Who's Hot & Who's Not ... Week Six (Oct. 8)

Tony Hunt, Missouri in the first, Palko, Florida kicking, Fresno State, and More

 
Past Hot and Not: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

Who’s Hot …

Penn State RB Tony Hunt
Very, very quietly, Hunt has grown into the Penn State offense taking the heat off inconsistent QB Anthony Morelli. The senior is 11th in the nation in rushing after four straight 100-yard games rushing for 143 yards against Youngstown State, 135 against Ohio State, 137 against Northwestern, and 144 against Minnesota with five touchdowns in the last two weeks.

Missouri in the first quarter
Talk about getting off to a hot start, not only is Missouri 6-0 after a strong win at Texas Tech, but it's doing so by coming out of the gate roaring outscoring its first six opponents by a total score of 72 to 3 in the first quarter giving up a field goal to Colorado two weeks ago. Texas A&M is up next.

Central Michigan WR Bryan Anderson
From out of nowhere, the 6-4, 200-pound redshirt freshman with 4.5 speed has become the nation's hottest wide receiver with 466 yards in his last four games and a touchdown grab in each of the last three games. He caught seven passes for 95 yards in the win over Akron, eight for 125 yards and a touchdown in the win over Eastern Michigan, eight for 137 and a score in the loss to Kentucky, and this week, he made six grabs for 109 yards and a score in the 42-20 win over Toledo.

Pitt QB Tyler Palko
The nation's leader in passing efficiency isn't named Quinn or Smith or Booty, it's Ball State's Nate Davis, but he splits time with Joey Lynch. Number two is Pitt's Tyler Palko, who's coming up with a brilliant senior year leading the 5-1 Panthers with 15 touchdowns passes and three interceptions while completing 71% of his throws. In his last three games in wins over Citadel, Toledo, and Syracuse, Palko has completed a ridiculous 84% of his throws.

Kentucky QB Andre Woodson
Erik Ainge of Tennessee is the SEC's top passer so far. Number two isn't Chris Leak, Brandon Cox or JaMarcus Russell, it's Kentucky's Andre Woodson, who's putting up a huge year as Kentucky is quietly making a run to a bowl game. The junior has thrown for over 200 yards in every game but one, a 41-7 win over Texas State, when he threw for 197 yards and three touchdowns, and has tossed 15 touchdown passes with only three interceptions while completing 61% of his throws.

Who’s Not …

Florida placekicking
Florida senior PK Chris Hetland had a huge first season. The former walk-on turned into an All-SEC performer showing excellent range connecting on ten of 11 shots from beyond 30 yards and hitting 13 of 16 field goals. This season, Hetland is 0-for-4 on field goals and 20 of 22 on extra points, and Florida has yet to have a made field goal.

UNLV in the first half
Against D-I teams this year (throwing out the 30-3 halftime lead against Idaho State), UNLV has been outscored 65 to 10 in the first half so far. In all, the Rebels are averaging 8.25 points per game against D-I teams and have been outscored 101 to 23 in the last three outings. New Mexico is up next.

Fresno State
How can a team fall so far so fast? Fresno State lost to Oregon in a 31-24 war, and then lost 21-20 against a strong Washington team. Following a lifeless 35-23 home loss to Colorado State, the bottom officially fell out in the Pat Hill era as the Bulldogs lost 13-12 to a Utah State team that's one of the worst and least productive in America. Up next is a date with a high-powered Hawaii team that could win by 50 if FSU plays like its has over the last few weeks.

Sun Belt passers
Oh where oh where are the Sun Belt passing games? Florida International leads the league averaging 197 yards per game, good for 66th in the country, UL Monroe is 75th, Troy is 83rd, Florida Atlantic is 91st, Middle Tennessee is 108th, Arkansas State is 109th, North Texas is 116th, and UL Lafayette is 117th. You can probably guess who's at the bottom, Air Force and Navy.

San Diego State offense
Injuries have killed the Aztec offense in Chuck Long's first season with a third-string quarterback, Kevin Craft, starting and top RB Lynell Hamilton out. That's why it's forgivable, to a point, that the team is only averaging 12.2 points per game and 276 yards per outing. Since the opting day 34-27 loss to UTEP, the Aztecs have lost by an average score of 32.5 to 8.5.