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:

TODAY’S SCHEDULE:

Betting Information as of time of writing

UTSA Scores First 27 Points in Myrtle Beach Bowl to Win 44-15

Well, UTSA did what the four visiting teams in the first round of the College Football Playoff couldn’t – win a postseason game in the opposing team’s home stadium – as the Roadrunners beat Coastal Carolina 44-15 to win the Myrtle Beach Bowl.

UTSA outgained the Chanticleers 513-271 in a game where UTSA held a 27-0 lead going into the final quarter before Coastal Carolina finally got on the board with a 50-yard touchdown pass. UTSA would respond with a kickoff return for a touchdown only moments later.

UTSA’s Owen McCown finished 23/30 passing for 254 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, with an additional 37 rushing yards and a touchdown. RBs Will Henderson III (5/81/1) and Brandon High Jr. (11/76/1) led the way in terms of overall yards in this game. For receiving, David Amador II (7/110) and Devin McCuin (5/63) led either team in this game.

For Coastal Carolina, QB Tad Hudson finished 17/26 passing for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Braydon Bennett (22/54) was the main ball carrier for the Chanticleers. As for the receiving options, 5 different players finished with at least 20 yards, but only Bryson Graves (2/53/1) finished with at least 35 yards.

With the win, UTSA improves to 7-6 to bring Coach Jeff Traylor’s streak going – in 20 seasons as a Head Coach at either the high school or college level, Coach Traylor’s teams have had a winning record in every. single. season.

Northern Illinois Beats Fresno State in Double OT in Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Fresno State raced out to a 13-3 lead in the 1st quarter of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, but the Bulldogs would not score another point during regulation. NIU battled back during the 3rd quarter to knot the score at 13, and then the two teams needed not just one but two overtimes to settle this one.

In double OT, NIU scored on one play – a pass from WR George Dimopoulos – and then converted the two-point conversion, while Fresno State could not get anything going, and lost by going 4-and-out.

By the end, NIU finished with 368 total yards, including 182 passing yards from QB Josh Holst. Holst finished 18/30 passing for 182 yards, 2 passing touchdowns, and an interception. Holst also led all Huskies in this game with 65 rushing yards on 16 attempts. Telly Johnson also had 56 yards on 18 carries. Through the air, Dane Pardridge (3/59/1) and Grayson Barnes (6/57/2) were the two main targets for the Huskies, as no other NIU players finished with more than 30 yards.

For Fresno State, QB Joshua Wood finished 16/23 for 180 yards and a touchdown, while Jayden Mandal was 3/6 for 31 yards and an interception. On the ground, RB Bryson Donelson finished with 82 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, while Wood also contributed a touchdown on the ground (11/32/1). Donelson also caught a touchdown (3/28/1 receiving), while Mac Dalena led all receivers in this game with a statline of 6 catches for 118 yards. It was a tough game for kicker Dylan Lynch, who finished 0-for-3, a tough statline considering the game did go to overtime.

Georgia Tech WR Transfer Eric Singleton Signs with Auburn

Georgia Tech transfer WR Eric Singleton Jr., one of the top players in the entire transfer portal, and 247’s top player in the transfer portal, has signed with Auburn.

Singleton also visited with Ole Miss and Georgia following his breakout 2024 season. In both years that he was with the Yellow Jackets, Singleton was their leading receiver, finishing with more than 700 yards in each season.

In 2023, Singleton finished with 48 catches for 714 yards and 6 touchdowns, while in 2024, Singleton finished with 56 catches for 754 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. In 2024, Singleton also became more of a ball carrier for the Jackets, also rushing for 131 yards and a touchdown. Singleton also returned kicks in 2024, finishing with 241 kick return yards, meaning he finished 2024 with 1,126 all-purpose yards, finishing Top 10 in the ACC in all of receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, yards per reception, and kick return yards.

Ohio State QB Transfer Air Noland Commits to South Carolina

Ohio State transfer QB Air Noland committed to South Carolina out of the transfer portal yesterday after spending one season with Ohio State.

Noland committed to Ohio State early in his recruiting process, but was part of a crowded QB room once he got to Columbus, as the Buckeyes carried five starting QBs following the spring game.

Noland was a top 5 QB in the Class of 2024, and now he is headed from Columbus to Columbia to compete for the starting job with LaNorris Sellers, who impressed for South Carolina this season, and nearly made the CFP as a redshirt freshman.

Georgia QB Carson Beck Officially Ruled OUT For Rest of 2024 CFP Run

Georgia QB Carson Beck is out for the remainder of the 2024 postseason, as Georgia announced yesterday that Beck underwent successful surgery on his right elbow to repair his UCL.

For Beck, a full recovery is expected with throwing to begin spring of 2025, but it does unfortunately mean Georgia will be without its starting QB for the Sugar Bowl (and beyond).

In his place will be backup QB Gunner Stockton. Stockton’s career stats include 354 yards and 2 touchdowns on 37/51 passing. He was a high 4-star recruit in the Class of 2022.

Purdue Transfer TE Max Klare Commits to Ohio State

Purdue transfer TE Max Klare commits to Ohio State out of the transfer portal as the top TE transfer target available. Klare is also ranked as the #13 overall prospect in the portal, according to On3’s portal industry rankings.

Klare led all Purdue players with 51 catches for 685 yards and 4 catches. Klare also played in 2023, but suffered a season-ending injury after the 5th game to cut short a season in which he only made 4 starts. All things considered, his 22 catches for 196 yards was fairly impressive given the limited sample size.

Klare redshirt in his true freshman season (2022), meaning Klare heads to Ohio State with two seasons of eligibility remaining.

NCAA Grants Waiver of One Additional Eligibility Year for Former JUCO Athletes

The NCAA has made a massive change with eligibility. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors has granted a blanket waiver to all players among all sports for the 2025-26 season if they competed at a non-NCAA school throughout their career while also previously being out of eligibility.

So, for college football, if a player competed at a JUCO school and ran out of eligibility following this season, they may return for another season.

Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia is perhaps the highest profile example of this policy’s impact, but there are likely hundreds, if not thousands, of athletes across a myriad of sports that this will apply to.

The NCAA has also simultaneously filed a notice of appeal regarding Pavia’s case against the NCAA which spurred this decision from the Board of Directors to grant everyone, not just Pavia, an additional year of eligibility. If the NCAA were to win its appeal, that could prevent this sort of blanket waiver from being granted every year after this. Alternatively, if the NCAA were to lose its appeal, which, the NCAA losing in court is becoming a routine thing, it could mean this waiver would just be the new norm and JUCO seasons would not count towards eligibility.

Virginia Transfer WR Malachi Fields Commits to Notre Dame

Virginia WR transfer Malachi Fields has committed to Notre Dame out of the transfer portal after having spent four seasons with the Cavaliers.

Fields finished the 2024 season with 55 catches for 808 yards and 5 touchdowns, production good enough to earn him 3rd Team All-ACC honors.

He had a remarkably similar 2023, finishing with 58 catches for 811 yards and 5 touchdowns, which was a breakout season after he redshirted in 2022, appearing in only one game.

West Virginia Transfer RB CJ Donaldson Commits to Ohio State

West Virginia transfer RB CJ Donaldson Jr. has committed to Ohio State as one of the top RBs in the transfer portal according to the On3 transfer portal composite rankings.

Donaldson put up a combined 1,690 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in his 3 seasons with the Mountaineers, with a 2024 statline of 734 rushing yards, 104 receiving yards, and 12 total touchdowns.

With Ohio State expected to lose both Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, this is a great landing spot for both Donaldson and the Buckeyes.

Texas WR Isaiah Bond Health Update from Coach Sarkisian

Texas most recently beat Clemson 38-24 in the first round of the CFP, but now the Longhorns have to shift their focus to Arizona State and the Peach Bowl. One key question for the roster is the health of Isaiah Bond, who the Longhorns were without against Clemson.

Coach Sarkisian spoke on Bond’s health, saying, “I think, like I said going into last week’s game, I think Isaiah continues to make really good progress for us. Obviously, we’re quite a ways out, so my goal is coming out of Christmas here that that progress continues in a positive direction and we can see where it goes from there.

Bond has been injured since the Oklahoma game, but only missed the Vanderbilt game. His injury was re-aggravated, though, when he got rolled up on in the SEC Championship game.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (87) Jack Foley flips from Washington State to Wake Forest

3-Star (82) QB Toa Faavae flips from Idaho to New Mexico

2-Star (78) TE Cameron Kossmann flips from Penn to Florida

Unrated IOL Tyler Brumfield commits to Oklahoma State

Unrated S Carrington Pierce commits to Oklahoma State

Unrated DL Kone Aumua commits to Utah State

2026 Unrated ATH Yaheim Riley commits to Houston