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Patience will pay off in this week's fantasy football campaign After the third week of the fantasy football season, this week’s key is patience. Vikings quarterback Dante Culpepper is back, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning isn’t back yet and people are trying to find their team’s identity. Culpepper finally came back to last season’s form, passing for 300 yards and three touchdowns against New n , 01 Ac. Brandon Orleans. After ||eujton 10 turnovers in the first two Fourth-year , , business weeks, he was clean this week without an interception or a fumble. If you were patient with him, you should be looking good. Cowboys quarterback Drew Bledsoe continued his stellar comeback year with 363 passing yaras, iwo passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. For the season, he has six scores and only two interceptions; all of last season, he had 20 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, respectively. Buffalo quarterback J.P Losman was one of the least successful quarterbacks this week, totaling only 75 yards passing and one interception against a tough Atlanta defense. He was thought by some people to be a sleeper pick this year, but upon further review, it seems he needs more time to become comfortable in the system. Manning followed his sub par week two with another sub-par performance. He threw for 228 yards but was held touchdown-less by a shabby Cleveland defense for the second-straight week. After his first three games last year he had already totaled nine touchdown passes. Manning should come around in the next month. The next four games for Indianapolis are against San Francisco, Tennessee, St. Louis, and Houston; St. Louis is the only one approaching a respectable defense. The deep pass should return against the 49ers. Be patient with him, and don’t bench him yet. Running backs had a huge week three led by San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson. LT racked up 192 yards rushing with three touchdowns and even added a 26-yard touchdown pass. He was used quite often in the Sunday night drumming of the Giants; He touched the ball Z8 times. Seattle’s Shaun Alexander had an equally impressive week totaling 140 yards and four touchdowns for the Seahawks. These two guys were the top two preseason fantasy football running backs and have lived up to the hype. Carolina receiver Steve Smith ran away with the top spot for wide receivers. He stumped the Miami secondary all day and accumulated 170 receiving yards and three touchdowns, all career highs. In Carolina’s two losses, Smith had more than 130 yards receiving in" each, and in their one win, he had only 34 yards. It seems that if the Panthers lose — which they will do quite often Tom Uhlman/THE (JAMEXJOCK Minnesota Vikings quarterback Dante Culpepper has stepped up his performance after a dismal start to the season. — he has a big game. If he is available in your league, pick him up, as only 10.8 percent of people owned him on ESPN fantasy football. Hines Ward had a big day for the Steelers against a tough New England defense. He totaled 110 yards and scored both of Pittsburgh’s touchdowns. The best question to ask yourself is, “who is playing Arizona or San Francisco?” They are the two worst defenses in the league, giving up an average of 32 and 34 points a game, respectively. Unfortunately, they are playing each other this week; Larry Fitzgerald and Brandon Lloyd could have huge weeks. Cincinnati’s Chad Johnson and Carson Palmer have emerged as the best passing tandem in the league. Johnson talks more “crap” than Jessica and Alex on “Laguna Beach,” and the only difference is that Chad backs it up. Unfortunately, you don’t get fantasy points for trash talking. The good news is Cincinnati plays Houston, who has given up more than 350 total yards on average in the first three games. Johnson and Palmer should also have good weeks. You might want to bench Green Bay’s Bret Favre this week if you have an alternative. The Packers are playing a good Carolina defense, and he won’t be successful unless the Packers can find a running game. Good luck. HULL • COnTlflUGD FR0IRI2 route to garnering 16 national titles and five .» SEC Championships. In 1996, she won the SEC Commissioners Trophy for the most points scored by a female athlete, while earning SEC Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year honors in 1996 and 1997. She also earned a spot on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, where she finished seventh in the world. Price came to work at USC in 1959 and served as athletic trainer for almost every sport during his 31-year tenure. After serving as trainer for all sports, Price took on a lesser role as trainer for USC’s Olympic, sports teams. The headliner of the class came in the form of USC’s all time passing yards leader Ellis. Ellis came to Columbia and rewrote the passing record books, throwing for 9,953 yards and setting more than 20 passing records before he left. Still the all-time winningest quarterback in Gamecock history, Ellis led USC to back to-back bowl appearances in the 1987 Gator and 1988 Liberty bowls. He also worked with the USC radio network' on football broadcasts for 13 years and became" only the third announcer for Carolina football in the school’s history. h_* Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu HKinSCTC • COFITinUCD FROfTl 12 “I’ve just recently subscribed to Fox World Sports because a .. few of my friends play in the Premiership.” Akinsete said. “Anton Ferdinand, Nigel Reo Coker, Elliott. Ward, I’ve got quite a few friends that play over there actually.” These three are members of West Ham United of the English Premiership, one of the most renowned leagues in the world. Ferdinand’s brother Rio is a “world class” defender, according to ESPN.com, for one of the world’s wealthiest and storied sports franchises, Manchester United. “No, I just support good football, or; soccer,” Akinsete said when asked of devotion to a particular European club team. His supporters clearly reciprocate his concern for others, whether they endorse his football, or soccer, skills. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu If you can beat the editors, you'll win a free The Gamecock T-shirt. Send your picks to gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu by 2 p.m. Thursday. We'll select ONE person's picks, at random, to be our Reader of the Week. | For tie-breoking purposes, pleose include your store for the Auburn gome. And don't forget your nome! [ — -—--,-,----__-_-. , . 1 — ■ %&§££$&4; v r-4 £ • ’ ■ 15’ -■ .■ ’ - fi -jSjfcHSMfcMBMMttBMMBBBHBHBWiflMHBMUBHMWIfcfc. wii-m w v x USC vs. Auburn Saturday, October 1 st 7:00 pm jordan-Hare Stadium vGo Cocks!__l .