CFB Grind Down Early Slate - Week 8 Page 4

by Andy Smith (a25smith) Last Updated 2015-10-23 20:11:58

Pittsburgh Panthers at Syracuse Orange – O/U 49

Pittsburgh

These last few games are DK-only games. Syracuse has struggled defensively this year, especially against the pass. I’m not interest in the Pitt QB Nathan Peterman as he doesn’t get a ton of volume and I don’t think he’s all that great. However, they have an All-American WR in Tyler Boyd and while his QB play does concern me, I think he could break out against the weak secondary of the Orange. He’s caught a TD in each of the past two weeks and gets all of the looks when Pitt does throw the ball. I’m still waiting for that nine-catch, 100+-yard day and two-TD game that we saw out of him last year. It’s coming and against the 115th ranked passing day this could be the day. At $6,500, he’s going to be a guy I’m getting exposure too.

Pitt is a run-first offense, but their running game has been frustrating to target. Qadree Ollison has been the most productive back as they struggle to replace James Conner but his volume has been up and down. Last week he was listed as a co-starter due to fumbling issues but then received 22 carries so that’s a positive sign for him going forward. He’s scored in three straight games and is in the mix in that range of RB from 5.5k to 6.0k on DK.

Elite Options – Tyler Boyd

Secondary Options – Qadree Ollison

Syracuse

Pitt has been a solid defense and this Syracuse offense lacks a go to RB and WR so there’s not a lot I’m loving. They do have a freshman QB in Eric Dungey who has shown some promise and was coached ( I think in basketball) by an RG member goducks03 in his younger days. He’s dirt cheap at just $5,000 and has 17 and 18 carries in each of his last two games. I don’t really like the matchup against Pitt but if you’re just looking to punt QB2 on DK, I like to target guys with running upside and Dungey provides that.

In terms of WR, Steve Ishmael has scored in two straight so he’d probably be the guy to target, but I’d just avoid the situation.

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Eric Dungey (GPP punt)

Bowling Green Falcons at Kent State Golden Flashes – O/U 59

Bowling Green

The high octane Bowling Green once again lands on the DK slate. Kent State did shut down UMASS last week and for a Bowling Green game this game has a pretty low total of just 59 points. Kent State plays at a slow pace and Bowling Green’s team total is at 36 points, which isn’t bad, but we’ve seen higher from them. Given that I’m not really on Matt Johnson too much this week as I’ll side with the other elite QBs previously mentioned. At the end of the day, he’ll probably throw for 350-400 yards with multiple TDs, so he should be fine, but I just like some of the upside of the dual threat guys more this week.

His top option is Roger Lewis and he just continues to put up monster numbers that are only surpassed by Corey Coleman. If I’m spending on WR in cash games, I’d prefer to just go get Coleman, but Lewis is a solid GPP pivot if you’re looking to be contrarian. Bowling Green also has several other capable WR in Gehrig Dieter, Ronnie Moore and Ryan Burbrink but they’re really tough to predict on a week to week basis so I typically don’t like to play that guessing game. At RB, Travis Greene has solidified himself as the top option but this looks to be one of his tougher matchups, and there are other RBs I have higher on my board at his price point.

Elite Options – Matt Johnson, Roger Lewis

Secondary Options – Travis Green, Ronnie Moore, Gehrig Dieter

Kent State

Kent State gets a great matchup with a Bowling Green team that plays fast and features a bad defense. The problem is that Kent State itself has been a pretty poor offense. I haven’t had a chance to see them this year but reading up on them they’ve really struggled at the QB position and they can’t seem to settle on a RB. Due to their QB struggles, George Bollas replaced Colin Reardon against UMASS. He had 15 carries which did catch my eye and this is a great matchup. There’s no way I could trust him for cash games, but he’s in play as a cheap QB2.

At WR, Antwan Dixon is minimum price and has had some solid games this season. He really opens up the salary cap, but I’d only look that route in a GPP as he didn’t do a whole lot in Bollas’ first start last week so the chemistry may not be there. Trayion Durham received the bulk of the RB work earlier in the year but last week it was Raekwon James. I don’t have a great feel for what is going on here and it can be tough to find info on a small school like Kent State so I’ll probably pass, but if one of these guys gets 20 carries there could be upside.

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – George Bollas, Antwan Dixon, Raekwon James

Kansas State Wildcats at Texas Longhorns – O/U 50

Kansas State

Kansas State is coming off of an embarrassing pasting by Oklahoma and outside of their explosion against TCU, this offense has been underwhelming this season. Joe Hubener provides some running ability, but he leaves a lot to be desired in terms of passing, which really kills his WR. They’ve had a ton of injuries at QB so their backup QB is Kody Cook, who also plays WR and is listed as a WR. Hubener was actually pulled last week for Cook, but it sounds like Hubener will get the start the week. If for some reason word comes out that Cook is the guy, then plug him in at WR.

KSU hasn’t settled on a RB from a volume standpoint on a week to basis as both Charles Jones and Justin Silmon have split carries. Texas hasn’t been very good defensively this year, but there’ s just not a lot to hang our hat with this KSU offense.

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Joe Hubener (GPP only)

Texas

This game features a total of only 50 points and in a way Texas is like KSU in that there’s not a lot to be excited about. They don’t have a standout WR and they have split carries at RB, although D’onta Foreman is starting to emerge there. Kansas State has really struggled against the pass, but passing is not the strength of this Texas offense as Jerrod Heard is much more or a runner than passer at this point in his career. Heard hasn’t attempted more than 20 passes in each of his past three games, but he does already have two 100-yard rushing days under his belt. Overall, this game boils down to the two cheap running QBs but they’re both boom or bust options as they bring little to the table in term of the passing game.

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Jerrod Heard

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