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.

Current Subscriber Count: 503

Goal: 1,000 by the National Championship on 1/20/25

SMU Announces Kevin Jennings Will Start Moving Forward, Preston Stone Benched

On Tuesday, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee announced Kevin Jennings will be SMU’s starting QB moving forward, effectively benching previous starter Preston Stone. Though, both QBs were playing significant snaps through the first 3 games as the Mustangs were attempting the tricky two quarterback system.

Stone had been the team’s full-time starter since the start of 2023, leading the Mustangs to a 10-2 record in 2023 before he suffered a broken leg late in a blowout against Navy last year. Jennings took over and led the Mustangs to its first conference championship since the 1980s with a 26-14 victory over Tulane.

Of the decision, Lashlee said “we’ve got a clear direction now on consistency. Kevin Jennings is going to be our starting quarterback. It was not an easy decision, in terms of the fact that Preston’s a winner. He loves this place. He’s given a lot to this program.”

Also said Lashlee, “it is not all about Preston. It’s just this gives our team the best chance moving forward right now and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

On the season, Jennings has a completion percentage of 56.9%, 342 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception with 6.7 yards per pass attempt.

Comparatively, Stone has a completion percentage of 58.1%, 336 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception with 7.8 yards per pass attempt.

Injury Updates for Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor, Cole Adams, & Elijah Pritchett

Before even being asked any questions in his Monday press conference, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer provided some injury updates on some key contributors, OL Kadyn Proctor, WR Cole Adams, and OL Elijah Pritchett.

DeBoer shared that Adams suffered an upper-extremity injury and his status is in doubt for this weekend’s game against Wisconsin. However, DeBoer said he “wouldn’t rule him out but, you know, probably would be very limited early. We’ll see how it goes throughout the week there.”

As for Pritchett, DeBoer noted that he took some snaps in the 4th quarter, which DeBoer was happy to see he was healthy enough for that. “He came in and did a nice job. The big thing is that he go through healthy. That was a key there.”

Finally, for Alabama’s starting LT Kadyn Proctor, who has missed the first two games of the season, DeBoer believes he is trending in the right direction. DeBoer stated that he feels “like [Proctor]’s coming along real well, especially at the end of last week. Working extremely hard to get back out there.”

Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard Injures Non-Throwing Shoulder

Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard injured his posterior labrum in his non-throwing shoulder this past weekend, but is not expected to miss any games.

Leonard underwent an MRI over the weekend, but evidently the injury is not severe enough to miss time. Leonard, no stranger to injuries, missed the final 5 games of last season with an ankle injury.

Following the loss to Northern Illinois, coach Marcus Freeman stood up for his quarterback saying that there was no consideration to benching him. Now that Leonard has a minor injury, that belief is reinforced as it would have been easy to give someone else a shot at QB under the guise of Leonard’s injury.

Michigan QB Jack Tuttle Injury Update

Michigan coach Sherrone Moore recently shared that QB Jack Tuttle should be healthy and ready to contribute this weekend for Michigan’s game against Arkansas State.

Tuttle missed the first two games with injury, but Davis Warren’s starts have left something to be desired. So, Tuttle returning could provide an interesting possibility for the Wolverine offense.

Moore did mention that he felt like Warren did some good things that the team and he could build off of at the end of the game against Texas, when it would have been easy to roll over and give up.

Pete Thamel: Graham Mertz Trending Well in Concussion Protocol

Florida QB Graham Mertz is trending in the right direction in his recovery from his concussion, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, and he could be ready to contribute in Florida’s upcoming game against Texas A&M.

Thamel also said that there’s one more step for Mertz to be ready to play.

Earlier this week, coach Billy Napier said that he is planning on splitting time between Mertz and DJ Lagway when Mertz is healthy. Lagway started against Samford and threw for over 450 yards, so it will be interesting to see if there is a quarterback controversy between Mertz and Lagway – there likely will be – and how that will be resolved by Billy Napier who happens to be on perhaps the hottest seat in the country.

Missouri WRs Luther Burden and Theo Wease Injury Update

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz recently gave some updates on star wide receivers Luther Burden and Theo Wease, who have been dealing with injuries.

Burden missed the Buffalo game last week, and Wease appeared to suffer an injury during the Buffalo game.

For Burden, Drinkwitz said after the Buffalo game that he was being held out due to an illness.

As for both of them, Drinkwitz is optimistic they’ll both play against Boston College, stating that they’re probable: “Luther’s I would say, probable. Theo’s probable. I’m not concerned about either one of those right now.”

Colorado S Shilo Sanders Injury Timeline

Colorado S Shilo Sanders underwent arm surgery on Sunday, and Coach Deion Sanders updated his injury timeline recently.

According to Coach Sanders, Shilo Sanders can expected to miss 2-3 weeks, who said his son is a very fast healer, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

As for the specific nature of the injury, originally it was speculated that it could be a fracture in his forearm, but now Coach Sanders said he is unsure of the specific nature of the injury. That being said, it sounds like Shilo shouldn’t miss too many games and, as of now, should be back either around the end of this month or towards the start of next month.

Oklahoma OL Branson Hickman Injury Update

Oklahoma has been experiencing some injuries on the offensive line, but Brent Venables is “hopeful” that starting center Branson Hickman will be able to return soon.

Venables described Hickman as “a little better yesterday than he was last weekend,” but his status for this weekend remains up in the air.

Hickman came out of Oklahoma’s week 1 game against Temple after only 10 snaps with a sprained ankle.

Oklahoma hosts Tulane this Saturday and are 13.5 point favorites at home.

2026 3-Star DL Viliami Moala Commits to USC

2026 3-Star DL Viliami Moala committed yesterday to USC over offers from Oregon, Utah, Miami, Tennessee, and others.

Moala is rated as a 4-star by both ESPN and Rivals, which rank him as the 12th and 15th ranked DL, respectively. According to On3’s composite rankings, Moala is the 339th ranked prospect nationally and 34th ranked defensive lineman.

Moala is the 6th commitment for USC’s 2026 staff which currently ranks 6th nationally of the 20 programs with enough 2026 commitments to be ranked by On3.

3-Star QB Jett Niu Commits to Oklahoma State

One day after decommitting from Appalachian State, 3-star QB Jett Niu has committed to Oklahoma State. Niu’s commitment comes following a visit to Stillwater this past weekend.

Niu is ranked 1,436th nationally and 83rd for this position according to the On3 industry composite rankings.

Niu is Oklahoma State’s 17th commitment for the 2025 class, a class which ranks 49th nationally and 10th of 16 in the Big 12.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (82) IOL Nicholas Maloff commits to Montana State

2026 Unrated WR Danny Odem commits to North Carolina