ACC
Hot
Miami wide receiver Leonard Hankerson put on a show against Clemson, catching seven passes for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Hankerson’s six total touchdown receptions matches his total from all of last season.
Running back Andre Ellington is doing his best C.J. Spiller impersonation for Clemson. Ellington has found the end zone at least once in each game this season and has racked up 334 total yards and four touchdowns over his last two games.
Cold
After scoring five touchdowns over the first two games, Virginia running back Keith Payne has cooled off a bit. Payne has rushed for just 68 yards over the last two games. He’ll have a chance to get back on track this week against a Georgia Tech team allowing over 156 running yards per game.
North Carolina wide receiver Jheranie Boyd caught six passes for 221 yards and touchdown in Week 1, but he has not come close to matching that production since. Boyd has totals of four receptions for 62 yards and one touchdown over his last three games.
Big 12
Hot
Texas Tech wide receiver Lyle Leong has already matched last season’s touchdown total of nine through four games. Leong has caught three touchdown passes in two games - including last week’s in which he also racked up 125 yards.
Former baseball prospect Brandon Weeden is proving he is pretty good at football, too. The Oklahoma St. quarterback has completed at least 66 percent of his passes in each game this season and has thrown for 1,259 yards and 13 touchdowns, including a total of eight over his last two contests.
Cold
Texas Tech running back Baron Batch scored 15 touchdowns last season, but he has scored just two in four games this season and has yet to run for more than 58 yards in any contest.
Texas wide receiver Malcolm Williams was a potential breakout candidate this season, but he has yet to make a major impact in any game. Williams has a total of just 127 yards over his last four games and has yet to find the end zone this season.
Big East
Hot
Dion Lewis got off to a slow start and is now dealing with a shoulder injury, but another Pittsburgh running back has stepped up in his place. With Lewis out in Week 5, Ray Graham rushed for 277 yards and three touchdowns against Florida International. Graham has rushed for at least 100 yards in three straight weeks and is averaging an astonishing 9.5 yards per carry, so expect him to continue seeing plenty of work even when Lewis returns to action.
Rutgers wide receiver Mohamed Sanu is more than just a receiver. Taking snaps out of the Wildcat formation, Sanu has run for a touchdown in three straight contests. He recorded 191 total yards in Week 5.
Cold
Pittsburgh quarterback Tino Sunseri has not thrown an interception in two weeks, but he also thrown for just 240 yards and only tossed one touchdown pass over that span.
Rutgers running back Joe Martinek ran for nearly 1,000 yards last season, but he has played a much smaller role this season. Martinek has run the ball just nine times over his last two games and has a total of just 176 rushing yards this season despite running for 109 in Week 1.
Big Ten
Hot
He should probably have his own category at this point, but no player has higher stock than Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson. Robinson recorded over 500 yards of offense for the second time in Week 5 and already has 15 total touchdowns this season.
Indiana quarterback Ben Chappell took advantage of a weak Michigan secondary last week to throw for 480 yards and three toucdowns. Chappell has thrown for at least 340 yards in three straight games and has recorded 11 total touchdowns over that span.
Cold
Minnesota running back Duane Bennett ran for over 100 yards in each of his first two games, but he has been held to just 175 yards and one touchdown from scrimmage in the three games since.
Wisconsin wide receiver Nick Toon has missed three games due to a turf toe injury, and he has caught just five passes for 82 yards in the two games he has appeared in. He will have a chance to get back on track this week against a Minnesota pass defense that is ranked 75th in the nation.
Conference USA
Hot
SMU quarterback Kyle Padron threw for 371 yards and three touchdowns in a Week 5 victory over Rice. He has thrown at least two touchdown passes in each game this season and has a total of 14 scores on the year.
SMU wide receiver Aldrick Robinson has taken advantage of Padron’s hot streak over the last three games. Over that span, Robinson has caught 15 passes for 320 yards and six touchdowns, which includes a 148-yard, two-touchdown performance last week.
Cold
Rice quarterback Nick Fanuzzi threw 11 touchdown passes last season, but has tossed just one in five games up to this point and is turning it over way too much. He has six interceptions over his last four games. It looks like the former Alabama transfer is toast.
Memphis quarterback Ryan Williams was handed the starting nod after a big performance in Week 2 and an injury to fellow quarterback Cannon Smith, but he threw just two touchdown passes in his three starts. It’s not clear if Williams, now dealing with an injury himself, or Smith will get the start Saturday, but don’t consider starting either player this week.
Independents
Hot
Quarterback Trent Steelman is not asked to throw much in the Army offense, but that has not stopped him from being a productive fantasy player. Steelman has recorded nine touchdowns over his last three games, including five in a Week 5 loss to Temple.
Cold
Navy fullback Vince Murray ran for 112 yards in Week 1, but has rushed for just 157 yards in three games since and has scored just one touchdown this season.
MAC
Hot
Matt Brown and Bernard Pierce are to Temple what Ray Graham and Dion Lewis are to Pittsburgh. With Pierce missing last week’s shootout against Army, Brown went nuts, running for 226 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries.
Wide receiver Cody Wilson has been a machine for Central Michigan this year. He caught just 25 passes in his 2009 freshman season, but he has already matched that number this year and has four total touchdowns.
Cold
Central Michigan running back Paris Cotton got off to a fast start, but his production has suffered the last two weeks thanks to the Chippewas’ reliance on the passing game. Cotton was held to negative yardage in Week 4 and ran for just 44 yards on 11 carries in Week 5. Don’t expect much this week against Virginia Tech, either.
Kent State quarterback Spencer Keith has not thrown for more than 201 yards in a game since Week 1 and has just one touchdown pass in three games since. He threw two interceptions in a meltdown against Miami (OH) in Week 5.
MWC
Hot
San Diego State running back Ronnie Hillman is making a big impact in his freshman season. Despite a bye in Week 5, Hillman is leading the conference in rushing with 532 yards in four games. That’s not to mention his eight touchdowns.
Running back Ed Wesley is not the only running back that sees carries for TCU, but he is the most productive. Wesley has scored six touchdowns in five games and is well on his way to a 1,000-yard season.
Cold
TCU wide receiver Jeremy Kerley scored four touchdowns in his first three games, but he did not score in the Horned Frgs’ last two games. Expect a bigger impact this week against a Wyoming defense that is ranked 110th in the nation.
Wyoming wide receiver David Leonard caught 77 passes last season, but has just 20 catches in five games this season and has been held without a touchdown reception.
Pac-10
Hot
UCLA ran for 437 yards in last week’s victory over Washington State, and it was running back Johnathan Franklin who did the most damage with 216 yards. Franklin has been on a tear lately as he has 512 yards and five touchdowns over his last three games.
USC running back Allen Bradford has just 51 carries this season, but that has not stopped him from putting up big numbers. Bradford is averaging nearly a first down per carry and has run for 438 yards over his last three games, including 223 yards in Week 5. Both Bradford and fellow runner Marc Tyler have been productive in the USC backfield.
Cold
California quarterback Kevin Riley has been held to just one touchdown pass over his last two games after throwing seven in his first two. He could get back on track this week against UCLA, but Riley’s performance quality seems inversely correlated to the importance of the game he plays in.
Oregon State wide receiver James Rodgers led the conference in receiving a year ago, but he will have a tough time repeating that feat this season. A concussion kept him out last week and has racked up just 38 receiving yards since Week 1.
SEC
Hot
It did not take long for A.J. Green to remind everyone why he might be the most talented receiver in the nation. After sitting out the first four games due to a suspension, the Georgia wide receiver returned last week to catch seven passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Expect Green to see plenty of targets going forward.
Ole Miss running back Brandon Bolden has racked up 368 total yards and five touchdowns over his last two games. Bolden has scored in all but one game this season, and Enrique Davis seems like an afterthought at this point.
Cold
Auburn has taken off under new quarterback Cameron Newton, but he and top wide receiver Darvin Adams have only hooked up just 16 times in five games this season. Adams has totals of just six catches and 70 yards over his last two games.
LSU wide receiver/running back Russell Shepard is an intriguing player, but he simply is not seeing enough touches to be a fantasy factor. Shepard has gotten the ball just 15 times over his last three games and has not reached the end zone since Week 2.
Sun Belt
Hot
Troy wide receiver Jerrel Jernigan has scored in three of his last four games and has caught 29 passes over that span. Troy played Tuesday this week, but expect another big performance from Jernigan in Week 7 against a Louisiana-Lafayette team that is ranked 103rd in the nation in pass defense.
Arkansas State quarterback Ryan Aplin threw just three touchdown passes last season, but he was able to match that total in Week 5 alone. Aplin has recorded multiple touchdowns in four straight games and has 11 total scores this season.
Cold
Florida Atlantic quarterback Jeff Van Camp tossed three touchdown passes in Week 1, but he has thrown just two in the three games since and was held to zero touchdowns and 136 yards in Week 5. Things should get easier now that his conference schedule is starting up.
Troy running back Shawn Southward ran for 12 touchdowns last season, but he has just one this season and zero since Week 1. Southward will continue to share the carries with DuJuan Harris, so his opportunities to score will be limited.
WAC
Hot
Nevada running back Vai Taua ran for well over 1,000 yards each of the last two season, but he is on pace for his best season yet in 2010. Taua has run for 641 yards this season and has scored nine touchdowns, including five last week.
Wide receiver Kealoha Pilares has had several big games this season, but he really went crazy in Week 5, catching 18 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns against Louisiana Tech. Pilares has caught nine touchdown passes already; and with the Hawaii offense clicking, don’t count on him slowing down.
Cold
San Jose State quarterback Jordan La Secla has been held without a touchdown pass since Week 2 and has thrown for fewer than 200 yards in four of his five games.
Nevada wide receiver Brandon Wimberly continues to be only a small part of the Nevada offense. Wimberly has been held to 35 yards or fewer in four of his five games and has yet to catch a touchdown pass this season. After being the team’s leading pass-catcher by far in 2009, he ranks fourth with 151 yards and no touchdowns this year.
