Running Backs
1. Bernard Pierce — Temple vs. Buffalo. After being injured for a good portion of 2010, Pierce is one of the top running back prospects in college football where he currently leads the nation in rushing touchdowns and ranks first in the MAC with 692 rushing yards. Junior RB Matt Brown has been phased out of the offense and Temple is among the most run-heavy teams in the NCAA...Buffalo ranks in the bottom third defensively in yards (397.3), points against (27.5), and turnovers.
2. Giovani Bernard — North Carolina vs. Miami. Bernard is making his case for ACC freshman of the year, rushing for 657 yards and 6.4 yards per carry over UNC’s first six games. His consecutive 100-yard rushing streak (five games) is the most by a redshirt freshman since Ethan Horton in 1984. Bernard's first quarter game log includes 102 yards in the a win over Virginia, 155 in a loss at Georgia Tech (Week 4) and 146 a week ago in UNC’s 35-20 victory at East Carolina.
3. Robert Turbin — Utah State at Fresno State. Turbin continued his comeback player of the year tour by rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 21 touches against Wyoming in Week 6...the game would mark his fourth-consecutive 100-plus yard rushing effort and place him fourth on Utah State’s all-time leaderboard in career scoring...Turbin leads all WAC rushers in yards per carry (118.4) and touchdowns (10).
4. Bobby Rainey — Western Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic. Rainey posted his ninth 100-yard rushing performance in his last 10 games in Western Kentucky’s 36-33 win over Middle Tennessee last Thursday and leads the Sun Belt Conference with 114.6 yards per game...his 767 yards from scrimmage (573 rushing, 194 receiving) represent 48.5 percent of the Hilltoppers total offense...FAU yields an average of 352 total yards and ranks 114th in the nation in points against.
5. Orleans Darkwa — Tulane vs. Texas El Paso. Darkwa was highly ranked coming into the season but had yet to live up to expectations until recently — recording 56 percent of his current rushing total (338) in matchups against Army and Syracuse. Darkwa appears to be back on track and has another favorable matchup this week against UTEP, who yields an average of 200 rushing yards per game... Tulane is fifth in the Conference USA with 198 rushing attempts and 67th overall in total points for.
Mid-to-Low End Options
Montee Ball — Wisconsin vs. Indiana
Lamar Miller — Miami at North Carolina
Trent Richardson — Alabama at Ole Miss
Dominique Whaley — Oklahoma at Kansas
Marcus Lattimore — South Carolina at Mississippi State
Ray Graham — Pittsburgh vs. Utah
David Wilson — Virginia Tech at Wake Forest
Doug Martin — Boise State at Colorado State
Zach Line — SMU vs. Central Florida
Henry Josey — Missouri vs. Iowa State
De’Anthony Thomas — Oregon vs. Arizona State
Cyrus Gray — Texas A&M vs. Baylor
Ronnie Hilman — San Diego State at Air Force
Marcus Coker — Iowa vs. Northwestern
Michael Dyer — Auburn vs. Florida
Joseph Randle — Oklahoma State at Texas
Lance Dunbar — North Texas at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Terrence Ganaway — Baylor at Texas A&M
Chris Rainey — Florida at Auburn
Andre Ellington — Clemson at Maryland
Quarterbacks
1. Landry Jones — Oklahoma at Kansas. Jones completed 31 of 50 passes for 367 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday's 55-17 win over Texas. Oklahoma is averaging 45 points per game and Jones is on pace for 492 passing attempts, 4,353 yards, and 36 touchdowns...the Jayhawks rank ninth in the Big 12 against the pass and 120th nationally in points allowed.
2. Matt Barkley — USC vs. California. Barkley is averaging 320 yards per game and coming off 468 yards and five touchdowns on Arizona in Week 5. The Trojans use a pass-balanced west coast offense with a 54:46 Pass-to-Run ratio that ranks fifth in the Pac 12 in total offense. The Barkley-to-Woods connection has produced 747 yards and six touchdowns over six games this season...California is coming off a team-worst 569 yards to Oregon in Week 6 and has struggled with PAC 12 opponents this season.
3. Robert Griffin — Baylor at Texas A&M. Griffin rushed 24 times for 107 yards while completing 22 of 30 passing for 212 yards and two touchdowns. The performance would not have been noteworthy if it not for his contributions in the running game...Texas A&M is coming off two straight losses of 40-plus points while Baylor ranks second in the Big 12 in total offense with 564 yards per game.
4. Kellen Moore — Boise State at Colorado State. Moore was named offensive player of the week after going 23 of 31 for 254 yards and three touchdowns in two quarters of action....Colorado State ranks 56th in the nation in points against and allows an average of 341 yards per game... Boise State ranks 13th nationally in points scored and 21st in passing offense.
5. Collin Klein — Kansas State at Texas Tech. Klein managed three touchdowns in Week 6 despite going just 11 of 16 passing for 103 yards. Through the first six weeks, he leads all quarterbacks in rushing attempts and only four (Robinson, Martinez, Steelman, Proctor) have more yards...Texas Tech ranks last among all Big 12 run defenses.
Mid-to-Low End Options
Bryant Moniz — Hawaii at San Jose State.
Chandler Harnish — Northern Illinois vs. Western Michigan.
Denard Robinson — Michigan at Michigan State
Seth Doege— Texas Tech vs. Kansas State
Andrew Luck — Stanford at Washington
Brandon Weeden — Oklahoma State at Texas
James Franklin — Missouri vs. Iowa State
Darron Thomas — Oregon vs. Arizona State
Russell Wilson — Wisconsin vs. Indiana
Tyler Tettleton — Ohio vs. Ball State
Running Backs
1. Bernard Pierce — Temple vs. Buffalo. After being injured for a good portion of 2010, Pierce is one of the top running back prospects in college football where he currently leads the nation in rushing touchdowns and ranks first in the MAC with 692 rushing yards. Junior RB Matt Brown has been phased out of the offense and Temple is among the most run-heavy teams in the NCAA...Buffalo ranks in the bottom third defensively in yards (397.3), points against (27.5), and turnovers.
2. Giovani Bernard — North Carolina vs. Miami. Bernard is making his case for ACC freshman of the year, rushing for 657 yards and 6.4 yards per carry over UNC’s first six games. His consecutive 100-yard rushing streak (five games) is the most by a redshirt freshman since Ethan Horton in 1984. Bernard's first quarter game log includes 102 yards in the a win over Virginia, 155 in a loss at Georgia Tech (Week 4) and 146 a week ago in UNC’s 35-20 victory at East Carolina.
3. Robert Turbin — Utah State at Fresno State. Turbin continued his comeback player of the year tour by rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 21 touches against Wyoming in Week 6...the game would mark his fourth-consecutive 100-plus yard rushing effort and place him fourth on Utah State’s all-time leaderboard in career scoring...Turbin leads all WAC rushers in yards per carry (118.4) and touchdowns (10).
4. Bobby Rainey — Western Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic. Rainey posted his ninth 100-yard rushing performance in his last 10 games in Western Kentucky’s 36-33 win over Middle Tennessee last Thursday and leads the Sun Belt Conference with 114.6 yards per game...his 767 yards from scrimmage (573 rushing, 194 receiving) represent 48.5 percent of the Hilltoppers total offense...FAU yields an average of 352 total yards and ranks 114th in the nation in points against.
5. Orleans Darkwa — Tulane vs. Texas El Paso. Darkwa was highly ranked coming into the season but had yet to live up to expectations until recently — recording 56 percent of his current rushing total (338) in matchups against Army and Syracuse. Darkwa appears to be back on track and has another favorable matchup this week against UTEP, who yields an average of 200 rushing yards per game... Tulane is fifth in the Conference USA with 198 rushing attempts and 67th overall in total points for.
Mid-to-Low End Options
Montee Ball — Wisconsin vs. Indiana
Lamar Miller — Miami at North Carolina
Trent Richardson — Alabama at Ole Miss
Dominique Whaley — Oklahoma at Kansas
Marcus Lattimore — South Carolina at Mississippi State
Ray Graham — Pittsburgh vs. Utah
David Wilson — Virginia Tech at Wake Forest
Doug Martin — Boise State at Colorado State
Zach Line — SMU vs. Central Florida
Henry Josey — Missouri vs. Iowa State
De’Anthony Thomas — Oregon vs. Arizona State
Cyrus Gray — Texas A&M vs. Baylor
Ronnie Hilman — San Diego State at Air Force
Marcus Coker — Iowa vs. Northwestern
Michael Dyer — Auburn vs. Florida
Joseph Randle — Oklahoma State at Texas
Lance Dunbar — North Texas at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Terrence Ganaway — Baylor at Texas A&M
Chris Rainey — Florida at Auburn
Andre Ellington — Clemson at Maryland
Wide Receivers
1. Nick Toon — Wisconsin vs. Indiana. Part of Toon’s success this season has been the presence of quarterback Russell Wilson and as Wisconsin’s go-to guy Toon’s receiving yards (447) and yards per catch (17.9) project for 1,059 yards and 14 touchdowns... Indiana is ninth in the Big Ten in pass defense where they allow 212 yards per game to opposing wideouts...the Badgers use a run-balanced offensive scheme with 65:35 Run-to-Pass ratio.
2. Rashad Greene — Florida State at Duke. Touchdown production has been a relative strength for Greene who’s scored in every game this season as the top redzone target in FSU’s passing attack. His 26/457/6 line is seventh in the ACC with 20 of his 26 receptions coming in previous two games...the Blue Devils rank 106th in the nation in passing defense.
3. A.J. Jenkins — Illinois vs. Ohio State. Jenkins has quickly become QB Nathan Scheelhaase’s favorite target this season and is second in the nation in both receiving yards and touchdowns...Ohio State yields an average of 308 yards per game...Illinois is 32nd in the nation in total offense and 31st in points for.
4. Sammy Watkins — Clemson at Maryland. Along with North Carolina’s Giovanni Bernard, Watkins is among the first-half candidates for ACC Freshman of the Year where he plays primarily out of the “X” position in Clemson’s offensive spread system...Watkins has four touchdowns and 623 yards through his first six games....Maryland is allowing 24.6 points on defense and 31 PPG in their last four contests.
5. Nick Harwell — Miami (Ohio) at Kent State. Harwell become just the second player in Miami of Ohio history to reach 100 receiving yards in three consecutive games (See Martin Nance, 2003, 2005)...Miami leads the Mid-American conference in passing attempts per game (40) and completions (25). Kent State ranks 93rd nationally in points against and last in the MAC in every offensive category.
Mid-to-Low End Options
Ryan Broyles — Oklahoma at Kansas.
Justin Blackmon — Oklahoma State at Texas
Kendall Wright — Baylor at Texas A&M.
Robert Woods — USC at California.
Jordan White — Western Michigan at Northern Illinois
B.J. Cunningham — Michigan State vs. Michigan
Keenan Allen — California vs. USC
Royce Pollard — Hawaii at San Jose State
Lance Lewis — East Carolina at Memphis
LaVon Brazill — Ohio vs. Ball State
Marquess Wilson — Washington State vs. Stanford
Eric Page — Toledo at Bowling Green
Conner Vernon — Duke vs. Florida State
Dwight Jones — North Carolina vs. Miami
Eric Ward — Texas Tech vs. Kansas State
Chris Givens — Wake Forest vs. Virginia Tech
Jaxon Shipley — Texas vs. Oklahoma State
Devon Smith — Penn State vs. Purdue
Da’Rick Rogers — Tennessee vs. LSU
Tight Ends
1. Michael Egnew — Missouri vs. Iowa State
2. Dwayne Allen — Clemson at Maryland
3. Evan Rodriquez — Temple vs. Buffalo
4. Ryan Otten — San Jose State vs. Hawaii
5. Drake Dunsmore — Northwestern at Iowa
6. Ladarius Green — Louisiana-Lafayette vs. North Texas
7. Orson Charles — Georgia at Vanderbilt
8. Coby Fleener — Stanford at Washington
9. Tim Biere — Kansas vs. Oklahoma
10. Jacob Pederson — Wisconsin vs. Indiana
11. Austin Seferian-Jenkins — Washington vs. Stanford
12. Gavin Escobar — San Diego State at Air Force
13. Darian Williams — Florida Atlantic vs. Western Kentucky
14. Cooper Helfet — Duke vs. Florida State
15. Vance McDonald — Rice at Marshall
Kickers
1. Matt Weller — Ohio vs. Ball State
2. San San Te — Rutgers vs. Navy
3. Matthew Sims — Northern Illinois vs. Western Michigan
4. Jimmy Newman — Wake Forest vs. Virginia Tech
5. Andrew Furney — Washington vs. Stanford
6. Chandler Cantanzaro — Clemson at Maryland
7. Justin Tucker — Texas vs. Oklahoma State
8. Trevor Romaine — Oregon State vs. BYU
9. Giorgio Tavecchio — California vs. USC
10. Donnie Carona — Texas Tech vs. Kansas State
11. Kevin Harper — Pittsburgh vs. Utah
12. Dustin Hopkins — Florida State at Duke
13. Andre Heidari — USC at California
14. Brett Baer — Louisiana-Lafayette vs. North Texas
15. Randy Bullock — Texas A&M vs. Baylor
Defense/Special Teams
1. Wisconsin (vs. Indiana)
2. Penn State (vs. Purdue)
3. Oklahoma (at Kansas)
4. Cincinnati (vs. Louisville)
5. LSU (at Tennessee)
6. South Carolina (at Mississippi State)
7. Boise State (at Colorado State)
8. Alabama (at Ole Miss)
9. Georgia (at Vanderbilt)
10. Temple (vs. Buffalo)
11. SMU (vs. Central Florida)
12. Missouri (vs. Iowa State)
13. Ohio (vs. Ball State)
14. Florida State (at Duke)
15. Illinois (vs. Ohio State)