The Week in Review
Two years ago The Citadel took second-ranked, Tua Tagovailoa led Alabama to a 10-10 tie at halftime before ultimately falling to the powerhouse Tide. Their matchup against Clemson did not go quite as well. By the start of the second quarter, Clemson was up by 35 and backup quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was already in the game. Trevor Lawrence is playing like a first overall pick should in this young season completing 81% of his passes for an average of over 14 yards per attempt and four TDs to zero interceptions. Star senior running back Travis Etienne is showing his versatility, and sophomore receiver Frank Ladson Jr. is showing signs of a breakout season.
Oklahoma State played their first game of the season and was almost upset by unranked Tulsa. Spencer Sanders, their young and budding quarterback left the game early with an injury, and Chuba Hubbard looked like he was running in mud, but was still able to compile 86 yards on 29 touches. Notre Dame’s rushing attack saw no issues against South Florida going for 498 yards from scrimmage and four TDs led by sophomore Kyren Williams’ 277 yards and two scores.
The game of the week was 17th-ranked Miami defeating 18th-ranked Louisville in an 81-point shootout. Dual-threat quarterback D’Eriq King’s 16-game streak of scoring both a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown was snapped, but he was still able to lead the Canes to victory. Junior running back Cam’ron Harris is experiencing a breakout of his own with consecutive 134 yard rushing games. Many believe that Miami tight end Brevin Jordan is the best in the country, and he did not disappoint with 120 yards receiving and a score.
On the other side of the ball, Louisville’s junior quarterback Micale Cunningham is becoming a darkhorse Heisman candidate, again throwing for over 300 yards and three scores. Javian Hawkins broke onto the scene last season with over 1,500 yards as a redshirt freshman is continuing that pace this season. Tutu Attwell, the Cardinals electric receiver had his ninth career game over 100 yards receiving and is playing himself into a potential first-round selection in the upcoming NFL Draft. However, for this week’s breakout player of the week, we are going to set the scene for another ACC’s team’s true freshman running back who burst onto the scene in his debut performance.
The Breakout Player of the Week – Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Georgia Tech
The Impact
Devy fantasy football players should be well aware of how great the running back class eligible for the 2023 NFL Draft is. Many of these players are getting drafted in even shallow devy leagues despite the fact that we will have to wait three or four years to see any return on investment. Gibbs did not play in the Yellow Jackets opener in Tallahassee last week, however, he did get the first touch of the game against the 14th ranked UCF Knights. Gibbs received the kickoff at the four-yard line and drew the coverage team to the middle of the field before bursting outside around the edge 73 yards for a huge gain. This set up fellow freshman Jeff Sims to rush the remaining 23 yards to that house for a score on the Yellow Jackets opening drive.
On the second drive, Gibbs showed off his pass-catching abilities by running a seam from the backfield for another big gain. In the first half Gibbs scored a TD in the air on an angle route, in the second half he doubled down scoring again on the ground from 30 yards out. Gibbs finished the day with 219-all-purpose-yards and the two scores. In his debut, Gibbs showed off all of the elements of his game, and it will be fun to watch him for the next three-years on Saturdays and then on Sundays once he declares.
The Prospect
Standing at 5’11” and 200 lbs. Gibbs already has the size to play at the NFL level, and he will surely add bulk to his frame over the next three years. The four-star back received offers from 25 schools including powerhouses such as Alabama, Ohio State, and Florida, among others. Gibbs is one of the best prospects to go to Georgia Tech since the great Calvin Johnson and Gibbs is their most highly coveted running back prospect of all time. Gibbs is built like the perennial all-pro Christian McCaffrey and is just scratching the surface of his potential.
The Analysis
Gibbs clearly showed off his receiving skills with four catches for 60 yards and a score, but what was most impressive is how seamlessly he made catching the ball look. Gibbs has soft hands, and smooth route running abilities which are exceedingly rare to see from a freshman. Despite his 33 yard touchdown scamper, we did not see much from Gibbs in the ground game. He finished with 66 yards rushing on 15 attempts, but this speaks more to the mismatch that the UCF Knights defensive line had over the Georgia Tech offensive line. Gibbs was met behind the line on practically every play, he was able to make a man miss and get positive yards after contact on almost every play. His most impressive run may just be a zero-yard gain in which a defender bounced off him six yards behind the line of scrimmage and a jump cut made a second defender miss completely. Gibbs did not show much in pass protection, but we expect this from freshman running backs.
The 2023 running back class is loaded, as I’m sure many more will break out over the course of this season, but Gibbs could play his way to the top of the class as he has all of the tools. Gibbs’ play style and effectiveness in all aspects of the game reminds me of Alvin Kamara and he has the potential to be just as good if not better.
What is Coming
Next week is what we have been truly waiting for as it is the start of the season for the conference that has developed almost one-third of the first-round selections in the NFL Draft over the last ten years. Next week we get the debut of the SEC in 2020. We will see action from 22 of the 25 ranked teams next week, which will be headlined by three matchups between ranked teams. A total of 35 games will be played next week, and it will be the closest thing to a normal week of college football that we have seen in nine months.
I will be playing close attention to Texas A&M to see what freshman phenom Demond Demas’s role in the offense will be. Alabama should be able to take care of Missouri, so we may get to see the emergence of their five-star freshman quarterback Bryce Young. I will also be closely monitoring how Ole Miss looks under new head coach Mike Leach, compounded by the new look LSU Tigers in their SEC matchup. It has been reported by many that Minnesota’s star receiver Rashod Bateman wants to opt back in for the season on the heels of the Big Ten’s decision to start their season in late October. May this decision trickle down to fellow star receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Rondale Moore?
Thank you for reading my article! If you enjoyed it, keep an eye out for my future articles. You can also follow me on Twitter @DynastyDiagnos1 and reach out with any questions, comments, or ideas you’d like me to explore for a new article.
