CFB FFwd/Rew Week 10

by David Kaplen (headChopper) Last Updated 2013-11-01 23:15:26

Welcome to Rewind/Fast Forward. Each week in this article I will hand pick several games and watch them through. Sometimes the box-score can lie and the only way to know the truth is by actually watching the game..or reading an article of someone who did. That is me. I will break down my observations of the previous game and what impacts it could have on the following week and even the entire year moving forward.

• Rewind When this game was over, my initial thought was; “what just happened here”? I was expecting a big game from Josh Stewart and instead I watched him get next to zero for targets. They didn’t even try to get him the ball. Instead the new QB, Clint Chelf, went out of his way to target Tracy Moore and Charlie Moore. It was a sick feeling. In the running game I think everyone was caught off guard by the 26 Desmond Roland carries. He hadn’t exceeded 10 carries in a game this year and his last 2 games, he saw 5 total carries. So this was out of the blue.
  Iowa State is a mess. Richardson got his neck bent in the 2nd Q and never returned. Bundrage looks great at times but is so inconsistent. The running game has no true leader. Bibbs looks like a decent punt at TE as they hit him on a long pass in the 2nd Q and most TE’s in college aren’t going to get you a 40 yard reception.

• FFwd Oklahoma State takes on Texas Tech and I am hesitant on this team all the way around. I need another week to see what’s really going on. I may touch Roland if the price isn’t through the roof; otherwise I need to see him carry 20+ times again to let me know he is the #1 RB now. We still don’t know the circumstances behind Jeremy Smith’s lack of playing time. As for the passing game, it’s a tough situation to assess. I think all parties are out of play till we see if Moore gets the looks this week over Stewart and then we can see that one or the other may be the preferred target for the new QB.
  With Richardson banged up and all the other cast of characters very shaky, this is a straight avoid for me as far as choosing Iowa State players. Kansas State may see Sams, Lockett and even Hubert have a decent game.

• Rewind This game was very weird to say the least. Maryland came in to the game tore up with injuries and still competed hard. Boyd looked like garbage till the 2nd half and Watkins did his usual nice performance, but no TD’s. Watkins seems like he just can’t put a total weekend together for fantasy. Either a ton of receptions for no TD’s or few receptions for a TD. If he could ever nail both, that would be great. McDowell stole the show in the 4th Q. He ran for a total of 161 and 2 TD’s and most came in the final 15 minutes.
  Caleb Rowe looked pretty good in this game and could be a sleeper moving forward. His main target was Levern Jacobs and with all the WR injuries that may be a guy who can be on fantasy rosters coming up. The running game features nothing exciting and is not relevant for fantasy.

• FFwd This week Clemson motors up to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers. Is this the day Watkins pulls it all together? Perhaps, he is certainly a top WR regardless just based on potential. Although Virginia has a decent defense they won’t be able to completely shut Watkins down. Boyd is also in play. If you feel like McDowell wasn’t a fluke then you should play him. However a word of caution; He had 0 Td’s all year before this past game. He also only averaged 60 yards a game going into that matchup. Maybe he turned the corner and kills it moving forward, but we will have a better vision after this week.

• Rewind Nothing like a good ole 3 hour weather delay to push a game into the wee hours of the morning. There was a lot to take away from this game though. First off, looks like the dreaded split carries popped out in Texas. Just when it appeared Gray was running away with the job, Brown has caught back up the past couple weeks. This game saw a 22-17 carry total in favor of Gray. Now Gray can still sustain fantasy relevance with 22 carries a game no doubt. It would just be nice to have more. Case McCoy is garbage, but he did get Mike Davis back for this one. Only 2 catches for Davis, but as long as he gets out healthy he is a threat later on down the road.
  A little shocker in this one for me was the appearance of Casey Pachall. I knew he was upgraded before the game but I figured they would let him rest 1 more week. Not so. He came back and played a ton. He didn’t look too good though and I would chalk that up to rust, decent defense and a crazy bit of weather. LaDarius Brown was the go-to wr in this game but I wouldn’t put any stock into that. They switch up lead receivers every game it seems like for TCU.

• FFwd Upcoming for Texas is Kansas. This has the makings of a big day for BOTH Texas RB’s and possibly a long bomb for Mike David also. I won’t be touching any Kansas guys, as Sims would be your best bet and he is going to find it tough to run in this one.
  TCU gets West Virginia. I like Pachall to rebound for a nice game here as a cheap option. WVU doesn’t play great defense and the game is at TCU. Pachall should be able to shake off the bad game against Texas and get back on track now.

• Rewind This game was kind of what we all thought it was going to be. The Ka’Deem Carey show mixed in with a little Paul Richardson. The biggest surprise was the running of Denker. He looked good passing and running and if not for Carey I would rank Denker higher on my QB list. The team still revolves around Carey though. When passing he spreads the ball around so much that no one is relevant. He ran for 192 yards in this game but Carey took all the rushing TD’s to go with his 119 yards.
  On the other side Paul Richardson finished with a solid 7/132/1 line but most of it came on the 1st drive with a 75 yard pass on a little crossing route that Richardson took to the house with almost all the yards coming after the catch. That’s what he does though.

• FFwd Arizona takes on Cal this week and this could be sweet for fantasy purposes. Carey is a must start if you can squeeze his high price tag in there. Denker may be a nice option also, although I wouldn’t expect the big rushing again so fast. Before that bog outburst Saturday he was averaging a solid 54 yards a game on the ground. But that’s not 192, so look for more Carey on the ground in this one.
  Colorado takes on UCLA and I would fire up all the Bruins in this one and I would avoid the Buffs. Richardson is the only playable guy for me on that team and he is going to have a hard time paying off his salary against the Bruins in my opinion. He is long play dependent right now. I don’t like to risk salary on guys like that.