ACC Bookends for Week 1
September 12th, 2009 by Jeremy Shory
Now that College Football has officially kicked off, we can all pop the aspirin to try and help with the hangovers. We’ll give a little week one recap as well as a few predictions and key matchups as we head into week two. Don’t forget to check your weekly lineups as the ACC has a couple teams that are taking it easy and resting this week. Without further ado, I give to you the week one top performers which so appropriately deserve some fantasy college blitz helmet stickers.
Quarterback
Thaddeus Lewis of Duke (thanks Scout.com)
There was obvious dissatisfaction out of the general QB population in week one. There was however a few that really stood out amongst the rest, one of which was a surprise. Thaddeus Lewis from Duke had arguably the best season opening stats despite their loss to the Div-II school. He racked up 350 yards on 55 passing attempts and scored 2 touchdowns. His passing attempts were in the top 5 amongst the entire college football nation. FSU’s Christian Ponder lived up to the offseason hype and did not disappoint with his 41 attempts for 294 yards, 2 passing touchdowns, and 1 rushing touchdown. He would have broke the 300 yard mark and added another passing touchdown if his receiver would have held onto the ball on the last play. Lastly, Jaccory Harris from Miami blew up the national scene as he threw for 386 yards on 34 passing attempts and 2 touchdowns. This could be a sign of things to come for the young Miami player so start him when you can.
Runningback
It appeared that the rushing yards seemed to be down in week one as well. For a conference that has been much hyped for all of the suspected top runners, I was slightly dissatisfied. I’ll chalk this up however, to most schools playing lesser opponents and therefore not wanting to use their stars throughout the whole game. With that said, the top of the list begins with Montell Harris from Boston College. He is running behind one of the best O-lines in the ACC and he proved it with 113 yards on 15 carries and 2 touchdowns. Jonathon Dwyer got his action in early as he rushed for 95 yards on only 7 carries against their Div-II opponent. He did not see much of the field in the second half. Rounding out the top three was surprise freshman, Ryan Williams from Virginia Tech. With Darren Evans out for the year, Williams got the starting nod and played against one of the toughest defenses against the run, Alabama Crimson Tide. Despite the pressure, he still totaled 71 yards on 13 carries and 2 scores.
Wide Receiver
Jacoby Ford (6) tries to get past Georgia Tech safety Cooper Taylor (22) (thanks Icon SMI)
With all of the passing yards that were out there, the ball seemed to have been spread around pretty well. There were a couple of receivers that made the most of what they were given and thus deserve some praise. Clemson’s Jacoby Ford did not let his fantasy owners down as he caught 3 balls for 70 yards and a score. For a running school, GT’s Demaryius Thomas sure had a nice outing as he pulled in 4 passed for 101 yards. Someone has to catch the ball for Duke and that appeared to be Johnny Williams who had 7 receptions for 115 yards and score. Probably the most deserving of the helmet sticker this week was Miami’s Travis Benjamin as he burned FSU’s defense on several occasion as he caught 4 passes for 128 yards and a score. Surprise of the week (and probably the best sleeper in the ACC) was the fact the FSU held true to their word and utilized the TE as Caz Piurowski caught 3 balls for 33 yards and a score on opening weekend.
Most of the ACC is going to see a pickup in the talent that play against this week as the season opening warm-ups are long gone. I’ll highlight a couple of key matchups and offer a few predictions to help as you tinker last minute with your fantasy lineup.
Most Fantasy Impact in a positive way:
Florida State vs. Jacksonville State – Florida State looks to rebound from the last minute heartbreaker on Monday night as they will throw everything, including the book and a couple kitchen sinks, at this Div-II opponent. FSU shows on Monday that their offense can move the ball and does it well. Jacksonville State plays a dying defensive scheme in college football; the 3-4 defense. This alone will allow FSU to pick apart for several yards. I expect FSU to get back to their basics this week and look to rush the ball more so keep an eye on Jermaine Thomas and Ty Jones as the will see the bulk of the carries.
Virginia Tech vs. Marshall – Much like FSU, Tech is going to look to rebound on a lesser opponent. I would expect all kinds of yards to be racked up on the ground. QB Tyrod Taylor will most likely end up with a rushing touchdown himself in this one and RB Ryan Williams will build off of his solid performance from last Saturday and probably walk away with 2 scores. I also think that Tech will not hesitate to air it out this week as they know their receivers can beat the coverage.
NC State vs. Murray State – NCST had a very tough opener against South Carolina on a Thursday game so they will most certainly get back to their game plan this week as they will probably see about 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing while only allowing about 150 to Murray State. NC State knows there is much hype around them and this is the week they try and prove why.
Most Fantasy Impact in a negative way:
Duke vs. Army – I know this does not sound like a blockbuster game, but Army is considerably better than the Div-II team that they lost to last week. I would expect that Duke will be down early in this one and will have to air it out a ton to try and catch up, which bodes well for Thad Lewis, but not for any running game that they try to jump start.
Wake Forest vs. Stanford – Stanford is a much improved team and will look to impose their will on a Wake team that is still trying to figure things out on both sides of the ball. The talent is there for Wake but I don’t think it shows in this game as we’ll probably see a low scoring game.
TCU vs. Virginia – I think enough is said with that right there. Do not expect Virginia to be in this game at all as they couldn’t even beat their Div-II challenger last week. TCU is going to play lights out and consider this a game to pad the stats.
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