Thursday night college football is back this week with a decent Sunbelt matchup and a great Big 12 matchup! Fanduel has a full slate with both games and DraftKings has a showdown slate, so we will go into both games. In the Sunbelt, triple option Georgia Southern travels to take on winless Texas State. In the Big 12, the high octane offense of Texas Tech travels to take on an underperforming TCU team. This is another week where news will play a HUGE role so be sure to join DFS Army and stay updated in our coaching channels!
Georgia Southern (-18) @ Texas State (Total 49)
Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern runs the triple option, and they are great at it! Their one loss on the season is against Clemson who shut down the run game. I don’t expect that to happen against a Texas State team that is giving up over 200 yards on the ground a game. QB Shai Werts is the key to this offense with close to 100 yards rushing a game and 12 total touchdowns on the year. Wesley Fields and Monteo Garrett are the starting and backup running backs and the only two that are viable for DFS. Fields gets a bigger chunk of usage so he would be the first choice but I think Garrett could also have a great day against this weak Texas State defense. Georgia State has not thrown more than 9 times in any game, so the only receiver that I would even consider in GPPs is Wesley Kennedy. On the year, Kennedy has 13 rushes and 7 receptions for 307 yards and a touchdown total. This could be a very sneaky GPP play.
Texas State
Texas State is not a good football team. They have won 7 games in the last 3 and a half seasons combined and have one of the worst defenses in the FBS. That being said, with 4 teams on this slate there is some room to find fantasy value in this team. 2 weeks ago quarterback Willie Jones III was injured and Tyler Vitt came in. Vitt had a great last game with 296 passing yards with 3 TDs and 92 rushing yards. Georgia Southern has had an up and down pass defense and Vitt could be a great GPP pivot. Be sure to stay updated on the news leading up to kick off to see who is starting. The backfield for Texas State is a fade for me. No running back averages even 10 touches a game. The biggest benefactor of the QB change has been for tight end Keenan Brown. In the past 2 games, Brown has 13 receptions and 3 touchdowns. He is trending in the right direction and is viable in all formats. Hutch White is a GPP play for me, having 18 receptions on the season but also throwing a TD to Vitt in their last game.
Texas Tech @ TCU (-7) (Total 61)
Texas Tech
Texas Tech is the top passing offense in the country with over 400 yards through the air per game. They like to spread the ball around to all the starting receivers but there is a concentrated volume there that is great to attack. Starting QB Alex Bowman was injured last game against West Virginia with a partially collapsed lung. Luckily, it has been reported that after a bye week, Bowman will be back this week against TCU. Bowman is the top QB on this slate and is priced like it. The backfield for the Red Raiders is very jumbled. Last game against West Virginia 5 running backs got at least 2 carries and none got more than 10. I will be fading this backfield baring news. The receiving corps is led by Antoine Wesley who is averaging over 10 targets and 100 yards a game. Ja’Deion High and TJ Vasher are two other significant receivers in this offense. Vasher was out last game but is expected back this week. If Vasher is out, look for De’Quan Bowman to step up, he had 11 targets in Vasher’s absence. Two GPP receiver plays for Texas Tech are Zach Austin and KeSean Carter. Austin, the starting slot receiver, had 10 targets against Oklahoma State and Carter gets 4-7 looks a game.
TCU
TCU came into the season with very high hopes, but after losses to Ohio State and Texas, sit at 3-2. Last game, quarterback Shawn Robinson got banged up. Coach Gary Patterson says Robinson will play but refuses to name him starter, stating he won’t name a starter since Texas Tech won’t. I fully expect Robinson to start this game, as do many close linked sources. Robinson has had a rough season, only throwing for over 200 yards once and throwing interceptions in the last 4 games. That being said, Texas Tech gives up over 350 yards through the air (129th in the FBS) and TCU is favored. Vegas expects Robinson to be moderately successful and this puts him in play for me. In the backfield for the Horned Frogs is Sewo Olonilua and Darius Anderson. They have not had much success in the past few games, with 168 yards and 1 touchdown on 52 rushes combined. While neither of these are my favorite plays, Olonilua is fairly cheap on Fanduel and is a decent GPP play. The two receivers I want to target the most for TCU are Jalen Reagor and KaVontae Turpin. Reagor is averaging over 11 targets a game and will be playing on Sundays. Turpin is a deep threat and could have some big plays against this weak Texas Tech pass defense. Jarrison Stewart and Taye Barber are some punt plays that I am very interested in. Each of these receivers has 18 targets on the year and are cheap on each site. In a game that could turn into a shootout, these are 2 receivers that could get great value.
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