The Week of the Wide Receiver: CFB Week 3 Advanced Stats Recap + Week 4 Look Ahead
Wide receivers making big time impacts in big time games!
September football doesn’t always provide the greatest matchups across the board, but this week saw some big time WR performances in some of the biggest games on the slate. Lets do some recapping and looking ahead…ing!
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Most Exciting Games Of Week 3
We will discuss individual performances in a little bit, but the most “exciting” game last week was the overtime thriller in Knoxville as Georgia fought back into the game to take down Tennessee.
For most of the game, Tennessee was in control of the win probability battle (and the game). The opening drive of the second half was when Georgia finally saw its first lead of the game, but more back and forth play eventually got us to the final drive of the game, where Tennessee missed a 43 yard FG to send the game into OT. Nate Frazier got the Dawgs to the 4 yard line, and two plays later Georgia was able to punch it in and steal a victory from the Vols.
Other highlight games of the week include Texas A&M outlasting Notre Dame (thanks to the performance of another player we will talk about in a bit) and Ole Miss taking down Arkansas with impressive play from their backup QB, Ferris State transfer Trinidad Chambliss.
Expectations vs. Reality
Coming into this week, North Texas (-6.5) was supposed to be in a tighter contest with Washington State. In the end, they outperformed Vegas by blowing out the Cougars, 59-10. Other over performers include New Mexico, who came into their upset victory against UCLA as 15.5 points underdogs. Georgia-Tennessee and Notre Dame-Texas A&M were both expected to have total scores around 50 points, but in each matchup both teams nearly got there on their own.
QB Play: Power 4
Here are the top performing Power 4 QBs of the week. Not a banner day for Drew Allar/Arch Manning, but a great day for Fernando Mendoza, Malik Washington, Josh Hoover & Steve Angeli.
QB Play: Group of 5
Here is the group of 5. Colton Joseph put on a show against the Hokies, up next is Bryson Barnes, Kiael Kelly and Drew Mestemaker. Tad Hudson recorded 4 PFF Big time throws, but had 5 drops in what should have been a better game for him in the box scores.
Stat of the Week: Multiple WRs Had Big Time Performances
In terms of Expected Points added on receptions, week 3 saw some pretty big performances by WRs. Chris Brazzell recorded 177 receiving yards on 6 receptions, three of which went from TDs against the Georgia defense. Meanwhile over in South Bend, Mario Craver racked up 207 receiving yards, including 137 yards after the catch against the Irish defense.
Week 4 Implied Points
Turning the page to Week 4, my Seminoles are back in action against Kent State, while Arch Manning looks to get over the yips against Sam Houston State. Looking at some of the bigger matchups, Michigan opens up as a 2.5 point favorite against Dylan Raiola and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Utah opens up as a 3 point favorite against Texas Tech, while Oklahoma is expected to beat Auburn by 6.5.
Week 4 QB Matchups
Lane Kiffin has stated Austin Simmons is expected to start against Tulane, so I have him in here for now (it should be noted if you put Trinidad Chambliss instead of Simmons, that matchup vaults to the top spot). Jayden Maiava has started off nuclear this season (albeit against lesser competition), this week they draw Michigan State and Aidan Chiles. If you want to see what the future of CFB (and maybe the NFL) looks like, Dylan Raiola and Bryce Underwood are exactly what you’re looking for in a game.
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