Devy Roundup: Week Eight

Kyle Holden

Upset alert! Georgia, West Virginia, Washington, Penn State, Miami, Colorado, and Auburn were all upset on Saturday, with the first four previously being ranked inside the top ten. As a result, the top-25 looks much different than it did just one week ago. LSU and Michigan were the two biggest risers in the rankings after their dominant performances over Georgia and Wisconsin respectively. A week after wondering how many teams would run the table this season, three of them have already lost. This chaos is probably the most exciting aspect of college football.

You can find the final results of each week seven game here.

Top Performers

Some of the top performers of the week

Dwayne Haskins, QB Ohio State (412 yards passing, 3 TDs)

Haskins continues to impress every week. The running game struggled and Ohio State fell behind in the first half. However, Haskins led them back once again. He had some help from wide receiver K.J. Hill, who played well all game and had a ridiculous one-handed grab in the second quarter.

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David Montgomery, RB Iowa State (189 yards rushing, 1 TD)

Welcome back, David Montgomery. After sitting out last week because of a nagging shoulder injury, he returned to game action on Saturday against West Virginia. His elusiveness and ability to pick up yards after contact were on full display all night. He was a big reason for Iowa State’s upset over West Virginia.

Darrell Henderson, RB Memphis (199 yards rushing, 1 TD, 2 rec, 13 yards)

It is time for the entire nation to take note of Darrell Henderson. He has absolutely dominated the first half of this season, rushing for at least 174 yards in five of his last six games. He is a big play waiting to happen.

Michael Pittman, WR USC (6 rec, 155 yards, 2 TDs)

Pittman used his size well against Colorado. He caught a few nice deep balls en route to 155 yards. He, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns form a nice wide receiver trio for the Trojans.

Honorable Mentions: K.J. Hill (9 rec, 187 yards, 2 TDs), Mohamed Ibrahim (157 yards passing, 2 TDs), Brock Purdy (254 yards passing, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 39 yards rushing), CJ Verdell (111 yards rushing, 2 TDs), Miles Sanders (162 yards rushing, 1 TD), Felton Davis (8 rec, 100 yards, 2 TDs), Collin Johnson (11 rec, 132 yards, 1 TD), Lamical Perine (121 yards rushing, 1 TD, 4 rec, 93 yards), Jace Sternberger (7 rec, 145 yards, 1 TD), TJ Hockenson (4 rec, 107 yards, 2 TDs), Nate Stanley (320 yards passing, 6 TDs, 1 INT), Flynn Nagel (220 yards receiving, 2 TDs), Alex Barnes (181 yards rushing, 4 TDs, 3 rec, 51 yards), Jordan Ta’amu (387 yards passing, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 141 yards rushing, 1 TD)

Poor Performers

Performances which did to live up to expectations

Will Grier, QB West Virginia (100 yards passing, 1 TD, 1 INT)

Grier had thrown for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in every game this season until last Saturday. Iowa State was able to get pressure on him for much of the game, accumulating seven sacks. Grier threw a nice touchdown to David Sills in the first quarter but was held in check for the rest of the game.

Jake Fromm, QB Georgia (209 yards passing, 1 TD, 2 INTs)

Fromm has had an up-and-down start to the season. After an impressive game last week, he struggled again against LSU. He just missed a few deep throws and his receivers had a few drops, but Georgia is going to need better play from their signal-caller.

My Rankings

Below is a preview of my devy wide receiver rankings. The 2019 class still dominates the top, but the 2020 class could start to compete with it if Dekaylin Metcalf were to return to Ole Miss next season. A trio of Metcalf, Jerry Jeudy, and Laviska Shenault paired with the elite running back prospects from the 2020 class would make 2020 first round picks worth a fortune come rookie draft time. There is also great depth in that class, so keep collecting any 2020 picks you can get a hold of.

You can find my full set of devy rankings here.

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Marquee Match-ups

Below are some of the more intriguing match-ups on this upcoming week’s slate. You can check out the full week eight schedule here.

1.) #16 North Carolina State @ #3 Clemson – 10/20 @ 3:30 PM EST on ESPN

Kelvin Harmon remains one of the more underrated, least talked about “elite” receivers of the talented 2019 class. It will be fun to see him compete against the Clemson secondary once again.

Travis Etienne has been a monster this year, with four straight games of at least 100 yards rushing. His success will help take some pressure off of freshman Trevor Lawrence as he continues to become more comfortable in the offense.

2.) Colorado @ #15 Washington – 10/20 @ 3:30 PM EST on FOX

This game will tell us a lot about Laviska Shenault as a prospect. He has quickly risen up many devy rankings, include my own, but I will feel a lot more confident about his ranking after seeing him compete against the talented Washington secondary.

3.) #22 Mississippi State @ #5 LSU – 10/20 @ 7 PM EST on ESPN

The prospect I am most intrigued about on Mississippi State is sophomore running back Kylin Hill. He has started to break out this year, already posting more yards and touchdowns than he had all of last year.

LSU absolutely dominated Georgia last week but still sits a game back of Alabama in the SEC West. They are ranked fifth in the country, so a playoff appearance is still in the cards.

4.) #9 Oklahoma @ TCU – 10/20 @ 12 PM EST on ABC

With a bye week last week, Oklahoma has had two weeks to think about their surprising loss to rival Texas the last time they stepped on the field. They will likely need to run the table going forward to have a chance at making the playoffs.

TCU is only sitting at 3-3 on the year, but they do have a lot of intriguing devy players, including running backs Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua as well as wide receiver Jalen Reagor.

5.) #6 Michigan @ #24 Michigan State – 10/20 @ 12 PM EST on FOX

One of the great rivalries in college football, these two teams look forward to this match-up every year. Michigan dominated Wisconsin last week as both Karan Higdon and Shea Patterson had success rushing the ball.

Michigan State is coming off an impressive victory of their own against Penn State last week. Wide receiver Felton Davis looks to build off his strong showing last week.

Other News/Notes

We were also hit with the injury bug again this past week. D.K. Metcalf suffered a neck injury that will knock him out for the rest of this season. He was playing well this year and figured to be one of the first wide receivers off the board in the 2019 NFL draft, but this injury could very well lead him to return to school next season. Between Metcalf and Rodney Anderson, the projected first round of 2019 rookie drafts has taken a couple hits the past few weeks.

Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa also re-injured his sprained knee last Saturday against Missouri. Fortunately, head coach Nick Saban said Tua would still practice this week. With a bye week looming, it is entirely possible Tua sits this week against Tennessee in anticipation of being fully healthy against LSU in three weeks.

Feel free to reach out in the comments section or on Twitter @KyleHoldenFF with any questions as we look ahead to week eight of the college football season.

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