College Fantasy Football: Defenses to watch in Week 2

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

The college football season is in full swing. Here is a look at which five defenses to start on your fantasy football team for Week 2.

MORE COLLEGE FANTASY FOOTBALL: Rivals fantasy home | Quarterbacks to track for Week 2 | RBs | WRs

YAHOO SPORTS COLLEGE FANTASY FOOTBALL IS HERE! ... Sign up here for free

The Hokies held Florida State to 94 rushing yards and three points in a surprising drubbing in Tallahassee on Monday night. If this was any other team, a look-ahead game would be in order but Virginia Tech is so disciplined and so well-coached that William & Mary has little chance here. The Tribe scored 14 points against Bucknell. They had only 81 rushing yards on 41 attempts. If Bucknell could halt William & Mary, imagine what Virginia Tech is going to do on Saturday in Blacksburg. Could be in store for a shutout here.

I’m still going to be a believer in this Miami defense especially against an opponent that couldn’t muster a single point against UAB. The Hurricanes lost to LSU in the season opener but still only gave up 140 passing yards and no touchdowns through the air. Savannah State had 23 passing yards against UAB. It ran the ball pretty well but the Hurricanes’ front should dominate and completely shut down Savannah State.

Auburn did an outstanding job against Washington’s potent running attack, dominating the line of scrimmage and holding the Huskies to 102 rushing yards in a 21-16 win over the Pac-12 power. Against Tuskegee, Alabama A&M had only 128 rushing yards. A&M had slightly more passing yards at 164 but this Auburn defense should completely dominate in all phases. Tuskegee put up 482 total yards so the Tigers should be able to score at will and this game should cruise in the second half.

The Eagles looked really solid in a blowout win over UMass especially against the run, allowing just 66 rushing yards in a 55-21 victory. UMass did have 250 passing yards but the good news for Boston College backers this week is that Holy Cross struggled to throw the ball in a loss to Colgate last week. This is a perfect situation to play BC’s defense – Holy Cross can run the ball, but the Eagles can slow down the run. Holy Cross isn’t great throwing it, and that was BC’s weakness last weekend. This should be another comfortable blowout.

This could be a slightly dangerous pick because Southeastern Louisiana threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns in a loss to Louisiana-Monroe in the opener. Still, LSU’s secondary should be much, much tougher and if SLU cannot find any success throwing the ball then it could be game over since it had only 72 rushing yards against ULM. My bet is that LSU’s pressure along with outstanding defensive back play will shut things down pretty quickly.