We're nearing the end of the college football regular season. Week 13 does have a few big games, but it is also unfortunately the week when a lot of SEC teams (and Clemson, which dreams of being an SEC team) play easy opposition, even FCS teams on occasion. I'm going to call those three programs for their spinelessness: Alabama, Auburn, and Texas A&M. Plus Clemson, but to be fair to Dabo, he needs this one for bowl eligibility because he's tanked his program. Anyway, here are my players to start and players to bench for Week 13 of the college football season.
AAC Starts and Sits
START
Quinton Jackson, RB, Rice vs. North Texas
The Mean Green have a great offense, and they may play in the playoff. However, they have also given up 202.7 rushing yards per game. Rice made a bold move in turning to a triple-option offense that worked well for head coach Scott Abell at Davidson. Jackson is the lead back, and through 10 games, he's rushed for 758 yards and six touchdowns.
SIT
Shazz Preston, WR, Tulane at Temple
Tulane hasn't played favorites in the passing game, but Preston has risen to the top. Due to the sharing of the wealth, though, that means 443 yards and three touchdowns. As good as the Green Wave are, though, this trip to Temple won't be easy. That's especially true when it comes to the passing game, as the Owls have only allowed 179.7 passing
We're nearing the end of the college football regular season. Week 13 does have a few big games, but it is also unfortunately the week when a lot of SEC teams (and Clemson, which dreams of being an SEC team) play easy opposition, even FCS teams on occasion. I'm going to call those three programs for their spinelessness: Alabama, Auburn, and Texas A&M. Plus Clemson, but to be fair to Dabo, he needs this one for bowl eligibility because he's tanked his program. Anyway, here are my players to start and players to bench for Week 13 of the college football season.
AAC Starts and Sits
START
Quinton Jackson, RB, Rice vs. North Texas
The Mean Green have a great offense, and they may play in the playoff. However, they have also given up 202.7 rushing yards per game. Rice made a bold move in turning to a triple-option offense that worked well for head coach Scott Abell at Davidson. Jackson is the lead back, and through 10 games, he's rushed for 758 yards and six touchdowns.
SIT
Shazz Preston, WR, Tulane at Temple
Tulane hasn't played favorites in the passing game, but Preston has risen to the top. Due to the sharing of the wealth, though, that means 443 yards and three touchdowns. As good as the Green Wave are, though, this trip to Temple won't be easy. That's especially true when it comes to the passing game, as the Owls have only allowed 179.7 passing yards per contest.
ACC Starts and Sits
START
Duce Robinson, WR, Florida State at NC State
The Seminoles may pull themselves to a 7-5 record, and Robinson's performance has been a big part of that. While Tommy Castellanos is a quarterback best known for his scrambling, Robinson has still managed over 120 receiving yards in each of his last three games. The Wolf Pack defense has been careening off a cliff, and it has now given up 300 passing yards and over 31 points per game. Even in that upset win over Georgia Tech, NC State gave up 36 points. Also, just for lineup construction purposes, this is a Friday game.
SIT
Marcellous Hawkins, RB, Virginia Tech vs. Miami (FL)
On the one hand, Hawkins has averaged 6.2 yards per carry and has been over 100 yards twice in his last three games. On the other hand, we have the thing that fantasy-minded folks really want, and to that end, Hawkins has two total touchdowns this season. Unfortunately for Hawkins, both touchdowns and rushing yards are hard to come by against the Hurricanes. Miami has allowed only 81.8 rushing yards per contest.
Big Ten Starts and Sits
START
Bo Jackson, RB, Ohio State vs. Rutgers
I recommended Jackson last week because Ohio State was playing UCLA, which has a terrible run defense. That panned out, as Jackson ran for 112 yards and a touchdown. I'm going back to that well, because Ohio State is facing an equally bad run defense in Week 13. Rutgers has allowed 196.5 rushing yards per game, which is actually 2.3 more yards than UCLA.
SIT
Ja'Kobi Lane, WR, USC at Oregon
Touchdowns can be fickle. Last season, Lane finished with 43 catches for 525 yards and 12 touchdowns. This year, through only nine games, Lane has 40 catches for 585 yards…but only four touchdowns. The elite defenses at Ohio State and Indiana get a lot of attention, but don't overlook Oregon. It's actually the Ducks with the best pass defense in the conference, having allowed a mere 127.3 yards per game through the air.
Big 12 Starts and Sits
START
Raleek Brown, RB, Arizona State at Colorado
Okay, I have been heavy on the running backs early, and I will make an effort to diversify the rest of the way, but Colorado's defense has collapsed, and at this point, it is hard to argue that there is a worse run defense at a Power Four program. The Buffaloes have given up a robust 210.9 rushing yards per game. Brown has averaged 82.3 rushing yards per contest. While he only has four touchdowns, the Buffaloes have also given up a nice, round 30 points per game. If Brown can score against Texas Tech, he can definitely score against Colorado.
SIT
Josh Cameron, WR, Baylor at Arizona
Baylor loves to air it out, and it was so desperate to try and stay in the game against Utah that Cameron was targeted a whopping 20 times in that game. That is beyond the norm, though, and it would be unlikely to see that happen again. Shout out to the rebounding Arizona Wildcats who sit at 7-3 with only one bad loss. Cameron will have to get it done on the road this time, and Arizona has allowed a mere 159.5 passing yards per game. It might take 25 targets this time to get Cameron over 100 yards.
Conference USA Starts and Sits
START
Roman Gagliano, QB, Middle Tennessee State vs. Sam Houston
Even if Nicholas Vattiato is healthy enough to play, if head coach Derek Mason puts the redshirt senior in over the redshirt freshman Gagliano, the only conclusion is that he wants to be fired. I'm talking "fired on the Tarmac" level of a firing, which would be impressive since this is a home game for the Blue Raiders. Making his first college start last week, Gagliano went 25-for-42 for 389 yards and two touchdowns, and he added 82 rushing yards for good measure. Sam Houston has allowed 474.8 total yards and 36.7 points per game. Gagliano deserves the chance to see if he can lead the Blue Raiders to a victory in Week 13.
SIT
Matthew Henry, WR, Western Kentucky at LSU
I called out the cheap late-season scheduling of some SEC teams (and Clemson, never miss an opportunity to dunk on Clemson), but I wouldn't quite put LSU in that bucket because Western Kentucky has been a good Group of Five team for a few years now. That being said, Henry and company have to take a trip down to Death Valley, which will feel just a bit different than going down to face Louisiana Tech. Plus, Brian Kelly didn't get fired because of the play of LSU's defense. He got fired because Garrett Nussmeier isn't a good quarterback and there isn't a single person on the record as actually liking Kelly on a personal level.
MAC Starts and Sits
START
Chip Trayanum, RB, Toledo vs. Ball State
Yes, I'm back in the running back realm, but thanks to MACtion, this is the one conference game after Wednesday, and the thing Ball State doesn't do well is stop the run. The Cardinals have allowed 172.8 rushing yards per contest. Trayanum saw the field at Arizona State and Ohio State, and that speaks to his talent. He's totaled 728 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns, but he missed two games, so that's in only eight contests.
SIT
Kiael Kelly, QB, Ball State at Toledo
I'll flip this one around since Toledo is the best defense in the MAC, and only Western Michigan is within shouting distance. Kelly is a dual-threat quarterback, though his primary threat is running the ball. He's totaled 537 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Unfortunately for him, there is no way to target the Rockets' defense, and they are particularly good on the ground. Toledo has only given up 88.5 rushing yards and 13.4 points per game, remarkable numbers for a MAC defense. I look forward to every non-graduating player in the two-deep transferring to a Power Four program this offseason.
Mountain West Starts and Sits
START
Keagan Johnson, WR, New Mexico at Air Force
Johnson has had two games with over 140 yards this season. Sure, you might say those games were against San Jose State and UNLV, two of the three Mountain West defenses that have allowed over 260 passing yards and 30 points per game. Well, at this point, you can probably guess who the third defense is. It's pretty remarkable how many yards and points Air Force has allowed given that it shortens games with its run-heavy offense.
SIT
Steve Chavez-Soto, RB, San Jose State at San Diego State
Once the true freshman Chavez-Soto started to see the field, San Jose State's offense got a bit of balance. Now, the Spartans still love to air it out, but in six games Chavez-Soto has 347 yards and seven touchdowns. I will be intrigued to see how SJSU's passing offense does against SDSU's passing defense, but I more confident in how its run defense will do. The Aztecs have allowed 100.2 rushing yards and 12.5 points per game.
SEC Starts and Sits
START
Arch Manning, QB, Texas vs. Arkansas
You don't need me to tell you that, hey, Texas A&M might put up some points on Samford. Coming off a so-so day on the road against Georgia, though, I think Manning might be in for a good day in Week 13. In the two starts before that, Arch threw for over 300 yards with three passing touchdowns in both outings. He was actually playing well, if not quite up to the hype. The Razorbacks are last in total yards allowed per game and points allowed per game in the SEC. Manning hasn't run the ball as many expected, but he does have six rushing scores on the season.
SIT
Ahmad Hardy, RB, Missouri at Oklahoma
Yes, I am recommending you sit a running back who just ran for 300 yards and three touchdowns. That was at home against Mississippi State. This trip to Norman is a different beast. By dint of having the best defense in the SEC, the Sooners are in the running for the best defense in college football. Oklahoma has only allowed 82.2 rushing yards and 14.8 points per game.
Sun Belt Starts and Sits
START
Demarcus Lacey, WR, Marshall at Appalachian State
I stuck by my intent to spread the wealth and not go too running back heavy, even though the Sun Belt has a couple of truly horrendous run defenses. I'm not exactly scraping the bottom of the barrel here, though, as Appalachian State has allowed 274.9 passing yards and 30.4 points per game. Lacey wasn't involved the first few games of the season after missing most of last year at Jacksonville State. Since getting in the action, though, Lacy has 44 catches for 569 yards and five touchdowns in seven games.
SIT
Landon Ellis, WR, James Madison vs. Washington State
Usually, when finding Sun Belt players to bench you look for the team that is facing James Madison. This week, though, the Dukes are facing Washington State. Now, the Cougars won't have the benefit they get from home games in Pullman, but they have managed to tread water waiting for the Pac-12 to kick into gear. Wazzu has allowed 168.9 passing yards and 21.0 points per game, and it has had to play road games against North Texas, Ole Miss, and Virginia. Ellis has 532 yards and five touchdowns, but three of those touchdowns came in one game against Louisiana.
