This may come as a shock to fans of the Chicago Bears and the Miami Dolphins….

Dave Wannstedt is a genius.

The Pittsburgh head coach was the only one from a major college program to offer one special player a scholarship.  After the stellar season this player had, you get to be called a “genius”

That player, RB Dion Lewis, led the Panthers to one of their better seasons in years, and, Pitt was just seconds away from winning the Big East championship.  Lewis (photo, thanks IconSMI) also wins our 2009 Fantasy College Blitz – Big East Conference Fantasy Player of the Year.

The redshirt-freshman from Albany, NY (Blair Academy HS, NJ) rushed for nearly 1300 yards and scored 14 total TDs (stats quoted are through November 21st games), leading the Panthers to a 9-3 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the Big East.

Joining Lewis on the Big East All-Fantasy Team are…. Read the rest of this entry →

REWIND

USF 30, West Virginia 19

BJ Daniels (7) throws one of his many effective passes Friday Night. Fantasy owners should think of a long term relationship.

Noel Devine was shut down (39 yards rushing) and shut out (no TD) for the first time this season. THIS is what the Bulls defense is supposed to look like despite their penchant for disappearing after the autumnal equinox. Bulls QB BJ Daniels needs to be on your roster if you are in a keeper league – I honestly think half the pass plays are just called “4-wide and get open” as he just makes plays extemporaneously.

Cincinnati 28, Syracuse 7

Speaking of extemporaneous QBs, Zach Collaros created a couple scrambling masterpieces in the Dome and WR Armon Binns seems to be his preferred target. Collaros run threat constantly sucked in the Orange defense and that allowed for some big pass plays.
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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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REWIND

Tony Pike was able to elude danger on this scramble - can he still go with a bad left wrist? (Icon SMI)

Thursday – No. 8 Cincinnati 34, No. 21 South Florida 17

QB Tony Pike hurt after throwing two TD, Zach Collaros ran wild (132T2) in his stead. USF folding again (dropped passes, letting Zach run). No Pike likely hurts Mardy Gilyard production, and temper expectations for Armon Binns (2TD).

Good interview with Collaros and the Sideline Princess afterwards

Friday – Pittsburgh 24, Rutgers 17
‘Stache 1st win over Rutgers. RB Dion Lewis 180T2 and TE Dorin Dickerson keep it rollin for the Panthers, Bill Stull more mistake free ball. Rutgers struggling to find offense (barely 3 ypc if you factor out 3 Savage sacks). 2/1 pass/run ratio won’t get it done.
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National Weeknight Spotlight on the Big East Conference with Thursday and Friday Night battles, and all of them are playing really good defense so perhaps we should temper fantasy expectations?

Noel Devine has scored in every game this year, likely not stopping that against Marshall. (Icon SMI)

Before looking ahead, let us first look back at last week.

West Virginia 34, Syracuse 13
Paulus-palooza is running off the road – Greg Paulus got pulled for Ryan Nassib in the second half. Mike Williams owners rejoiced as he caught his TD pass from Nassib. I think whoever is the QB knows enough to target Williams so this controversy should have little effect. Noel Devine scored two TDs, but so did freshman Ryan Clarke. Clarke’s emergence hasn’t slowed Devine, in fact has made the Mountaineers more effective in the redzone. I can see Clarke as a good spot start.

Rutgers 42, Texas Southern 0

Rutgers D has eight picks and four TD’s taking advantage of a very soft schedule.A new face on offense emerged, true freshman RB De’Antwan Williams had 132 yards rushing and a TD in his collegiate debut – that was mostly in the 4Q as Schiano emptied the bench versus the FCS opponent. Joe Martinek still looks like the RB1 as he scored twice early on a handful of carries.

Pitt 24, Connecticut 20

Panthers roared back from 15 down after most of the “home field advantage” left booing. Nice work Pitt fan – even the most ardent Wannstedt opponents know not to question the ‘Stache. UConn’s QB Cody Endres looks like the starter now, and Andre Dixon again got the majority of RB production. Pitt QB Bill Stull continues his surge for most improved player, and his TE roommate Dorin Dickerson put his seventh stamp on the end zone during the comeback. Dion Lewis did aw-ite against a good D (24-158) but no paydirt.

Louisville 25, Southern Miss 23
And so ends the Golden Eagles shot at the C-USA crown, reeling hard after the loss of soph stud QB Austin Davis. Cards RB Victor Anderson continues to grind out production (92T+47), and WR Scott Long went long with 5-146T. Southern Miss is an average D so there are some things here for Kragthorpe to build on.

Fast Forward to Week 7
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