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

A Pair of 4th Quarter Field Goals Give Miami (OH) 27-21 Win over Ball State to Keep MAC Chances Alive

Miami (OH) beat Ball State 27-21 last night thank to 3 passing touchdowns from QB Brett Gabbert and a pair of field goals in the 4th quarter from K Dom Dzioban.

Despite a fairly negligible total yardage difference, Ball State was only able to find the end zone on one drive.

Part of the problem for the Cardinals was an inability to consistently move the ball on the ground. Ball State’s leading rusher, Vaughn Pemberton, finished with 21 rushing yards on 5 carries. Braedon Sloan added 16 yards on 3 carries, and Kiael Kelly carried the ball the most for Ball State, finishing with 7 rushes and 13 yards. In total, including sack yardage, Ball State finished with 51 rushing yards on 23 carries.

Ball State QB Kadin Semonza finished 23-for-36 for 280 yards and a touchdown, which was good, but he also threw a pair of interceptions as Ball State lost the turnover battle 2-1. And Miami (OH)’s one turnover was an interception from the punter that was a Pick-Six to break the game’s 0-0 tie. QB Brett Gabbert finished 16-for-32 with 219 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions.

RB Keyon Mozee also had a fairly solid day, crossing the centurion mark and rushing for 105 yards on 22 carries. Ball State’s Justin Bowick led all receivers with an impressive 171 receiving yards. 3 RedHawks caught multiple passes, with each catching a touchdown, though: Reggie Virgil (5/101/1), Javon Tracy (6/85/1), and Kevin Davis (3/12/1).

Bowling Green Goes Wire to Wire to Beat Central Michigan 23-13

Bowling Green outgained Central Michigan by almost 150 yards as Central Michigan struggled to sustain drives and Bowling Green was able to maintain control of this game with a final score of 23-13.

Central Michigan finished 5/13 on 3rd down, a mediocre but not terrible number, despite only having 2 of 10 drives go for more than 25 yards. The Chippewas even ran for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns, but with Bowling Green also rushing for 181 yards and a touchdown, the big difference was in the passing game and that leading to more scoring opportunities.

Bowling Green’s QB Connor Bazelak finished 19-for-30 with 207 yards and a touchdown, with TE Harold Fannin Jr. improving on his already impressive season-long numbers by being the leading receiver in this one (7/86). RB Terion Stewart led all rushers for Bowling Green, with 117 yards on 20 carries. Jaison Patterson ran in the lone rushing touchdown for the Falcons (9/75/1).

QB’s Jadyn Glasser and Tyler Jefferson were fairly ineffective for Central Michigan as passers, but Glasser at least posted decently efficient numbers (5/7, 57) while Jefferson really could not get much of anything going through the air (1/7, 6). Rushing, though, those QBs were the only ones to score TDs (5/65/1 for Jefferson, 4/10/1 for Glasser), including a 44-yard TD rush for Jefferson. Marion Lukes led all Chippewa rushers with 72 yards on 20 carries.

First College Football Playoff Rankings

The College Football Playoff Committee announced its first rankings yesterday. Below (with the difference from the AP Poll) are the Top 25:

1. Oregon (-)

2. Ohio State (+1)

3. Georgia (-1)

4. Miami (-)

5. Texas (-)

6. Penn State (-)

7. Tennessee (-)

8. Indiana (-)

9. BYU (-)

10. Notre Dame (-)

11. Alabama (-)

12. Boise State (-)

13. SMU (-)

14. Texas A&M (+1)

15. LSU (-1)

16. Ole Miss (-)

17. Iowa State (-)

18. Pitt (+5)

19. Kansas State (+3)

20. Colorado (+1)

21. Washington State (-1)

22. Louisville (+3)

23. Clemson (-4)

24. Missouri (NR; +2 from receiving votes place)

25. Army (-7)

Warde Manuel on Strength of Schedule in CFP Rankings Between Indiana/BYU

Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel is currently serving as the CFP Selection Committee Chairman, and there were some questions regarding how Indiana and BYU would be considered in the rankings, as both programs are undefeated in a power conference, but have not necessarily played a particularly challenging schedule.

Indiana’s strength of schedule currently ranks 103rd, while BYU’s currently ranks 61st.

As for why Indiana was one spot ahead of BYU, Manuel said, “Indiana, their strength of schedule is not as strong as BYU. But what Indiana has done on the field, when we look at those games, they’re winning by double digits, averaging 33 points a game more than their opponents. They’re solid on both sides, offensively and defensively. They’re just a really, really great team.”

Where BYU has a stronger argument is that BYU beat up on a Kansas State team which the Committee ranked 19th, and won a tough game on the road against an SMU team which the Committee ranked 13th.

Consensus 2026 4-Star WR Vance Spafford Commits to Georgia

Vance Spafford, a consensus 4-star WR in the 2026 class, committed to Georgia yesterday after taking just one visit to Athens.

Spafford visited Georgia for the Mississippi State game in October and that was apparently all it took. He told On3, “when you know, you know.” Spafford also said he wanted to take his time to make the announcement to be sure, but after 3 weeks of his feelings remaining the same, he decided it was time to make the announcement.

Spafford is definitely ranked the highest by Rivals, as On3, 247, and ESPN all rank him somewhere between 105th and 107th nationally. But Rivals ranks him 37th nationally and 5th at his position for the 2026 class. But the On3 industry composite therefore places him 73rd nationally and 13th at the WR position.

Georgia is now up to three 4-stars and three total commitments in the 2026 class for a class which, still early in the process, ranks 9th nationally and 5th in the SEC; this will likely change soon and very soon, though.

USC Starting Jayden Maiava at QB vs. Nebraska

UNLV transfer QB Jayden Maiava is reportedly going to be getting the start for USC against Nebraska after USC’s bye week this weekend.

Connor Morrissette of USCFootball.com reported that “USC football is making a change at quarterback. UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava will start in place of Miller Moss against Nebraska next week, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.”

Maiava has only thrown 11 passes on the season, but spent two seasons with UNLV, throwing for 3,085 yards and 17 passing touchdowns, while also running for 277 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. He also holds a couple accolades as a former Mountain West Freshman of the Year and All-Mountain West Second Teamer.

Miller Moss won the starting QB job and had thrown for 2,555 yards and 18 passing touchdowns through 9 games, but with a 2-5 record in conference, Lincoln Riley and Co. at USC evidently feel like it’s time to make a change before the end of the season to try and get some positive momentum going into the offseason.

Ryan Day: We Re-Engineered the Defense After Loss to Oregon

Ohio State gave up 32 points and just under 500 yards to Oregon last month, and so Head Coach Ryan Day and Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles went back to the drawing board, effectively re-engineering the defense.

Of the defensive planning, Coach Day shared, “we had to almost start from scratch after the Oregon game. What I mean by that is not like scrap everything, but, ‘OK, what are the base foundations of what we’re trying to get done? Who are our best players? We got to put our best players in a position to be successful. What are teams scheming us up, in terms of what are they looking at?’ And you start going through that process, and you almost have to kind of knock it down and rebuild it a little bit.”

Coach Day did admit that there are probably not a lot of noticeable changes, but there have been significant changes behind the scenes that put the defensive players in a better position to succeed and are giving a lot of guys on the defense confidence. That, the hope is, will make a difference.

Nebraska Hiring Dana Holgorsen as Offensive Consultant

ESPN’s Pete Thamel is reporting that Nebraska hired former Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen as an offensive consultant yesterday.

Thamel also announced that Holgorsen’s role as an offensive consultant will “evolve as the season goes on,” so it’s unclear what he will be doing, but it will change as needed throughout the season.

Holgorsen was fired by Houston last season, and Nebraska was rumored as pursuing Holgorsen for Matt Rhule’s coaching staff before Holgorsen ended up spending time at TCU as an analyst and scout for the Frogs.

South Carolina Given Minor Penalties for Level III Recruiting Violation

South Carolina self-reported and received a Level III violation from the NCAA according to The Post and Courier.

The penalties include a one-week ban on recruiting, a four-day reduction in recruiting days this spring, and a rules education for the South Carolina Football Staff.

No current staff members or coaches were charged with any violations in this investigation, and this matter is officially considered resolved.

The matter at hand were violations committed by the former Director of Player Personnel, who admitted to sending a recruiting notice to a prospective student-athlete prior to receiving written notification of the student-athlete’s intention to enter the transfer portal. The staff member was immediately fired when the program was aware of the rule(s) he violated. This matter resolved itself in roughly one month.

3-Star RB Daniel Bray Commits to SMU

3-star RB Daniel Bray committed to SMU yesterday over offers from TCU, Texas Tech, and others.

Bray was on campus for SMU’s big win over ranked foe Pitt, and he described it as great and that everything impressed him. He noted the atmosphere and the way the offense is run as large reasons why he thought it was such a great experience.

Bray is a consensus 3-star who is ranked 933rd nationally and 71st of RBs according to the On3 industry composite.

SMU now has 24 commitments in the 2025 class, including another RB, for a 2025 class which ranks 28th nationally and 5th in the ACC.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (89) ATH Kenzy West commits to Houston

3-Star (86) TE Derrick Johnson commits to Boston College

3-Star (85) EDGE Josh Smith commits to South Carolina

3-Star (83) QB Noah Gillon commits to Appalachian State

Unrated EDGE TJ Burkhalter commits to Texas State

Unrated WR Alexander Sanchez decommits from Western Kentucky