Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS:

Buffalo Forces Timely Turnovers, Controls Lines of Scrimmage to Win Bahamas Bowl 26-7

Buffalo scored one offensive touchdown, one defensive touchdown, and 4 field goals while capitalizing on winning the turnover battle 3-0 to beat Liberty 26-7 in the Bahamas Bowl Presented by Atlantis Resorts.

Buffalo finished with 359 yards and just over 37 minutes of time of possession as the Bulls controlled the ball and the line of scrimmage, taking advantage of the windy conditions for kicker Upton Bellenfant’s field goals.

Liberty, by contrast, finished with just 4.32 yards per play and 3 turnovers, as its offense struggled to find consistency and also did not convert the few scoring opportunities created by explosive plays.

By the end, Liberty QB Ryan Burger finished 4/12 for 40 yards and 2 fumbles lost, with backup Nate Hampton coming in late, no performing much better – 2/9 for 40 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. On the ground, Burger finished with 57 yards on 11 carries, which tied RB Billy Lucas for the most yards for Liberty. Caden Williams (10/31) and Vaughn Blue (6/14) got a majority of the carries, though 112 of the 162 rushing yards came on a 55-yard rush from Lucas and a 57-yard rush from Burger. The lone Liberty touchdown on the game was a 36-yard pass from Hampton to WR Reese Smith.

For Buffalo, QB CJ Ogbonna finished 9/19 for 137 yards, and also ran for 32 yards on 15 carries. A handful of Bulls got a few carries, like Jacqez Barksdale and Lamar Spelling, but Al-Jay Henderson won Offensive MVP Honors for his 21 carries, 119 yards, a rushing touchdown. Henderson also added 2 catches for 36 yards, including the 35-yard reception that set up Buffalo’s first field goal.

Victor Snow led all receivers in this one with 4 catches for 41 yards.

The defensive MVP of this game was Red Murdock, who finished with a game-high 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a pass defended, a pick-six, and both forced fumbles. In other words, Murdock caused every single turnover in this game. Upton Bellenfant was also a force in this game for the Bulls. He finished with 14 points and was 4-for-5 on field goals, including a 52-yard field goal that might have been good from 65+ given the benefit of the wind.

With the win, Buffalo has won its 4th bowl game in its last 6 seasons. Liberty, on the other hand, is now 3-0 in bowl games with Hugh Freeze as the coach, and 0-3 in bowl games with any other coach coaching the bowl game.

Clemson DC Wes Goodwin Not Returning in 2025

Sources have confirmed to On3 that Clemson DC Wes Goodwin is not expected to return in 2025. Clemson has not made the move official or made any sort of formal announcements, but a source specifically shared with On3 that his office has been cleaned out.

Goodwin’s name has also been linked to the opening at DC on Brent Venables’ staff at Oklahoma. This presumed move comes after Clemson finished 76th in total defense in 2024, with a yards per carry allowed ranking of 101st in the country – far from the performance that Dabo Swinney and the Clemson faithful have come to expect from the Tigers defense.

The name On3’s Pete Nakos is reporting to look out for from Clemson is Tennessee’s DC Tim Banks. Banks’ Volunteer defense performed quite well in 2024 and Banks does not have a contract signed with Tennessee (yet) for 2025. This comes after Banks turned down the Miami DC position.

Nebraska WR Isaiah Neyor Withdraws Name from Transfer Portal

Nebraska WR Isaiah Neyor has withdrawn his name from the NCAA transfer portal, On3 is reporting.

On3’s Pete Nakos reported last week that Neyor had signed with Louisville, a report which Neyor himself disputed as untrue. According to Nakos, the documents at Louisville were processed about 35 minutes before Neyor decided to withdraw his name from the transfer portal on the night of January 1st.

What is unclear now is if Neyor is planning on heading back to Nebraska, staying in the NFL Draft, or waiting to make a decision on that, but sources have shared with On3 that the expectation is he will stay in the NFL Draft.

Alabama Starting OT Elijah Pritchett Plans to Enter Transfer Portal

Alabama OL Elijah Pritchett plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

Pritchett started 10 of 12 games at RT this season after playing in 13 games in 2023 as a reserve OT and on special teams. Pritchett leaves Alabama having spent 3 seasons there, but with 2 years of eligibility remaining after redshirting in 2022.

Pritchett was one of the top OTs in the 2022 recruiting class, ranking 4th at OT and 34th nationally in the On3 industry composite.

Washington State Transfer CB Ethan O’Connor Commits to Miami

Washington State transfer CB Ethan O’Connor has committed to Miami.

O’Connor was a top priority for Miami, as well as plenty of other teams, in the transfer portal. O’Connor’s primary other suitors were Oklahoma, Georgia, Colorado, and UCLA.

Miami has already added Arizona’s Emmanuel Karnley and Michigan State’s Charles Brantley at the CB position – a position which definitely needed a boost after that room’s performance in 2024.

O’Connor was one of the top remaining players in the transfer portal, ranking 51st overall and 6th at the CB position for all players to enter the transfer portal in this cycle.

O’Connor has 3 years of eligibility remaining after redshirting in 2023, but in 2024 he finished with 32 tackles, a tackle for loss, 4 interception, 8 passes defended, and a pick-six.

Washington State Transfer OT Fa’alili Fa’amoe Commits to Wake Forest

Washington State transfer OT Fa’alili Fa’amoe committed to Wake Forest out of the transfer portal yesterday over interest from Michigan, LSU, and Nebraska, among other programs.

The Washington State coaching staff recently departed, as Head Coach Jake Dickert and OL Coach Jared Kaster left for Wake Forest, and OC Ben Arbuckle went to Oklahoma.

Fa’amoe has started 28 games at RT for Washington State and was garnering some Day 2 draft hype coming into the season. The early expectation is that the addition of Fa’amoe for Wake Forest will be at the LT position, while Melvin Siani is more likely to be at RT.

With one year of eligibility remaining, Fa’amoe is currently ranked by 247 as its #2 OT and #23 player nationally.

Michigan QB Davis Warren Shares He Tore ACL in ReliaQuest Bowl Win over Alabama

Michigan QB Davis Warren shared on Twitter yesterday that he suffered a torn ACL in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama, a game he helped lead the Wolverines to a 19-13 win in.

Warren finished 9/12 for 73 yards and a touchdown, but left the game in the 3rd quarter with an injury and did not return. Now, it’s clear that the injury which forced him out of the game was a torn ACL.

Warren shared on Twitter a photo of his right leg heavily braced and said, “Celebrating a win and so proud of the way the boys finished the season! I unfortunately suffered a torn ACL in the bowl game. Thanks to the Michigan faithful for all the support this season. Can’t wait to battle to be back on the field with my guys in AA and go blue!”

James Franklin With Limited Update This Early Regarding Abdul Carter’s Availability

Penn State Coach James Franklin recently opened up a little on Abdul Carter and his availability for the Orange Bowl after suffering an injury against Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Coach Franklin shared, “he’s doing great, his attitude is great, his mentality has been really good. We’ll see. I think he’s taking the right approach and mentality. It’s going to come down to how he feels and how much practice he’s able to get during the week.”

Coach Franklin continued, “at this point, I don’t think there’s anything that is stopping him from playing. But it’s just going to come down to, is he able to play? And, we’ll see. … I think he’s excited about this week. But it’s too early to say at this stage.”

Carter is one of the top prospects in this upcoming NFL Draft and is one of Penn State’s top players, entering the Orange Bowl with 63 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks on the season.

Ohio State’s Ryan Day Raves About DE Jack Sawyer’s Leadership

Ryan Day recently raved about DE Jack Sawyer, one of the most talented DEs in the country. However, Coach Day’s compliments went more to Sawyer’s character as a person and as a leader.

Coach Day shared after the Rose Bowl, “I can’t say enough about Jack as a leader, as a person. He really stands for what it means to be a Buckeye, and to see him playing at a high level, he’s the heart and soul of the front. … He brings a hard hat and a lunch pail and goes to work, and it’s showing late in the season. He’s playing a lot of great football. He’s a big reason we won today.”

Sawyer has career highs in tackles (53), sacks (8), interceptions (1), passes defended (5), fumble recoveries (2), and forced fumbles (2) while also currently sitting at 8 tackles for loss on the season in his 4th year with the Buckeyes after gradually building up to this role with the Buckeyes after being one of the top 5-stars in his entire class.

Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman on NFL Interest: Nothing to Worry About

Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman has been garnering a bunch of interest from NFL teams, but Coach Freeman is intent on not letting that be a distraction.

As the Irish prepare for the Orange Bowl later this week, on an appearance on SportsCenter last night, Coach Freeman stated that there is nothing to worry about with him leaving:

“I don’t know when they announced it, I can’t remember, but about a week or two ago, they announced another long contract here at Notre Dame. So, I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

This new contract extension was for 6 years and makes Coach Freeman one of the highest-paid coaches in the country, though the specific number was not released, as Notre Dame is a private institution.

At the time of his extension, Coach Freeman also gave some extra insight, sharing that “the investment (Notre Dame) continues to pour into our program is invaluable to our student-athletes and staff. This commitment goes well beyond myself, as they are dedicated to ensuring all aspects of our program are competitive within the upper echelon of college football.” This could mean commitments to NIL, revenue sharing, assistant coach salary pools, etc.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

2-Star (76) EDGE Jimmy McKenzie commits to San Diego