It's not like the Big 12 didn't have enough Heisman-quality quarterbacks, now you can add another signal caller to the hoopla.
Baylor freshman quarterback Robert Griffin walked away with Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors after he helped the Bears drown Washington State 45-17 on Saturday. Griffin joins Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, 2007), Josh Freeman (Kansas State, 2006), Colt McCoy (Texas, 2006), Brad Smith (Missouri, 2002), Reggie McNeal (Texas A&M, 2002), Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech, 1999) and Major Applewhite (Texas, 1998) as the only freshmen quarterbacks to achieve that honor in Big 12 history, and we all know how their careers ended.
It's no surprise the 6-3, 200-pound Griffin earned such praise after rushing for a school-record 217 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns against Wazzu. He became the first Baylor quarterback to ever break 200 rushing yards. Griffin also had 129 passing yards and one touchdown for a total of 346 yards.
"Robert is a gifted athlete, no doubt," head coach Art Briles said.
What's more impressive is that Griffin shattered a few school records just three games into his college career and in his second start. Griffin made his debut off the bench in Week 1 against Wake Forest and has been at the helm ever since.
Briles signed Griffin in this latest recruiting class out of Copperas Cove High School (Texas). He was one of the nation's top dual-threat quarterbacks and is showing early on in his career it wasn't all hype.
Griffin has been with Baylor since the spring and has since leapfrogged Kirby Freeman and Blake Szymasnki on the depth chart. Heck, he even earned All-American honors in track after finishing third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400-meter hurdles (49.55).
"Robert Griffin makes everybody look slow," Washington State head coach Paul Wulff admired.
"Robert Griffin is an explosive player. He looks like a receiver playing quarterback," WSU star receiver Brandon Gibson noted.
Griffin's Fantasy point value has increased over the last three weeks from 13 to 29 to 44. Now, he is about to get into the heart of Baylor's schedule. It starts Friday with Connecticut and is followed by Oklahoma on Oct. 4.
The next two games should be a good gauge on whether Griffin can be the real deal in Fantasy as a true freshman.
Fantasy Pretender or Contender
It's time to break up the Penn State Nittany Lions. They have destroyed their first three opponents and it comes on the heels of Joe Paterno's new hybrid spread offense that includes four-wide sets as well as power-I formations.
A big benefactor of Joe Pa's new offensive outlook is WR Jordan Norwood. He has never had more than 45 catches in his first three seasons and never broke 500 yards. He already has 17 catches for 303 yards and four touchdowns in three games and has at least one score in each contest. Norwood hasn't even had to finish games because PSU has blown their opponents out of the water.
Fantasy Take: Contender, thanks to solid coaching, led by Joe Pa.
Fantasy Walk-on of the Week
The Texas Tech Red Raiders were able to slow down Southern Methodist's pass-happy attack Week 3 during a 43-7 rout. They even held WR Aldrick Robinson to just two catches on seven yards. However, Robinson was able to find the end zone for a third straight week and fifth time in 2008.
Once SMU gets into conference play, they will have some very good scoring outputs. Emmanuel Sanders is still quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell's top target, but Robinson is a nice option across the field and has been a favorite of head coach June Jones since he came to SMU in the spring.
Remember, when Jones was at Hawaii, the Warriors had a few Fantasy viable wide receivers and the same will eventually happen at SMU. Get your hands on Robinson (owned 39 percent of leagues) before it's too late.
Injury Notes
Arizona State running back Keegan Herring missed a second game Saturday against UNLV because of a strained hamstring and his status for Week 4 against Georgia is questionable ... Ohio State was pummeled Week 3 by USC without star running back Chris Wells (toe) and his status for Week 4 against Troy remains a mystery ... Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski is ready to make his 2008 debut Saturday against UCLA after missing the first three games due to illness. However, Arizona is expected to limit his reps in his first game back ... Boise State wide receiver Titus Young is returning to action Saturday against Oregon after serving a one-game suspension. He is listed as a starter and looking to build off his 142-yard opener ... Kansas wide receiver Dexton Fields missed a second straight game Week 3 against South Florida and his status is still questionable for Week 4 against Sam Houston State. Against a FCS opponent, it's unlikely Kansas will risk further injury to one of its star players ... LSU has a showdown with Auburn looming Saturday and wide receiver Demetrius Byrd is questionable with an ankle injury. However, head coach Les Miles has termed the injury as "not serious." ... Marshall tight end Cody Slate tried to play on a sprained knee Week 3 against Memphis but was benched for a second straight week after pregame warm-ups. Marshall submitted its injury report for Week 4 against Southern Miss and the All-Conference tight end is listed as probable ... Maryland running back Da'Rel Scott sprained the AC joint in his left shoulder during a Week 3 win against Cal and is listed as doubtful for Saturday against Eastern Michigan ... Michigan State wide receivers Mark Dell (ankle) and B.J. Cunningham (bruised knee) were dinged up against Florida Atlantic, but neither player is expected to miss Saturday's tilt with Notre Dame ... Mississippi State running back Anthony Dixon was limited to just five carries against Auburn because of a strained groin and remains questionable heading into Week 4 against Georgia Tech ... Purdue TE Kyle Adams missed Saturday's game against Oregon after having his knee scoped and the Boilermakers hope he can play Week 4 against Central Michigan ... South Carolina was without their top playmaker Kenny McKinley in a close loss to Georgia and it doesn't appear he will play Week 4 against Wofford because of a strained hamstring ... Texas A&M running back Mike Goodson sustained no damage to his right knee as originally thought and is only dealing with a sprain. But his status for Saturday's game against Miami is questionable.
Schools playing Non-FBS teams
An important note to remember in College Fantasy Football is that players are assessed a 25 percent penalty when a FBS team plays a FCS team (formerly Division I-AA). Therefore, if you own a player on a team listed below, you will only get 75 percent of their Fantasy points for the upcoming week:
Clemson, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, South Carolina, Syracuse, Texas Tech, UAB, Washington State, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan
Five Players to Start
Kory Sheets, RB, Purdue: Sheets came into the season with expectations of sharing carries with Jaycen Taylor. That changed when Taylor tore his ACL in the preseason. Sheets was then handed the keys to the backfield. He has 261 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 45 carries (5.8 ypc). He has two rushing touchdowns in each of his first two games and totaled 197 yards (180 rushing) last week against Oregon. Up on the schedule Week 4 is Central Michigan, a team that is allowing 164.7 rushing yards per game and six rushing TDs.
Shawn Nelson, TE, Southern Miss: Nelson is being started in just 15 percent of Fantasy leagues, but that number needs to increase. He leads USM with 22 receptions for 263 yards and two touchdowns. He is coming off two straight 100-yard games and should have a third straight Week 4 against Marshall, who has the 112th ranked passing defense (308.67 ypg).
Willie Tuitama, QB, Arizona: Tuitama is coming off a disappointing Week 3 performance against New Mexico. He threw for 321 yards, but completed just 27 of 50 passes and threw a pair of interceptions. The good news is that Arizona is still throwing the ball a lot, and Tuitama is probably licking his chops in anticipation of playing UCLA. The Bruins allowed BYU quarterback Max Hall to throw seven touchdowns last week. Tuitama had 341 passing yards and three touchdowns against UCLA last season.
Cortez Gent, WR, Florida Atlantic: Gent, who has 11 catches for 205 yards and one touchdown, gets another crack at Minnesota in Week 4 after totaling 109 yards on four catches last season against the Gophers. Minnesota hasn't improved much on pass defense as they rank 101st in FBS (268.33 ypg).
Mike Teel, QB, Rutgers: Teel was on our list of quarterbacks to avoid heading into the season and so far he has met our expectations. Teel has completed just 57 percent of his passes for 506 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions. We're still not sure if he is going to improve much the remainder of the season, but Week 4 might be an ideal time to start the senior. Rutgers travels to play Navy Saturday and Teel hasn't forgotten last season's meeting. He had 266 passing yards and three touchdowns in a 41-24 win. Navy still has a poor pass defense as they rank 114th (324.33 ypg) and have allowed nine passing touchdowns in three games.
Five Players to Bench
Michael Smith, RB, Arkansas: Smith has been able to serve as a viable replacement in the Arkansas' backfield for the departed duo of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Smith has 22 carries for 157 yards and two touchdowns in his lone game this season. But that came all the way back on Sept. 6 and against La.-Monroe. He now faces Alabama, the No. 1 ranked rush defense (42.7 ypg and zero rushing TDs), and the Crimson Tide held the Clemson backfield duo of C.J. Spiller and James Davis to a combined 20 rushing yards.
Chris Rainey, RB, Florida: Rainey was the talk of the Florida camp when he had a breakout spring game (140 total yards, two TDs). Fantasy owners bought into the hype as he was drafted in 63 percent of leagues. Well, he has been a huge disappointment through two games. Rainey has just nine carries for 71 yards and one touchdown. He still shares carries in a loaded UF backfield and is not a good start heading into Saturday as Tennessee week has arrived for Florida. The Volunteers own the 20th best rush defense (68.5 ypg).
Terence Scott, WR, Oregon: Aside from losing starting quarterback Nate Costa (knee) for the season during preseason camp, Oregon lost another starting quarterback when Justin Roper partially tore his MCL Week 3 against Purdue. He is expected to miss 2-4 weeks and won't be active Saturday against Boise St. That means Scott, who has 11 receptions for 178 yards and two touchdowns in three games, will be catching passes from Jeremiah Masoli and Chris Harper, whom have a combined 233 passing yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions this season. Boise State has allowed just one passing touchdown in two games.
Hunter Cantwell, QB, Louisville: It has not been a smooth transition for Cantwell since taking over the quarterback reigns from the graduated Brian Brohm, who was a Fantasy savior during his college tenure. Cantwell has completed just 53 percent of his passes for 355 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in two games. It's not going to get any easier Week 4 as Kansas State comes to town. The Wildcats are the third best pass defense team in the country (104.0 ypg).
Rudy Carpenter, QB, Arizona State: Carpenter and the Sun Devils are licking their wounds after an embarrassing 36-28 loss to New Mexico Week 3. They have no time to pout however, as Georgia is up next in Week 4. The Bulldogs are allowing just 15.0 points per game and have allowed just four passing touchdowns in three games.