Injuries…they stink to high purgatory…and, unfortunately, are part of the game of football.

On Saturday night in Lexington, Kentucky, the college football world watched Florida QB Tim Tebow (photo, thanks IconSMI) take a nasty hit on the back of his head when he hit a teammate’s leg while being sacked by a Wildcat defender.  A few minutes later, the college football world learned what Superman had been eating for the last 24 hours, as he hurled a few times while being carted to a waiting ambulance for transport to a hospital.

As gruesome as this all sounds, it looks like Tebow will be OK, and should be ready to play in two weeks when the Gators visit Death Valley to play LSU.  He should be over the effects of the concussion he suffered at Kentucky.

Meanwhile, another top QB was not as fortunate.

Baylor sophomore phenom Robert Griffin suffered a season-ending ACL injury during the Bears trouncing of Northwestern State (LA).  Although Griffin saw more action in the game after the injury took place, an MRI exposed an ACL tear, putting the dual-threat QB out of action for the rest of 2009.  College football, especially the fantasy element, will miss Griffin….and all wish him a speedy recovery and a return in 2010.

But, this is not all the bad news for the fantasy player.  Note that many of the top Big XII QBs are off this week, which could put a crimp in your rosters.  If your backups are weak, this may be a good time to take part in your league’s free agent/supplemental draft system.

On to the QBs…

PLAY THEM

Ryan Mallett – Arkansas AND Jerrod Johnson – Texas A&M (at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX):  Good plays this week, as both should take advantage of the opponents weak defenses.  Lots of yards and scores…and the Aggies Johnson was our Fantasy College Blitz Fantasy Player of the Week last week.

Max Hall – BYU AND Diondre Borel – Utah State:  This Friday night game (a traditional Friday game before the annual LDS conference the following day) matches two hot Beehive State QBs.  Playing Borel may be a stretch, but, I am giving Borel the benefit of the home-field Romney Stadium …even with BYU fans taking a lot of those seats.  BYU has a good defense, at times…will the defense against Oklahoma, or, the defense against Florida State, show up for the Cougars?

Case Keenum – Houston AND Trevor Vittatoe – UTEP:  Keenum a no-brainer….but Vittatoe may cause some consternation, as he has performed miserably this season.  Vittatoe will have to produce, or Houston will win by 600.  The game is being played in the Sun Bowl, which should help Vittatoe.  It will be the second straight ranked team visiting El Paso…and the third ranked team in a row the Miners have played

Colin Kaepernick – Nevada AND Omar Clayton – UNLV:  The Fremont Cannon is up for grabs, and both QBs are due to unleash their cannons this season.  Both are good plays because the defenses for both UNR and UNLV are not very good.  When you give up 30 to Wyoming, as UNLV did last week, that is not good(Omar Clayton, right, thanks Scout.com)

Tony Pike – Cincinnati (vs Miami-Ohio):  My current FRONTRUNNER FOR THE HEISMAN (yes, Tony Pike) should way-lay a hapless Redhawk squad, who run a scoring deficit as large as the US trade deficit.  The only thing that could stop Pike this week is if the Bearcats are up by 100 before halftime….and he gets pulled.

OTHER QBs TO PLAY:  Taylor Potts – Texas Tech; G.J. Kinne – Tulsa; Kellen Moore – Boise State; Greg Alexander – Hawaii; Dan LeFevour – Central Michigan.

THINK TWICE

Jacory Harris – Miami AND Landry Jones/Sam Bradford – Oklahoma:  This is a big game for the Hurricanes, and I look for this to be a low-scoring affair.  The Sooners have only given up 14 points in 3 games in 2009, and probably won’t surrender much more to the Canes.  The OU QB situation may not be set at this time of writing, but, regardless, I would hold off playing either Jones or Bradford this week…even with the Canes, at times, having lapses on defense.

Jimmy Clausen – Notre Dame AND Jake Locker – Washington:  The Huskies are playing better defense in 2009 (ask USC), and, they could slow down the Domers attack a little bit.  I look for a lower-scoring game, which will affect both QBs production.  Not too many TDs under Touchdown Jesus this weekend

B.J. Daniels – South Florida AND Greg Paulus – Syracuse:  Both QBs have drawn a lot of attention in recent weeks, but, I feel this will be a low scoring game with not a lot of offense…even though both QBs have been impressive in their first season of playing QB in college football.  Daniels and Paulus will be good plays later in 2009.

DO NOT PLAY THEM

Bo Levi Mitchell – SMU (vs TCU):  Mitchell will be a good play for the rest of the season, but, this may be the toughest defense he will see in 2009.  The Horned Frogs last week won at Clemson, holding the Tigers to 10 points….zero in the second half.  As talented as the Ponies offense is….the TCU defense is one of the best in America.

OFF THIS WEEK

Tim Tebow – Florida; Todd Reesing – Kansas; Blaine Gabbert – Missouri; Colt McCoy – Texas; Zac Robinson – Oklahoma State; Zac Lee – Nebraska; Dwight Dasher – Middle Tennessee

LIFE HINT OF THE WEEK

What is the most dreaded thing your significant other could say to you on a Saturday night?

“Honey, lets not watch football…let’s go to a movie”

If this happens to you this weekend, we may have a solution….one that will make your sweets happy, and, you get to keep your Man-Card in the process.  Let her know it’s one of those “movies about women”…without telling her that the women wear helmets and knock each other on their arses.

Debuting this Friday, the film Whip It explores the modern roller-derby revival (which is more sport than show compared to its predecessors).   The women get some of that “girl-bonding”…while at the same time the guys get to see some nasty hits with gals wearing helmets….about as close to college football with women involved can get.   There is one scene where its star, Ellen Page, takes a nasty Tim Tebow-like hit on the head, a hit that will make even the toughest cringe.

And, probably the coolest character in any film in a while is Daniel Stern as Earl Cavendar…who goes to great lengths to watch college football in spite of his domineering wife.  This is a guy to invite to your next pre-game tailgate.

With the dearth of good sports movies recently, Whip It could remedy that.

Related posts:

1. FROM THE SHOTGUN…Week Seven QB Start/Sit
2. FROM THE SHOTGUN…Week 4 QB Start/Sit
3. FROM THE SHOTGUN….Week Eleven QB Start/Sit
4. FROM THE SHOTGUN…Week Eight QB Start/Sit
5. FROM THE SHOTGUN….Week Nine QB Start/Sit

Tags: Injuries, QB Analysis, Quarterbacks, Sam Bradford, Sports Movies, Tim Tebow