Hogs Haven
No bigger statement was made in Week 6 of the college football season than Indiana going into Oregon and coming out with a win over the Ducks, handing them their first loss of the season. It’s possible that Indiana’s team this season is even better than the one that made the College Football Playoff last year. They could be on a collision course with Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game as the Buckeyes had no problem defeating Illinois. A few other teams are trying to rebound from rough starts to the season. After losing to Florida last week, Texas bounced back by taking down the undefeated Sooners in the Red River Rivalry. Alabama has been playing well after its Week 1 loss to Florida State. The Crimson Tide knocked off an undefeated Missouri team.
Week 8 will feature a trio of ranked-on-ranked SEC matchups. LSU will take on Vanderbilt, Alabama will play Tennessee, and Georgia will take on unbeaten Ole Miss. A few other ranked-on-ranked on matchups this weekend include USC vs. Notre Dame and BYU vs. Utah. Two undefeated non-power conference teams with College Football Playoff aspirations will be in action this weekend. Memphis will go on the road to play UAB and UNLV will go to the blue turf of Boise State to face the Broncos.
Below are a few players who had a good week and might be able to help out the Commanders. Let me know what you think about these prospects and feel free to post players that stood out to you.
After a standout season at BYU, Jake Retzlaff transferred to Tulane. Although his measurables are less than desired at 6’1”, 205 lbs, Retzlaff is a mobile quarterback as he already has seven rushing TDs and almost 400 yards on the ground. As a passer, he has enough arm to push the ball downfield with ease, but also puts touch on passes and layers throws over defenders. I’d like to see him put more pace on his passes as the windows in the NFL will close more quickly than in college. Retzlaff went 26 of 36 for 347 yards and two touchdowns in a win over East Carolina.
The thing that stands out to me the most about LJ Martin is his vision. He has a knack for finding cutback lanes quickly and exploiting them for as much yardage as possible. Bringing him down can be difficult given he’s a bigger back at 6’2”, 220 lbs. However, he has an upright running style and it can be difficult to drop his shoulders and run through defenders. His speed at his size is good, but he won’t breakaway from defenses once in the open field. To beat Arizona, Martin contributed 162 yards and a touchdown.
When I talked about Josh Hoover [earlier in...
