Week 8 Notes & Observations

Power 5 Notes

QB Jett Duffey led Texas Tech to a win over TCU, but I don’t expect him to unseat Alan Bowman as the starter. There was obviously a reason why he was the team’s third option this season.
Stanford RB Bryce Love re-aggravated his ankle injury and I would not be surprised if he misses another game or two.
Northwestern freshman RB Isaiah Bowser was one of the Impact Freshman mentioned in our Preseason Fantasy Guide, and I wasn’t sure why we hadn’t seen much of him since Jeremy Larkin’s retirement. We saw a lot of him in the Wildcats’ win at Rutgers. Bowser carried the ball 24 times for 108 yards and 2 TDs. He should be a player targeted on this week’s waiver wire. WR Flynn Nagel has caught at least 8 passes in three consecutive games.
Rutgers RB Isaih Pacheco has rushed for at least 70 yards and a TD in two straight games.
Iowa QB Nate Stanley only had one TD pass in the Hawkeyes’ win at Maryland, which snapped his four-game streak of throwing at least 2 TD passes in a game.
Jonathan Taylor has rushed for at least 100 yards in all seven games this season, but he has only scored in three of them.
Arkansas RB Rakeem Boyd had 22 carries for 99 yards against Tulsa, but he did leave the game with an injury.
Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray has accounted for at least 4 TDs in five of his last six games. RB Trey Sermon rushed for 110 yards and 2 TDs, but left the game with an injury. Initial reports indicate that the injury isn’t serious. If he is to miss any time, Kennedy Brooks would be a good addition. Brooks has 168 yards and a TD in the Sooners’ 52-27 win at TCU.
Would could see Michael Collins get the start at QB for TCU next week, a situation we’ll have to monitor.
There is a chance that the Tommy Devito era at Syracuse has begun and the Eric Dungey era is over. Don’t be surprised if Devito is the starter moving forward. Even if that does happen, I would still expect Dungy to be involved in the gameplan.
Duke TE Davis Koppenhaver has scored in 4 of his last 5 games.
Michigan State WR Felton Davis suffered a torn Achilles tendon.
Michigan RB Karan Higdon has rushed for 100 yards in six straight games.
RB Reggie Gallaspy scored NC State’s lone TD in the loss to Clemson. Gallaspy has scored in every game this season.
Clemson WR Tee Higgins has now scored in three of his last four games. RB Travis Etienne has scored three touchdowns in three consecutive games.
Florida State RB Cam Akers didn’t top the 100-yard rushing mark, but he did finish with 98 yards and two TDs against Wake Forest. WR Nyqwan Murray has at least 80 receiving yards in his last three games.
Nebraska RB Devine Ozigbo has rushed for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns in three of his last four games. WR JD Spielman has scored in six of seven games and has caught at least eight passes in four consecutive games.
Minnesota WR Tyler Johnson has five 100-yard receiving games this season.
Penn State QB Trace McSorley failed to throw a TD pass in a game for the first time this year. RB Miles Sanders has scored in four consecutive games.
Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa has thrown four TD passes in a game four times this season. Both receivers, Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs, have scored in six of eight games this year. RB Damien Harris has scored in three consecutive games.
Tennessee RB Ty Chandler has caught a TD pass in three consecutive games.
Surprisingly, Alan Bowman got the start at quarterback for Texas Tech this week after it seemed as if Jett Duffey would get another start.
Missouri WR Jalen Knox has caught a TD pass in three of the last four games and had his second 100-yard receiving game of the year.
Chase Garbers earned the start at quarterback for Cal at Oregon State. Brandon McIlwain’s absence meant an increased workload for RB Patrick Laird, who had 193 yards and two touchdowns. Garbers has thrown at least 2 TD passes in three of the last four games in which he has played.
Oregon State RB Jermar Jefferson is nursing a hamstring injury, so its will be interesting to see how this affects his playing time with a healthy Artavis Pierce back in the fold.
The Mississippi State offense is averaging just under 10 points per game in conference play. They haven’t scored more than 7 points in three of those four games.
LSU RB Nick Brossette extended his consecutive game scoring streak to five.
Ohio State WR KJ Hill has caught nine passes for 100+ yards in consecutive games. Parris Campbell has caught at least seven passes ins five consecutive games. Terry McLaurin has scored in six of seven games this year. The Buckeyes haven’t had a 100-yard rusher in six of eight games.
Purdue WR Rondale Moore now has five 100-yard receiving games and RB DJ Knox has rushed for 100+ yards in consecutive games for the first time this season. QB David Blough has thrown 3 TD passes in four of the last five games. In PPR formats, WR Isaac Zico has five consecutive 10+ fantasy point games and has 14 or more fantasy points in four of the last five.
Oregon WR Dillon Mitchell has caught at least seven passes in four consecutive games. QB Justin Herbert has accounted for 2 or fewer TDs in four consecutive games.
Washington State QB Gardner Minshew has accounted for 4 or more TDs in three consecutive games and has thrown at least 3 TD passes in 6 of 7 games. WR Dezmon Patmonb has scored in three of the last four games. RB Max Borghi and WR Easop Winston have scored in 5 of 7 games. RB James Williams has scored in 6 of 7 games.
USC WR Michael Pittman has scored in three of the last four games and has back-to-back 100-yard games.
Utah RB Zack Moss has rushed for 100+ yards in three of the last four games.
UCLA RB Joshua Kelley has rushed for 100+ yards in four consecutive games and has scored in three straight. TE Caleb Wilson has topped the 80-yard receiving mark in four of his last five games.

Group 5 Notes

Hopefully, Justice Hansen’s 5-TD game against Georgia State is a sign of things to come from him down the stretch. Hansen had failed to account for more than 2 TDs in four of his previous five games.
Boise State RB Alexander Mattison has at least 20 carries in each of his last four games, but hasn’t had a 100-yard game since Week 2. WR AJ Richardson has a TD reception in 5 of his last 6 games.
Air Force QB Isaiah Sanders had his best game of the year against UNLV and should be given waiver consideration if you need another QB in Full FBS leagues.
UNLV WR Darren Woods has caught a TD pass in 4 of 5 games this year.
Cincinnati RB Michael Warren extended his streak of scoring a TD in every game this season. He also has four consecutive 100-yard games.
Buffalo RB Jaret Patterson has ruhed for at least 90 yards and a TD in 4 of his last 5 games. WR Anthony Johnson caught more than two passes in a game for the first time since Week 3.
Toledo WR Cody Thompson did not have a catch in Saturday’s loss to Buffalo.
Army RB Darnell Woolfolk has scored in five of his last six games. QB Kelvin Hopkins missed Saturday’s game against Miami (OH) with a hip injury.
Bowling Green WR Scott Miller has scored in three straight games and now has four 100-yard receiving games this year.
Sometimes, no news is good news. In the case of RB Andrew Clair, I wish that I had not seen that he was dressed and playing in the game. He finished with one carry. I went against my better judgement because I knew that he was in a walking boot all week. Coming out on the better side of these 50/50 calls, more times than not, can define your season. I also started Liberty WR Antonio Gandy-Golden, who had missed last week’s game with mononucleosis and was supposedly going to miss this week’s game, too. The reports were that he was warming up and he would be evaluated after pregame workouts. I left him in my lineup and he caught ten passes for 142 yards and 2 TDs.
QB Stephen Calvert has passed for at least 300 yards in 5 of 7 games this season.
Utah State RB Darwin Thompson has at least 12 fantasy points in every game this season and has scored in 6 of 7 games.
Wyoming freshman QB Sean Chambers rushed for 100 yards against Utah State and led three scoring drives in the second half. It will be interesting to see if he gets the nod over Tyler Vander Waal next game. RB Nico Evans had his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season.
RB Devin Singletary failed to score a TD in FAU’s loss to Marshall. He had scored a TD in 19 consecutive games. The streak started in Week 2 of the 2017 season and he scored a total of 46 touchdowns during that stretch.
Marshall RB Tyler King has at least 20 rush attempts and 100 yards on the ground in three consecutive games.
Western Michigan RB LeVante Bellamy has rushed for 145 yards in back-to-back games and RB Jamauri Bogan has scored in five of the last six games.
In 1.0-PPR formats, Central Michigan RB Romeo Romello Ross has had back-to-back weeks with at least 12 fantasy points.
Middle Tennessee WR Ty Lee scored for the first time this season in the Blue Raiders’ 21-13 win over Charlotte. Lee caught six passes for 60 yards and 2 TDs.
LA Tech WR Teddy Veal has caught at least six passes in three straight games, but has yet to catch a TD pass. Against UTEP, Veal caught a season-high eleven. Passes for 103 yards.
Houston QB D’Eriq King has accounted for at least 4 TDs in six of seven games. WR Marquez Stevenson had his third 100-yard receiving game, WR Keith Corbin extended his streak of scoring a TD to six consecutive games, and WR Courtney Lark has scored in back-to-back games.
Navy QB/SB Malcolm Perry missed most of the second half against Houston with an injury. I don’t think the injury is serious, but we’ll have to monitor his status this week. Perry may not be a great fit at QB, but he will undoubtedly get a lot of touches in that offense.
Replacing Jalin Moore as Appalachian State’s starting running back, Darrynton Evans totaled over 200 yards of offense and scored two touchdowns against Louisiana. QB Zac Thomas failed to account for two or more touchdowns in a game for the first time this season.
In 1.0-PPR formats, Louisiana RB trey Ragas has five straight 15-point fantasy games.
Tulane RB Darius Bradwell has scored in five consecutive games.
Memphis RB Darrell Henderson left the game against Missouri after the offense’s second series of the game. It seems to be a hamstring injury, which could be a lingering problem for college fantasy football’s top back. If Patrick Taylor is available, you may want to put in a waiver claim.
Georgia Southern RB Wesley Fields missed the matchup with New Mexico State with a groin injury, which was a surprise to me. I did not see any injury news on him leading up to the games.
New Mexico State RB Christian Gibson has now scored in three consecutive games.
The winner in the ‘injury surprise’ sweepstakes this week was UCF QB McKenzie Milton. Supposedly, he was banged up (ankle) and his snaps were going to be limited, which is what we heard post-kickoff, but they obviously didn’t need him in the 37-10 win.
LA Monroe QB Caleb Evans has only thrown 2 TD passes in his last four games.
Southern Miss WR Quez Watkins failed to find the end zone for the first time this season. I think RB Trivensky Mosley could be an under-the-radar waiver addition this week. In the past two games, Trivensky has carried the ball 37 times for 215 yards.
South Florida had four rushing TDs against UConn, none of which were scored by Jordan Cronkrite, who finished with 103 yards on 16 carries. RB Johnny Ford was the scoring vulture, as he found the end zone three times with seven of his carries. Ford led the team with 164 yards rushing. Cronkrite has rushed for 100+ yards in five consecutive games, which ties a school record. He has a chance to break the record next week at Houston.
If you need a one-week player to navigate byes or injuries next week, look to add UConn RB Kevin Mensah. Mensah had a 100-yard game against USF and the Huskies play UMass next.
North Texas WR Jaelon Darden has caught a TD pass in three of the last four games. He led the Mean Green in receiving against UAB, catching ten passes for 143 yards and 2 TDs. WR Rico Bussey has caught a TD pass in six of the last seven games.
UAB RB Spencer Brown has now scored in five consecutive games.
ODU RB Kesean Strong has scored eight touchdowns in the last four games. WR Travis Fulgham has caught a TD pass in five consecutive games. WR Jonathan Duhart has totaled 105 receiving yards in the past two games. He had caught at least 100 yards in five consecutive games.
Rice RB Austin Walter has only totaled 86 yards of offense in the past two games.
San Diego State RB Chase Jamin has scored in three consecutive games, but has not topped the 100-yard mark since taking over for injured starter Juwan Washington.
Hawaii WR John Ursua has scored in eight of nine games and WR Cedric Byrd has scored in six of nine games, has caught at least five passes in seven of nine games, but has not topped the 100-yard mark in the last eight games.