PERMASTARTERS

1. Ryan Williams – VaTech at ECU (slowing down but has nice matchups for the remainder of the season)
2. Jahvid Best – Cal vs. Oregon St (wish he got more carries is still my only complaint)
3. Dion Lewis – Pitt vs. Syracuse
4. Jacquizz Rodgers – Oregon St at California
5. Darius Marshall – Marsh vs. idle
6. Ryan Matthews – Fresno at Idaho
7. Toby Gerhart – Stanford vs. Oregon (needs Stanford to stay in game against Oregon and pictured right courtesy Icon SMI)
8. Mark Ingram – Alabama vs. LSU
9. Noel Devine – WVU vs. Louisville
10. Lance Dunbar – North Texas vs. LA-Monroe
11. Bernard Pierce – Temple vs. Miami(OH)

The Perm-Starters list is growing, but how can anyone sit Dunbar or Pierce?  Pierce has back-to-back 200+ yard games and has scored 11 TDs in the past 6 games.  Dunbar has scored 30+ fantasy points in 4 straight games.  Both these players have a very favorable schedule for the rest of the season.

Stat of the Week:

Lance Dunbar from North Texas is currently the #2 ranked fantasy RB in the nation with 1201 total yards and 15 TDs, which using standard scoring gives him 210 fantasy points.  What is amazing though– is that he has done almost all of this the last five games.  He has 1058 total yards and 13 TDs in the LAST five games or 184 fantasy points.  Or for those that like percentages, Dunbar has gotten 88% of his yards and 86% of his TDs in the last five games.  Finally, one last way to highlight what Dunbar has done…There are only 5 RBs who has done more in the entire season than Dunbar has done in the last 5 games.

Fave plays for Week Four

• Chad Spann, Northern Illinois vs. Eastern Mich – Spann has been a bit erratic as he has to share carries with Me’Co Brown for most of the season.  However he has started to get a bigger share and with the nation’s worse rush defense on tap this week, I expect a big game.  Eastern Michigan is given up 277yards per game on the ground.
• John Clay, Wisconsin at Indiana – Clay bounced back as I predicted last week with a monster game against Purdue and should continue the solid play this week against Indiana.  The Hoosiers couldn’t stop Brandon Wegher from Iowa last week and will most likely have less success against Clay.
• Brandon Wegher, Iowa vs. Northwestern – The matchup isn’t as good for Wegher, who was my super sleeper last week, but he should still be able to have a very good game against Northwestern.  Wegher has proven to be able to find the endzone and earned a lot of trust from the coaching staff as he carried Iowa to a come-from-behind victory last week.
• Ben Tate, Auburn vs. Furman – I have no idea why so many big-time programs are playing FCS teams in November…but I do know that this isn’t good for college football.  Plus I hate starting players against these teams because you never know what to expect as teams tend to clear the bench early.  With that said you have to start Tate if you have him because he has too much upside in a game like this.
• Jonathan Dwyer, GT vs. Wake Forest – My complaint with Dwyer has always been the number of carries he gets but with 3 straight games of 20+ carries I am starting to get excited and so should you if you have him on your roster.  This week he faces Wake Forest who is below average in the ACC against the rush but has a decent enough offense to keep the game close.  Expect a big game from Dwyer.
• Montario Hardesty, Tenn vs. Memphis – Hardesty is having a solid, consistent season where he pretty much ran for 90 yards and a TD in almost every game.  This week he gets a chance to break-out with a much bigger game against one of the worse rush defenses in the country with Mempis…There is a risk that Bryce Brown will see a bigger role if the game is a blow out early but Hardesty will still get his stats.
• CJ Spiller, Clemson vs. FSU – The Seminoles defense is shockingly bad, at least shocking to me who has never seen a FSU defense this bad in my lifetime.  I expect this game to be a shootout like pretty much all the games FSU has played this year with Spiller touching the ball 20+ times.  A beautiful matchup to hopefully make up for the average performance against Coastal Carolina last week.

Super sleeper

Keola Antolin, Arizona vs. Washington St – The Wildcats are facing some injuries at the RB position with Nic Grigsby and Greg Nwoko both expected to miss the game this week against Washington St.  This moves Antolin into the starting role just in time to face the 114th rank rush defense.  Just like last week with Wegher, finding a starting running back that will get 20+ carries against a terrible defense and almost certainly on the free agent wire, is a gift.  If you need a RB, don’t hesitate to pick up and start Antolin.

VICIOUS PINE

Brynn Harvey, UCF at Texas – This might classify as too obvious, but I wanted to point out that Harvey hit a wall and has been struggling the last few games.  He seems to be lacking the burst we saw earlier in the season, with trouble avoiding a tackle by the first player he comes in contact with.  So while there is no way you can start him against Texas this week that is only allowing 54 ypg on the ground. Harvey is starting to look like someone you can’t ride in the playoffs.

Joe McKnight, USC at Oregon State – McKnight was off to a great start of the season but has slowed down significantly the last few games.  He is battling some nagging injuries but it hasn’t kept him off the field.  This week he gets to face off against one of the better run defenses in the country as ASU ranks 4th only allowing 80 yards a game.  Add in the fact that a nagging ankle and hamstring is still bothering him– it is safe to leave him on the bench.

If you have any questions feel free to post the question on the forums or you can always email me at drew[at]fantasycollegeblitz[dot]com.

Related posts:

1. Power I: Week 9
2. Power-I Week 7
3. Power I: Week 11 Fantasy Running Back Start-Sit
4. Power I: Week 8
5. Power I: Week 5 Running Back Report