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DJ Lagway Expected to Start at QB for Florida vs. Samford

Florida starting QB Graham Mertz suffered a concussion against Miami, and true freshman and top-rated QB DJ Lagway finished the game in relief for Mertz.

Now, it sounds like Mertz is not expected to be back in time for Florida’s game against Samford Saturday night, which means Lagway can be expected to start in his place.

Lagway finished the Miami game 3-for-6 for 31 yards and an interception in a fairly limited experience.

Samford allowed 271 passing yards and 456 yards total to West Georgia, who just elevated this season to the FCS from Division II, in a 38-29 loss.

Torn ACL for LSU RB John Emery Jr., Expected to Miss 2024 Season

LSU RB John Emery Jr. is expected to miss the rest of the 2024 season with a torn ACL.

Emery played in 10 games as a true freshman for the 2019 team which won a national championship and has since appeared in 38 games, including against USC last week.

Emery suffered a torn ACL last November which prematurely ended his 2023 season. Coming into 2024, Emery, Josh Williams, and Kaleb Jackson were all guys who were fixing to make an impact at the running back position.

Emery even got the most carries of the three of them in the loss to USC, with Emery getting 10 carries to Williams’s 9 and Jackson’s 6.

But, ultimately, 10 carries for 61 yards is likely how John Emery Jr.’s 2024 season ends, unfortunately.

Minor Kadyn Proctor Injury Timeline Update

Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer recently shared on his radio show last night that OT Kadyn Proctor could be considered day-to-day more so than week-to-week.

Now, does this mean Proctor will be good to go against USF in Week 2? That’s left to be seen. But if it were up to Proctor, his words and actions indicate he wants to be out there ASAP according to DeBoer: “I can tell you this guy is pouring everything into wanting to get on the football field … we’re talking six, eight hours a day in the training room. Just passionate about getting back out there.”

2026 4-Star LB Izayia Williams Commits to Florida State

2026 Consensus 4-star LB Izayia Williams committed to Florida State yesterday after having decommitted from Syracuse under a month ago.

Williams also held offers from Florida, Georgia, USC, UCF, and others.

Looking at On3’s and ESPN’s rankings, they have Williams 41st and 39th nationally, respectively, while Rivals has Williams more modestly ranked 241st in the 2026 class.

The On3 composite rankings, however, have him 86th nationally and 6th at the LB position for 2026.

Williams is Florida State’s 6th commitment for the 2026 class already, which places the Seminoles 4th of the 19 programs with enough 2026 commitments to earn an On3 team ranking.

Sarkisian on Ewers: This Is Your Team, Go Lead Them

Steve Sarkisian was recently on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, and he shared some of the discussions he’s had with QB Quinn Ewers.

Ahead of a highly anticipated matchup against the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines, Coach Sarkisian shared that he made sure Ewers knew it was on him to lead the team:

“This is your team, go lead them,” said Sarkisian. “You can feel his presence. I think he instills confidence and belief into everybody in the organization, not just his teammates.”

James Franklin Optimistic on TE Khalil Dinkins’ Injury Status

TE Khalil Dinkins was on the practice field and practicing yesterday after missing part of fall camp and Week 1 against West Virginia.

Dinkins officially has no injury designation as of the moment, and Coach Franklin feels cautiously optimistic he can play this weekend against Bowling Green.

“But there’s still the issue that he’s missed a ton of time, both mentally and physically, so we got to knock the rust off.”

Given how improved the Penn State offense looked even without Dinkins under new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, getting Dinkins back in the fold and the rust knocked off could be a big boon to the Nittany Lions chances in the Big Ten.

Injury Update for Clemson OL Marcus Tate

Dabo Swinney took some time Wednesday evening to offer an injury update on OL Marcus Tate, who has been battling an elbow injury most recently.

Swinney shared “he’s getting better each day, for sure.”

Tate has dealt with his fair share of injuries since he started his first game from the beginning of his true freshman season back in 2021, but he still has played in 33 games and nearly 2,000 snaps in that time. Suffice to say his health is paramount to the stability and quality of the Tigers’ OL.

It’s unclear if Tate will be available for Clemson’s game against Appalachian State or when fans can expect to see Tate on the field next.

Dan Lanning: Players Are Aware Oregon is 0-3 Against Boise State All-Time

Oregon and Boise State have met three times since their first meeting in 2008, and the Ducks are 0-3 against the Broncos.

Lanning recently shared that this fact is very well-known in the locker room and is something that Lanning and his staff has talked about with the players.

“We’ve talked. Our players are aware of the history of this game, for sure. Excited to get the opportunity to step on the field,” Lanning said.

#3 Oregon currently sits as 19.5 point favorites over Boise State.

Urban Meyer: Marcus Freeman Is A Different Man Now

Urban Meyer recently went on The Triple Option podcast and spoke some on the development of Marcus Freeman as Notre Dame’s coach.

When Freeman first took the prestigious Notre Dame job, which Meyer acknowledges (to contextualize) was Freeman’s first head coaching job, the Irish suffered some tough losses to Marshall and Stanford. Meyer said he called Freeman, because he had been there at one point as a young coach, too, and Mack Brown helped him out as a mentor.

Meyer has said that the look Freeman has on the sidelines is not the same one he saw two years ago when he reached. Freeman is a different, more confident coach.

“That’s a different man right now than it was two or three years ago when he took over the job. That was not fake. When you walk into A&M, there’s over 100,000 people there. That’s a real environment against a real team. You know where the players were looking at? Him.”

On3’s Top 10 Games for Week 2

On3’s Jesse Simonton recently released his top 10 games for Week 2, and seeing as games start tomorrow night, today’s newsletter edition seems like the best time to briefly list them (note: all odds accurate as of time of writing).

1. #3 Texas at #10 Michigan, 12 PM on FOX (TEX -7.5)

2. Colorado at Nebraska, 7:30 PM on NBC (NEB -7.5)

3. #24 NC State vs. #14 Tennessee, 7:30 PM on ESPN (TENN -8.5)

4. Iowa State at #21 Iowa, 3:30 PM on CBS (IOWA -3.5)

5. Boise State at #7 Oregon, 10 PM on Peacock (ORE -19.5)

6. Arkansas at #16 Oklahoma State, 12 PM on ABC (OKST -7.5)

7. South Carolina at Kentucky, 3:30 PM on ABC (UK -10)

8. Appalachian State at #25 Clemson, 8 PM on ACC Network (CLEM -16.5)

9. #23 Georgia Tech at Syracuse, 12 PM on ESPN (GT -2.5)

10. #21 Kansas at Illinois, 7 PM on Big Ten Network (KU -5.5)

Other Commitments/Decommitments

None according to 247Sports.