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Pac-12 Looking to Add Multiple Mountain West Programs

Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger is reporting that the Pac-12’s first steps in attempting to rebuild the conference involve adding four Mountain West schools: Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Colorado State.

According to Dellenger, all four programs either have applied, or will apply, for membership soon. An announcement with more details from Pac-12 leadership is expected soon.

This would be an expensive attempt at salvaging the Pac-12, though, as each Mountain West program would pay $17M to go along with an additional $10-12M penalty for violation of the scheduling agreement.

The Pac-12 has until July 2026 to complete a rebuild of the conference and reach 8 teams. The addition of four Mountain West teams, therefore, would leave the Pac-12 two programs short.

Colorado State Stars Call out Colorado: “We’ll See How Far Instagram Followers Gets Them”

Star Colorado State Rams Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and Tory Horton had some fighting words for the Colorado Buffaloes ahead of their matchup this weekend.

Last year’s game between Colorado and Colorado State was a 43-35 win for the Buffaloes in OT. Fowler said of last year’s game, “they came out with that attitude and thought it was gonna be a cakewalk … and they got a rude, rude awakening real quick. And I think it goes to show that the hype, the media train, all that – it only gets you so far at the end of the day.”

For this year’s game, Fowler said, “at the end of the day, you have to line up 11 guys against our 11 guys, and we’ll find out who wants it more. We’ll see how far Instagram followers gets them.”

Star wide receiver Tory Horton said, “we owe them one. And that’s something that’s been sitting on everybody’s mind since we came back from break … We’re coming for revenge.”

Horton also said, “we all came here to play football. So at the end of the day, to the millions of followers and fans that they done produced and got celebrities that done jumped on their side because of who Deion Sanders is. At the end of the day, Deion Sanders ain’t playing. It’s those players playing, so those players put it back up and what they speak about.”

Colorado and Colorado State kick off at 7:30 PM ET this Saturday, September 14th.

Deion Sanders: We Got the Right Guys on the OL

Deion Sanders took some time recently to defend the offensive line, saying “of course, I feel like we got the right guys.”

Coach Sanders said that there weren’t a bunch of questions after the first game, a win, but after a loss, there are more questions. Coach also said that those questions are just something that comes with the territory: “You just can’t take a snapshot of one game and not understand the first game. Well, if we have 500 yards of offense, there ain’t all these questions, but I understand it comes with the territory, so you got to ask them. … It’s going to always be questioned. But we deserve it, when you lose, you’re gonna be ridiculed …”

Coach Sanders also took some time to praise his OL Coach former Minnesota Viking Phil Loadholt, calling him a “wonderful offensive line coach.” Coach Sanders also said that he believes “Pat [Shurmur] does a tremendous job in calling plays.”

Billy Napier’s Plan for 2 QBs

Florida is heading into its third game with a bit of a quarterback controversy on its hands, and Coach Billy Napier’s plan is to play both quarterbacks against Texas A&M. This is a notoriously tricky tight rope to walk for a coach, but Napier does not seem too concerned.

“I think our team feels the same way. Both these guys have high character, unbelievable work ethic, they’re great leaders. And we’re hopeful that can help our team continue to improve and put us in position to win games.”

Napier did not share the exact plan for the 2 QB system, but he did say that the team will know what to expect going into the game at 3:30 PM ET against Texas A&M: “I think you’ll have some defined parameters going into the game so we can have confidence in both players, anticipate what to expect, not only for the quarterbacks but for the team.”

One possible situation Napier described is, “we may define it for the first three quarters and then whoever’s playing the best in the fourth. But every position group on our team we try to map that out going into the game …”

Texas A&M Injury Updates for RB EJ Smith & LB Scooby Williams

Texas A&M Coach Mike Elko recently provided some injury updates for RB EJ Smith and LB Scooby Williams for Texas A&M’s Week 3 game against Florida.

Smith is now listed as a game-time decision after not being listed on the initial report.

Williams is now listed as available after being listed as questionable on the initial report.

Georgia Injury Updates

Georgia is dealing with some injuries, especially on the defensive line, before the game against Kentucky this weekend.

Most notably, DL Mykel Williams is listed as doubtful thanks to a Grade 2 left ankle sprain while defensive linemen Jordan Hall, Xzavier McLeod, and Warren Brinson are all listed as questionable.

Georgia kicks off at 7:30 PM ET for their home contest against Kentucky.

Oregon Injury Update for OL Matthew Bedford

Oregon coach Dan Lanning shared recently that he is “confident” OL Matthew Bedford could play against Oregon State after suffering an injury to his right knee in a fall camp scrimmage that has sidelined him for Oregon’s first two games. Bedford played in 11 games at right guard last season for Indiana with a solid season long grade of 71.0.

Penn State TE Andrew Rappleyea Out Long-Term

James Franklin recently shared with reporters that redshirt freshman TE Andrew Rappleyea is expected to be out for awhile.

When asked about Rappleyea’s health, Franklin was concise in his message: “yeah, that’s a long-term injury.”

As for what the injury is or what the specifics are, that’s not clear, but it would appear that the Penn State offense will be without a promising, young player.

Rappleyea was one of the top 3 tight ends just two recruiting cycles ago.

Mike Elko on Preparing for 2 QB Systems

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko shared some of his thoughts on facing a 2 QB system as the Aggies prepare for Florida’s 2 QB system with Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway.

For the most part, Elko downplayed if it would complicate the game planning, saying, “I don’t know that it’s a ton different. Obviously they both have skill sets and they’re going to accentuate the skill sets of each kid a little bit more. But I think you also got to remember that there’s 10 other kids on the team preparing. And so I don’t think you can go into it and prepare two different offenses.”

Elko also said that he is preparing for either QB, knowing that Florida may end up showing more playing time to one or the other depending on how the game goes.

Virginia Tech LB Jayden McDonald Expected To Be Out vs. Old Dominion

Virginia Tech LB Jayden McDonald is going to be out for Virginia Tech’s game this weekend against Old Dominion.

McDonald suffered an undisclosed injury and is out for an undisclosed amount of time. All Coach Brent Pry said was, “McDonald has sustained an injury. He’s being evaluated now. We’ll see how long that takes, but he won’t be available this weekend.”

McDonald has only played 4 snaps all year after appearing in 12 games and starting in 5 of them for Virginia Tech last year.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (84) CB Christopher Williams commits to Northern Arizona

3-Star (82) IOL Nathaniel Thornton commits to Montana State

3-Star (81) ATH Malachi Claunch commits to Montana State