Week 6 Notes & Observations

Power 5

• Stanford WR Elijah Higgins has caught a TD pass in four of the last five games and has topped the 100-yard mark in two of the last three.  Stanford QB Tanner McKee had not thrown an INT through the first five games, but through 3 INTs against Arizona State Friday night.
• Arizona State RB Rachaad White has scored a rushing touchdown in all six games this year.
• Michigan State RB Kenneth Walker III has rushed for at least 172 yards in three of six games this year.  WR Jalen Nailor has caught 6 TD passes in the last 4 games.
• Ohio State WR Chris Olave has totaled over 115 receiving yards in four of six games and has three multiple-TD games.  Teammate Garrett Wilson has caught a TD pass in five of six games.  RB TreVeyon Henderson has scored at least one TD in all six games this year and has three multiple-TD games.
• Tennessee RB Tiyon Evans has scored a TD in all five games in which he has played this year.
• Ole Miss RB Snoop Conner has rushed for a TD in four of five games this year.  Unfortunately, we’re not seeing anyone replacing the production of injured WR Jonathan Mingo.
• Oklahoma RB Kennedy Brooks has scored a rushing TD in five of six games and has really established himself as the Sooners’ top back.  Will Lincoln Riley make the switch to Caleb Williams permanent next week?  He needs to make that call now because it’s an easy yes for me.
• Texas RB Bijan Robinson has scored in every game this year and has rushed for at least 125 yards in four straight games.
• Louisville QB Malik Cunningham’s consecutive game streak with at least two rushing TDs came to an end on Saturday against Virginia.  RB Jalen Mitchell did not have a rushing attempt in the first quarter and teammate Hassan Hall led the Cardinals with 162 yards.  WR Tyler Harrell has caught a TD pass in three straight games, but has not caught more than two passes in any one game this year.
• Florida State QB Jordan Travis has rushed for at least 2 TDs in four of the five games in which he has played this year.
• Syracuse QB Garrett Shrader has rushed for 8 TDs in the last four games.  RB Sean Tucker has scored a TD in five of six games and has topped the 130-yard mark four times.
• Wake Forest WR AT Perry has caught a TD pass in five of six games this year.  WR Jaquarii Roberson has topped 90 yards receiving in four of the last five games.
• Chez Mellusi (21-145-1) and Braelon Allen (18-131-1) split carries in the Wisconsin backfield during the Badgers’ 24-0 win at Illinois.  RB Jalen Berger has reportedly left the program.
• A bit of bad luck for fantasy owners that took a chance on Missouri’s defense this week.  The Tigers rolled up a 31-7 lead at halftime and returned an INT for a TD in the fourth quarter, but the Mean Green scored three touchdowns in the final 9:30 and finished with 35 points, which was 18 more than their single-game high against an FBS opponent this year.  RB Tyler Badie has scored in all six games this year and has four multiple-TD games.
• Penn State QB Sean Clifford did not play in the second half against Iowa because of an injury.  
• Washington State QB Jayden de Laura has thrown 3 TD passes in three of his last four games.  RB Deon McIntosh has led the Cougars in rushing for three consecutive games.  
• TCU RB Zach Evans has rushed for 100-plus yards in four straight games and has scored in all five games this year.  RB Kendre Miller ran for a season-high 185 yards against Texas Tech and has now scored in four of five games.  
• Texas Tech RB SaRodorick Thompson has rushed for 5 TDs in the past two games.  WR Kaylon Geiger has topped the 80-yard mark in four straight games.
• Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer was dinged up going into Saturday’s game at Virginia Tech, and according to HC Brian Kelly, Mayer wanted to play, but coaches held him out because they did not want to risk further injury.
• LSU WR Kayshon Boutte was carted off the field in the second half of the game at Kentucky.  If you have Boutte on your roster, I would approach Week 7 as if he isn’t going to be available.  Hopefully, there will be an update on his status early this week.  If Boutte is out, it is unclear if someone emerges as a clear-cut WR1, but my initial feeling is Brian Thomas Jr.’s stock rises.  TBD.
• Kentucky RB Chris Rodriguez Jr. has rushed for at least 125 yards in four of six games, and given the Wildcats’ schedule, there is no reason to think his production will slow down anytime soon.  Well, at least after next week’s game at Georgia.  After UGA, Kentucky’s remaining schedule: @ Miss St, Tenn, @ Vandy, NM State, @ Louisville.
• USC WR Drake London has at least 130 receiving yards in all but one game this year.
• Alabama RB Brian Robinson Jr. has received 60 rushing attempts in the Tide’s last two games and has topped the 140-yard mark both times.  
• I’m not certain if Texas A&M QB Zach Calzada will be a consistent fantasy option for the rest of the 2021 season, but he looked really good against Alabama Saturday night.  He completed a season-high 67.7% of his passes in the Aggies’ 41-38 upset win.

Group 5

• Well, the projections favored the Coastal Carolina passing game against Arkansas State, which is why WR Jaivon Heiligh was ranked in the Top 5, but it was teammate TE Isaiah Likely that vultured the fantasy production through the air, catching 8 passes for 232 yards and 4 TDs.
• Arkansas State QB James Blackman suffered an injury against Coastal Carolina, and if he’s out for a while, Layne Hatcher won’t have to look over his shoulder. 
• Houston RB Alton McCaskill has now rushed for 70-plus yards in four straight games and has scored 9 TDs in the last five games.
• Cincinnati WR Alec Pierce has caught at least 5 passes for 85 yards in each of the last three games.
• FIU WR Tyrese Chambers has caught a TD pass in five of six games and is averaging 33.6 yards per reception (20-672-6).
• Northern Illinois RB Harrison Waylee did not play in Saturday’s game at Toledo and teammate Antario Brown ran for 93 yards and a TD in Huskies’ 22-20 win, his second straight game with over 90 yards rushing.  
• After an unimpressive start to the season, Ball State’s offense has gotten on track the past two weeks with wins over Army and Western Michigan.  WR Yo’Heinz Tyler has caught at least 5 passes for 85 yards and a TD in each of the Cardinals’ last two games.  After a slow start to the season, Tyler is a player with fantasy potential that might be available on the waiver wire. 
• SMU RB Ulysses Bentley returned from injury against Navy, but only had two carries for 2 yards.  Hopefully, the upcoming bye week will give him enough time to heal up.
• Middle Tennessee QB Chase Cunningham has thrown at least 2 TD passes in four consecutive games.
• Kent State WR Dante Cephas has caught 29 passes for 411 yards and 4 TDs over the past three games.  QB Dustin Crum accounted for 5 TDs in Saturday’s win over Buffalo.  Crum had only accounted for 5 TDs in the Golden Flash’s first five games.  
• Buffalo WR Quian Williams topped the 85-yard mark for the fifth time this season, but he has only scored 1 TD.  
• Air Force RB Brad Roberts topped the 100-yard mark for the fourth time this season and has gotten at least 25 carries in four of six games.
• After last week’s game against Old Dominion, it seemed as if Deion Hankins had re-established himself UTEP’s workhorse back, but Ronald Awatt led the Miners in rushing against Southern Miss, carrying the ball 18 times for 159 yards and a TD.  It’s going to be tough rostering either Hankins or Awatt if they are going to split carries.
• One week after leading South Alabama in rushing, junior Bryan Hill was limited to 17 yards on 13 carries at Texas State.  With Kareem Walker still sidelined, redshirt freshman AJ Phillips led the Jaguars in rushing with 74 yards and 2 TDs on 19 carries.
• Last week, Troy RB Kimani Vidal did not play and BJ Smith led the team in rushing.  This week, BJ Smith did not play and Vidal and Jamontez Woods led the Trojans in rushing.  I have not found any pregame reports from last week or from Saturday that hinted at Vidal or Smith not being available over the past two weeks.  Gunnar Watson started at QB for Troy and hooked up with Reggie Todd four times for 71 yards and a TD, which was Todd’s best fantasy production this year, so maybe he’s a player to keep an eye on with the switch back to Watson.  
• UTSA RB Sincere McCormick totaled 142 yards against Western Kentucky, but the Roadrunners scored 7 TDs against the Hilltoppers and he did not find the end zone.  In fact, all 7 TDs were through the air, as QB Frank Harris set a school record by throwing 6 TD passes in the game, and he caught a TD pass from WR Joshua Cephus.
• Reports of San Diego State RB Greg Bell getting pulled in the matchup against Towson a couple of weeks ago out of precaution seems accurate now.  Bell carried the ball 21 times for 111 yards and a TD in the Aztecs’ 31-7 win over New Mexico.
• Memphis RB Brandon Thomas seems to be back on top of the RB depth chart, as he led the Tigers with 77 yards and 2 TDs in Saturday’s loss at Tulsa.  WR Calvin Austin III posted his fifth consecutive 100-yard game.
• According to Nevada HC Jay Norvell WR Romeo Doubs got dinged in practice last week, which was why he did not play against New Mexico State.  He said that they would probably know more on Monday about his availability for the Hawaii game.