WR Vincent Brown, San Diego State – Thumb

Brown (pictured left, thanks Icon SMI) was struck on the end of his thumb with the football while attempting to make a catch against Colorado State last week. There was some initial swelling and Brown was held out of the second half. Since then, x-ray has been negative for fracture, which makes the diagnosis either a strain (muscle or tendon) or a sprain (ligament) dependent upon the structure involved. Reports from San Diego list him at Probable Plus for this week’s game against New Mexico. There may need to be some taping done on the thumb to support it, but Brown will have gotten used to that in practice this week, so expect him to be not only on the field, but also very close to the form that has yielded over 100 yards of receptions per game.

UPDATE: Late Thursday, Brown will go into surgery and miss two weeks minimum. Read the rest of this entry →

Memories/
Through the corners of my mind/
Tiny PIC-tures …/

SportsIllustrated.com has compiled this nifty collection of, um, “rare” Bowden family photos. Take a trip back to Bobby’s humble beginnings up through present day.

Not included in SI.com’s photo gallery: The startling transformation from human to TeleTubby.

Vince chimes in on the Mike Williams saga at Syracuse, BCS chaos and the impressive Pitt Panthers on Matt McCluskey’s SportsFix on WNER 1410 ESPN Radio.

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Quick, name the team with the current longest winning streak in the FBS…ok that was easy, Florida.

Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi is either announcing his team's arrival on the national stage, or doing a great Terry Bradshaw imitation. (Icon SMI)

Now who has the second longest active winning streak?  Give up yet?  It is Iowa baby!  As in the Big Ten conference leading Iowa Hawkeyes.  A Hawkeye may not have been as relevant this late into a season since Hawkeye Pierce from MASH filled the airwaves.  Gold and Black is back!

Week 8 Recap saw a couple of close games.  Iowa keeps it interesting by never really closing out a team until the final minutes of a game.  Last week it got a little too close though as Ricky Stanzi had to pull out a victory as time expired.  No matter what they face this team just finds a way to win.  Stanzi has confidence in his receivers and it shows.  Stanzi threw for 138 yards to seven different receivers.  He also had one huge TD pass at the end of the game.  Adam Robinson continues to emerge as the main running back posting another 100 yard game with 109 yards rushing.

On the Michigan State side the fantasy points were better with QB Kirk Cousins throwing for 225 yards and a TD plus 23 rushing yards.  Blair White had 95 yards receiving and a TD.  Michigan State now sits in 4th place in the Big Ten Standings but they are playing way better than that. Read the rest of this entry →

Entering the 2009 season, every College Fantasy Football owner knew the names Keenum, Bryant, Gresham, Potts, Tebow, Bradford, and many more.  What wins championships however is how the owners do at managing their waiver wire, finding the next superstar and riding the hot hand.  While none of the below players are their positions top scorer, each has provided their owners with outstanding production and has hopefully led them to the top of the standings.

Aztec QB Ryan Lindley has some huge games under first-year coach Brady Hoke (Icon SMI)

Ryan Lindley, QB, San Diego State - Not many fantasy owners even knew Lindley’s name prior to the 2009 season and for those owners that now have him on their team, they are happy.  Lindley has led the Aztecs to a respectable 3-4 record and is tied for third in the nation with 17 touchdown passes.  Although he does have 10 interceptions, he ranked in the top 20 in yards per game with 270.  Not bad for a waiver wire addition who can start for many teams.

DeMaundray Woolridge, RB, Idaho - Not only is Idaho having their best team season in many years (6-2), Woolridge has established himself as a touchdown machine.  Through 8 games, Woolridge is averaging 5.5 yards per rush and has scored 12 times.  The reality is that his yards per game average is only 67.9.  However, when you have a back scoring at least once a game, while playing on a winning team that is holding leads late, you have yourself a prime-time fantasy back.

Dion Lewis, RB, Pittsburgh - After LeSean McCoy and Larod Stephens-Howlings left Pittsburgh, not many experts knew what to expect from the Panthers ground game in 2009.  Lewis has been the savior for the 7-1 Panthers, who ranks second in the nation with 1,029 yards, ranks 7^th with 11 TD’s, and is 6^th in the nation with 128.6 yards per game.  The Panthers schedule has been favorable and playing in the defensive challenged Big East, Lewis should continue to put up staggering numbers as the Panthers fight for the conference crown.

More breaking down the break outs after the jump. Read the rest of this entry →