College Football Handicapping – Small School Stars

Under the Radar Players from Non-Power Conferences

College football kickoff is a little over a month away, and we’re following the lead up with conference media days, beat writers insight and our own team research, power ratings and stats. But while the high-profile programs and players generate much of the coverage, I decided to dig into some of the small school stars with an article I provided last week highlighting 10 players to watch from non-power 5 conferences.

Here are three players to note from each skill position QB, RB, WR. Click the link to read the entire article.

Brett Rypien, QB – Boise State (Mountain West)

Boise State is no stranger to success, as the Broncos are an annual conference contender having dominated the WAC for a decade before moving to the Mountain West in 2010. Nine wins a season ago was a disappointment as they failed to play in the conference title game. Quarterback Brett Rypien did not play the first two games as a freshman, but he burst onto the scene as the starter at Virginia in the Broncos fourth game and never looked back following the 56-14 win. He finish the season with over 3,300 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. Boise State has the top offense in the Mountain West this season and Rypien is a prime target for a big sophomore season.

Aaron Jones, RB – UTEP (Conference USA)

Few teams paid attention to Jones coming out of high school at 165 pounds, and he remains under the radar despite over 2,000 rushing yards his first two seasons at UTEP. He’s up over 200 pounds now and a talented star to watch after suffering a season-ending ankle injury in the team’s second game last year against Texas Tech. He had a 24 yard TD reception and 91 yard run against Tech before going down for the season in the second quarter. He was given a redshirt and will be a junior this season, and expect Jones to shine as he leads the Miners back to a bowl like he did in 2014.

Corey Davis, WR – Western Michigan (MAC)

Western Michigan is expected to be one of the top teams in the MAC this season led by all-league performer Corey Davis. The star senior racked up 90 catches for over 1,400 yards and 12 TD’s last season, but still gets little press. In 36 games at WMU, he’s grabbed 33 touchdowns, and Davis led the nation last season with 24 catches of 20 or more yards. Despite the opposing team’s attention, Davis still delivers and with an all-league senior QB returning, he’ll pile up more catches and stats this season.

We’ll be digging into point of attack play and other stats, situations and handicapping processes to help us identify more winners this season. You can follow along and earn while you learn as we cover the college players and teams, and provide some comprehensive insight and analysis along with more winners throughout the season.