CFB FFwd/Rew Week 7

by David Kaplen (headChopper) Last Updated 2013-10-11 23:34:06

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 This game was very odd in the sense that, outside of Zwinak, Penn State top players had a great day. Allen Robinson torched this secondary and Hackenberg came alive in the second half and finished with a fantastic 340 yards for 3 TD’s stat line. However looking at the scoreboard they only put up 24 points. Indiana’s defense got really lucky basically.
  Indiana on offense did what they do. Spread it around and let everyone get a nice piece. Their RB Coleman totaled 150 yards and a TD. Sudfeld did his typical 300+ yards and multiple TD’s. Latimer, Hughes both had nice games. The only one that was left out was TE Bolser, but there is always going to be an odd man out each week on this team.

• FFwd Penn State is hosting Michigan Saturday and this is going to be a sneaky good fantasy game. Penn State is not good enough defensively to slow down Michigan. After all, Indiana just dropped 44 points on them, so it can be done. However Michigan is not good enough vs. the pass on defense either. They rank 45th in the nation in pass defense the only real passing threat they have seen all year was Notre Dame, and the Irish hung 30 on them. So Hackenberg and Robinson are definitely in play here. Gardner, Funchess, Gallon and RB Toussaint are all solid plays for Michigan.
  Indiana travels to play Michigan State and this is a battle of wills. Indiana wants a shootout as they play heavy offense and no defense and Michigan State is the opposite. My personal opinion is that I’m avoiding Indiana players on the road this week but Michigan State is fair game. It looks like Connor Cook has seized control of the QB job and is playing well. Jeremy Langford is the running back I want from the Spartans in this game if I was choosing. Indiana won’t be able to stop anyone much this year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Spartan put up 30+.

• Rewind Oof, what a day for Andre Williams. 263 yards and 5 TD’s against Army. Basically he took away all opportunities for anyone else to prosper in this game. He is a big, strong runner that flashes some decent speed. I do not think he is at all a fluke, although the competition was weak here. Rettig was average and Amidon was decent despite 0 TD’s thanks to Williams.

• FFwd Next week BC hits the road to take on Clemson in a big game. This should be interesting and high scoring. This BC offense is no joke. They destroyed Army, and before that hung 34 on Florida State. They are for real and will test Clemson. Clemson will score at will on them though so Boyd is a great play. Although the price should be higher this week on Williams, I can see them feeding him the ball a bunch in order to keep Boyd and Watkins off the field. He is in play along with Amidon.

• Rewind So much to take away from this game. Connor Halliday put up some good numbers, but it was a scary game for him as a fantasy owner. He was in a great deal of pain the whole time and I was shocked when he stayed in the game after the first drive. He is nursing a bad ankle and hobbled around in this one. Cal’s defense is so bad it didn’t matter but this should be monitored moving forward. Another big take away for me was Gabe Marks. All signs pointed to him being the go-to guy, but that’s just not the case. Halliday is at his best when spreading the ball around. Marks ended with just 4 catches.
  For Cal Goff got the start and produced nicely. This was a rare off game for Treggs, who is usually a PPR monster. He ended with only 6 catches for 70 yards. This day belonged to the stud Chris Harper. He had 14 catches for 216 yards and a TD.

• FFwd Upcoming for Washington State is a game against Oregon State. This could be a nice scoring day for a few players, but it will be tough to pick them out. Halliday would normally be a really good play but the ankle is scary. I need updates this week. There is no running game for State, so scratch them off the list. Also Marks is the closest thing to a #1 wr on the team, but he is rather inconsistent at times. This was the 2nd time this year he has put up 4 catches and he has only gone over 100 yards 1 time in 6 games.
  Cal travels to face UCLA and this is one where you fire up all your Bruin studs. Especially Brett Hundley. I could also see a solid reason to roll out Goff and Harper again and maybe even Treggs if the price is low enough.

• Rewind Well this was no doubt a coming out party for Carlos Hyde. The shocking thing was how much Braxton Miller deferred to him. I wouldn’t expect a whole bunch more of that moving forward. Miller ended with 0 TD’s in this game and you can bet he won’t let that happen again. Philly Brown had a nice game receiving for the Buckeyes, but it’s a different guy catching the long passes every week for this team.
  Northwestern looked good at times but just let this thing slip away the last few minutes. Another dual QB game with Siemian and Colter splitting reps. No bueno for fantasy. Venric Mark did return and look decent in this game.

• FFwd This week Northwestern gets a tougher task on offense as they travel to play Wisconsin. I wouldn’t be firing up any Wildcat players in this one as Wiscy has a good defense. However after seeing Hyde run through this Northwestern defense I think it is safe to call Melvin Gordon a top 3 RB for Saturday. Make sure to check his health before the game, but with a bye week he should be good to go.