Another busy weekend of college football is ahead. Here’s a look at what we will be watching especially from a fantasy football perspective:
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TOP FANTASY SCORERS ON BYES
Four of the top five fantasy football scorers are on their bye week as Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew, Syracuse QB Eric Dungey and Oregon State running back Jermar Jefferson don’t play this week.
The only one in the top five who plays this weekend is Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who is one of the Heisman frontrunners with Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa. Haskins and the Buckeyes face a Minnesota defense that has give up 42 points to Maryland and 48 points to Iowa in the last two games.
Haskins has 1,919 passing yards and 25 touchdowns in six games as Ohio State averages 49 points per game. With all the other top scorers on their bye weeks, it’s time to look for some names and matchups that make sense to make sure fantasy points are still being scored.
SNAP UP THAT FLORIDA DEFENSE!
It remains hard to believe that the Florida defense is only owned in now 54 percent of fantasy leagues especially since the Gators are the No. 1 defense in fantasy points and have been especially playing lights out in the secondary.
Florida is allowing just 14.8 points per game, held LSU to just 19 points and has not given up more than 27 all season, and that was to a Kentucky team that has shown to be much better than expected.
Now the Gators, who have allowed just three passing touchdowns all season, visit Vanderbilt and that’s not exactly a stellar offense. If Florida comes to play and doesn’t overlook the Commodores, which it shouldn’t since it’s heading into a bye week before the Georgia showdown, playing the Gators’ defense this weekend makes all the sense in the world.
SHOOTOUT ALERT: KEEP YOUR EYE ON SEC WEST
Maybe last weekend was a complete anomaly for Arkansas. Or maybe the Razorbacks figured something out on offense because they scored 31 on Ala-freakin’-Bama after putting only 17 up against Texas A&M, three points against Auburn, 17 in a blowout loss to North Texas and 27 against a miserable Colorado State defense.
My guess is that Arkansas is hitting its stride offensively and that’s perfect timing because Ole Miss has a terrible defense that gave up 45 points to LSU a couple weeks ago and 41 to Southern Illinois earlier in the season.
The Rebels scored 76 in that Southern Illinois win and 70 last weekend against Louisiana-Monroe. This Arkansas/Ole Miss game is looking like it could be a shootout. That’s always great news for fantasy owners thinking about starting Ole Miss QB Jordan Ta’amu, RB Scottie Phillips, WRs A.J. Brown or D.K. Metcalf or even some players on the Razorbacks.
Las Vegas has the over/under line in this game hovering around 67.5 points, so that’s good news if you have some of these players on your fantasy roster.
SHOOTOUT ALERT, PART II: ANOTHER SEC SCORE-FEST
Alabama could come into its matchup against Missouri this weekend completely annoyed by the way its defense played against Arkansas a week ago and shut down the Tigers’ potent offense. The Crimson Tide ‘D’ is good enough to make that happen. But Las Vegas does not see this game playing out that way.
In one of the highest over/unders of the weekend, Vegas has this game at 74 points, so there’s no question Alabama’s offense is going to light up the scoreboard. Of course, Tagovailoa, probably No. 1 on the Heisman list right now, could put up huge numbers against a defense that allows nearly 285 passing yards per game. Missouri is actually strong against the run but it hasn’t faced a running attack like the Crimson Tide.
On the flip side, maybe - just maybe - Alabama’s defense has some holes that could be exploited. The Razorbacks threw for three touchdowns last weekend and Missouri’s passing game is much better than anything Arkansas has to offer.
Alabama’s defense should come in ready to dominate. That’s scary for Missouri. But Tigers QB Drew Lock and his receiving corps are pretty talented, too, even with some top receivers sidelined with injuries. Lots of points could be coming, fantasy owners.
BE CAREFUL ON TEXAS
Things look like they’re lining up for Texas and Baylor to have a high-scoring Big 12 affair on Saturday. The Longhorns scored 48 in an unforgettable Red River Showdown last weekend and put up 501 yards of total offense. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger seems to be hitting his stride, especially with receivers Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson. Baylor is scoring 35.8 points per game and giving up 32.3.
But something seems fishy here. The line opened Texas minus-17 and although the bets are about split even between the two teams, the Longhorns are now only favored by about 14.
Seems like sharp money is coming in on the Bears and I don’t know if that means people are thinking Texas lays an egg and doesn’t score much after such a thrilling win over Oklahoma or if someone thinks this could be a high-scoring contest. Either way, something doesn’t seem right so be careful playing Texas offensive players even if they’ve done well recently.