies. Isiah Ford put up consistent numbers with 4 receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown. Bucky Hodges disappointed again with only 2 receptions for 41 yards---he now has only scored in 1 of their 7 games this season compared to scoring in 4 games at this point last year.
The star of the show for Miami was quarterback Brad Kaaya. While his fantasy numbers were not huge since he couldn’t surpass the 300-yard mark (296 and 2 touchdowns), Kaaya was the key to victory for the Hurricanes as he made some big plays down the stretch to close out this game. Stacy Coley cooled off with only 4 receptions for 63 yards. Miami’s #1 wide receiver Rashawn Scott hauled in the 2 lone passing touchdowns in this game, but he finished with only 32 total yards on 4 receptions.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Virginia Tech faces off against Duke this week—a defense allowing the 2nd fewest passing yards per game in the FBS. Albeit, Duke has not player literally zero passing offenses this season, their defense still poses a serious threat to Virginia Tech—enough to make us avoid the Hokies this week.
Miami welcomes the #6 Clemson Tigers this week in what should be a great game to watch on the Saturday early slate. Brad Kaaya faces a tough defense, but depending on his price, he could be in consideration as a value play since the offensive burden will be on him to keep Miami in the game. Rashawn Scott is his #1 target, while Stacy Coley is a GPP play.
Wake Forest at North Carolina
Game Recap: Marquise Williams combined with receiver Mack Hollins to absolutely route the Demon Deacons 50-14. While North Carolina started off slow getting shut out in the 1st quarter, they turned it on before halftime putting up 29 points in the second quarter. Even though Wake Forest dominated time of possession with 37 minutes, they could only convert for 2 touchdowns against a relatively weak North Carolina defense.
Key Players: North Carolina’s Marquise Williams continues to impress us in all facets of the game. Williams threw for 282 yards and 3 touchdowns while rushing 12 times for 59 yards and another touchdown. Williams is now averaging 7.2 yards per carry and 8.6 yards per completion—both career highs if he can sustain them through the end of the season. While Williams did spread his 14 completions out to 8 different players, Mack Hollins reaped the fantasy rewards as he converted each of his 3 receptions for a touchdown and 103 yards. Running back Elijah Hood also surpassed the century mark with 101 yards on 8 carries and a touchdown.
The usual contributors were in play for what little offense that Wake Forest could muster up. Tight end Cam Serigne was the team leading receiver with 6 receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown. John Wolford’s stats were not all that bad as he completed 16 of 22 attempts for 176 yards and a touchdown. It was Wake Forest’s lack of a rushing game combined with a dearth of big plays that ultimately did them in here.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: North Carolina takes on Virginia this week. We continue to lose faith in Virginia’s defense, especially after they allowed 38 points to Syracuse last week. North Carolina should be poised for a big game here with Marquise Williams at the helm as an elite option at quarterback. The receivers here are GPP only plays, while we would avoid the running backs due to Williams’ high workload on the ground.
Wake Forest takes on NC State at home this week. We are not too interested in the quarterback situation, but if this game makes the slates, Cam Serigne will remain a top option to target at tight end (of a salary-saving wide receiver on DraftKings).
Syracuse at Virginia
Game Recap: Syracuse and Virginia fought through 3 overtimes as the Cavaliers squeaked by with a 44-38 win. The Cavaliers stayed in this game with an impressive 88-yard yard drive to end regulation with a game-tying field goal before eventually pulling it out in Overtime. However even with this game going into 3 overtimes, we still don’t have many mind-blowing fantasy performances to mention for you outside of one player in what was a rather lackluster offensive game from a couple teams from which we never expect much fantasy relevance.
Key Players: Virginia’s Taquan Mizzell was the clear stand-out player in this game. Mizzell carried 13 times for 58 yards and 2 touchdowns while really doing some damage through the air with 10 receptions for 69 yards. Mizzell, the lead running back, now leads the team in receptions this season with 35. He only averages 3.8 yards per carry on the ground, but his consistent threat of receptions keeps him in consideration as a value play each week. WR1 Canaan Severin had just a decent fantasy day with 4 receptions for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Syracuse did not have much to offer on offense, with Eric Dungey proving to be the only relevant player as he amassed 85 rushing yards and a touchdown from 18 carries in addition to a couple passing touchdowns and 150 passing yards. These numbers were actually great considering his cheap salary; however both of his passing touchdowns came in the overtime period.
Key Injuries: None
Players to Watch: Virginia travels to take on a sub-par North Carolina defense this week. We expect this to be a fairly fast paced game with Virginia struggling to keep up with the Tar Heels offense. Matt Johns could be poised for a solid game, with Taquan Mizzell providing tournament upside.
Syracuse is set to take on a tough Pittsburgh defense, so we are not recommending anyone outside of a GPP play of Dungey due to his rushing ability.
