DFS College Football: Saturday Night Slate Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel for Week 5

It's extremely rare, but DraftKings and FanDuel are offering up identical games for the Saturday night slates this week, making our job much easier. We will tackle the eight-game slate and give our best selections for the 7:00 p.m. ET time slot.

SLATE OVERVIEW

Clemson (-21) vs. Stanford O/U: 57.5

Iowa State (-14.5) @ Houston O/U: 43.5

Georgia (-1) @ Alabama O/U: 49.5

Ohio State (-23.5) @ Michigan State O/U: 48.5

Penn State (-17.5) vs. Illinois O/U: 47.5

LSU (-20.5) vs. South Alabama O/U: 65

SMU (-6.5) vs. Florida State O/U: 47.5

Texas Tech (-3) vs. Cincinnati O/U: 58.5

Believe it or not, I've faded the Georgia-Alabama game. There are simply better options on the board, as I think the marquee matchup will be more of a defensive battle than an offensive shoot-em-up.  We're looking at Clemson, LSU, Cincinnati and Texas Tech as the big DFS winners in this slate.

WEATHER

Hurricane Helene will have dissipated into an unpredictable mess of thunderstorms by the time Saturday evening rolls around. There's no definitive word on the weather for some of these games, but obviously, consult the internet if you've loaded up on one or two games.

CFB DFS TOOLS

• DraftKings College Football Optimizer
• FanDuel College Football Optimizer
• Weekly CFB Matchup Info
• CFB Targets
• CFB Stats
• CFB Team Trends
• CFB Advanced Team Stats with Plays per Game, Pass %, Run % and more  

CFB Saturday Night Slate Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel for Week 5

Quarterback

Cade Klubnik, Clemson (DK $8,200, FD $10,800) vs. Stanford

I'm as surprised as anyone by Klubnik's rise, but he's one of the hottest quarterbacks in the country over the past two weeks. I'm leaning toward a big day for the Tigers rather than banking on elites for the Tide or the Bulldogs based on the quality of the opponent. Although the Cardinal squeaked out a win against an underrated Syracuse squad, he surrendered 339 passing yards to Kyle McCord. They were able to stop the run in the narrow win, but Clemson's offensive line in front of Phil Mafah is simply on another level. Meanwhile, Klubnik's thrown for 487 yards and six touchdowns against his last two opponents and added a long touchdown to his resume last week against N.C. State.

Garrett Nussmeier, LSU (DK $7,900, FD $9,900) vs. South Alabama

South Alabama has demonstrated some offensive pop on the way to a 2-2 record, and while the game should be a classic mismatch, the LSU offense is confident in Nussmieier's arm to propel them forward in drives. Nussmeier ranks seventh in the country with 1,247 passing yards and leads the country with 113 pass completions. If you elect to fade Klubnik, Nussmeier should be your primary QB and your locked S-FLEX if you keep Clemson's QB on your roster. 

Also consider: Will Howard, Ohio State (DK $7,700, FD $10,200) @ Michigan State

Running Back

Phil Mafah, Clemson (DK $6,000, FD $10,000) vs. Stanford

I'm going right back to the Tigers and taking Mafah. A bye week and a down week against Georgia are the only reasons Mafah doesn't rank high nationally, but he's eclipsed 100 yards in both games since the Georgia loss and scored in both contests. Stanford is credited with a stingy run defense so far, but the situation is similar to Klubnik in every aspect. Clemson's offensive line is experienced and effective, and they'll create holed for Mafah and protect Klubnik effectively. Stanford was effective with the blitz against Syracuse, but the Tigers have seen the tape. They'll know how to keep the opposition guessing, and Klubnik is getting better at reading defenses pre-snap and calling off the run or vice-versa.

Corey Kiner, Cincinnati (DK $6,000, FD $8,400) @ Texas Tech

We'll now see what the Bearcats are made of as they face their toughest opponent yet. Brendan Sorsby has been a bright light in this revamped offense, but Kiner is an ideal fantasy candidate due to a stable floor that's going to deliver. He's also upped his red zone proficiency over the past two games with a rushing touchdown in each contest. I expect his exposure to be low across the public, but I am more than willing to take a chance in what I predict will be an upset win for Cincy.

Tahj Brooks, Texas Tech (DK $8,000, FD $9,400) vs. Cincinnati

The salary differential between Brooks and Kiner is a bit ridiculous, but I have to agree with Brooks' lofty cost to a degree. I'll usually limit my RB allotment to two because I will almost always put a wideout in my FLEX. I like the Mafah/Kiner combo a lot, but I can see a scenario where we'd go for broke with Brooks/Kiner or the more costly Mafah/Brooks build. We'd obviously need to make some sacrifices at wideout, but ultimately, I am satisfied with any of these combos, depending on what we need to spend at wideout.

Wide Receiver

Kyren Lacy, LSU (DK $7,900, FD $8,600) @ South Alabama

Klubnik spreads the ball around quite a bit, but the Nussmeier/Lacy stack is already locked and loaded. It's a good thing that penalties don't count in DFS because the wideout has been called with unsportsmanlike penalties and got away with it a couple of times this season. He's still Nussmeier's favorite target, and Nussmeier will fire darts at him, shredding South Alabama's cornerbacks.

Jayden Higgins, Iowa State (DK $5,200, FD $7,900) @ Houston

I expect Rocco Becht will rip up the Cougars, and Higgins will remain one of his favorite targets. Higgins has scored a touchdown in every game this season, and Becht has looked his way a total of 20 times over three games. I view him as an under-the-radar pick who will provide some valuable uniqueness to our roster. The inexpensive salary is also a great aid after spending up at quarterback and running back.

Xzavier Henderson, Cincinnati (DK $7,300, FD $7,400)@ Texas Tech

You rarely see DK and FD salaries align like this, as FanDuel will almost always run higher. As a result, FanDuel is almost begging us to take Henderson. Despite DraftKings' more accurate salary assessment, I think the public won't be as high on Brendan Sorsby and his passing game as I am. I'm paying for uniqueness here and using him on both sites.

Also consider: Antonio Williams, Clemson (DK $4,800, FD $7,800) vs. Stanford