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

Texas State Gets Past Troy 38-17

Jordan McCloud contributed four touchdowns, including three through the air, in leading Texas State to a 38-17 victory over Troy on Thursday night.

McCloud threw all three of his touchdown passes in the first half, helping the Bobcats rack up nearly 300 yards of offense before halftime. Troy had nearly 250 first half yards, but could only score a touchdown and a field goal, trailing 28-10 at the break.

After Mason Shipley nailed a 53-yard field goal to extend Texas State's lead, McCloud broke loose for a 42-yard touchdown run, pushing the Bobcats' advantage to 38-10.

McCloud finished 20-for-29 with 252 yards, 3 passing touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Torrance Burgess Jr. finished with 85 of Texas State’s 215 rushing yards.

Troy QB Tucker Kilcrease was 17-for-28, throwing for 249 yards and two touchdowns for the Trojans. Troy WR Landon Parker led all receivers in the game with 83 receiving yards on 5 catches.

Texas State’s Jo’Laison Landry also wreaked some havoc, finishing with 2.5 of Texas State’s 6 sacks, while Steven Parker contributed another couple sacks and 4 of Texas State’s 11 tackles for loss.

Sam Houston Downs UTEP 41-21 to Get to 5-1

Sam Houston RB DJ McKinney led all rushers with 138 yards and two touchdowns, while QB Hunter Watson threw two TD passes, to lead Sam Houston to a 41-21 win over UTEP on Thursday night to get to 5-1 and be one game away from bowl eligibility in just the program’s second year at the FBS level.

Sam Houston controlled the 3rd quarter, putting together 3 drives of at least 60 yards to make it a 38-7 game. On each of the drives, plays of 33+ yards were how the Bearkats found the end zone, including a 59 yard McKinney rush to make it 38-7.

UTEP put a couple touchdowns late to close the gap to a more respectable 38-21, before a late Sam Houston field goal, but the damage was already done at that point – Sam Houston’s 3rd quarter was too much for UTEP to come back from.

Watson finished 19-for-29 for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns without even playing in the fourth quarter. McKinney may have led all rushers, but the Bearkats as a team put up almost 300 rushing yards as a team.

UTEP QB Cade McConnell finished 15-for-28 with 204 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. UTEP’s Kenny Odom led all pass catchers with 70 yards.

Sam Houston finished with only 6 tackles for loss, but Chris Murray contributed 3.5 of those.

Report: Mountain West Considering Adding Hawaii As Full Member

Per a report by Brett McMurphy, the Mountain West and Hawaii are in discussions to make Hawaii’s membership a full membership, rather than just a football-only membership.

Currently, Hawaii’s other sports participate in the Big West conference. To meet the FBS requirements for its conference, the Mountain West needs 8 full-time members. After losing Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State, and Utah State, the Mountain West finds itself in a precarious position to potentially lose certain rights and privileges as a conference with less than 8 members if it cannot shore up membership numbers before the two-year grace period ends.

Adding Hawaii for other sports brings on many logistical challenges to get all the way out to the islands, but having another full-time member would be a large benefit for the conference.

Georgia Star Edge Mykel Williams Upgraded to Probable

Auburn is traveling to Georgia this weekend, and star edge Mykel Williams has been missing the past few weekends with an ankle injury. However, Williams was recently upgraded from questionable to probable yesterday.

DL Jordan Hall is still listed as questionable, and LB Smael Mondon is listed as out, which is a tough break for the Bulldogs, who would benefit greatly from both of them being available. Mondon’s loss, especially, hurts the Georgia defense as he is a large part of the defense and is one of the top rated defenders for the Bulldogs according to PFF grades.

4-Star WR Malachi Toney Decommits from Miami

4-star WR Malachi Toney decommitted from Miami yesterday after originally committing to the Hurricanes back on August 22nd.

Worth noting, Toney recently reclassified to the 2025 cycle. Toney also recently went on a visit to Alabama, where he saw the Crimson Tide’s instant classic game against Georgia.

Toney is ranked highest by Rivals, who tabs him as the 32nd ranked WR in the class. The On3 industry composite places him 353rd nationally and 55th at the WR position.

Miami’s 2025 class currently has 13 Blue Chip commitments and 21 commitments overall for a 2025 class which ranks 12th nationally and 1st in the ACC, still.

Wisconsin RB Chez Mellusi Stepping Away Indefinitely After “Numerous Injuries”

Wisconsin RB Chez Mellusi is stepping away from the Wisconsin program indefinitely to focus on his health after suffering injuries and the recovery process not going the way everyone would have hoped.

The statement from Wisconsin shared that “he’s endured many injuries and has worked extremely hard to be able to play this year, but his body hasn’t responded the way he expected. We’re here to support Chez in any way we can and hope he’ll be back on the football field again one day.”

According to On3, there is a chance that Mellusi returns at some point during the 2024 season, but if he doesn’t, it’s more likely that Mellusi steps away from football than entering the transfer portal and trying to start somewhere new.

Mellusi was the Badgers’ leading rusher on the season with 232 yards and three touchdowns on 56 carries.

NC State DE Red Hibbler Entering Portal, Led Wolfpack in Sacks in ‘23

NC State’s Red Hibbler is planning to enter his name into the transfer portal, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Hibbler led NC State with 6.5 sacks in 2023, but now he is no longer with the program. Apparently, he was removed from the roster last week, but an NC State spokesperson confirmed nothing more than that he was no longer on the roster with no reasoning provided.

In 13 games last season, Hibbler finished with 13 combined tackles but 7 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. Those 6.5 sacks came spread out across 6 games total.

Hibbler will have one year of eligibility remaining after originally transferring into NC State from Northwest Mississippi Community College. While in community college, Hibbler finished with 73 tackles, 15 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles in 30 games.

3-Star DL Floyd Boucard Commits to USC

High 3-star DL Floyd Boucard committed to USC yesterday after previously committing (and decommitting last month) to Oklahoma.

Boucard said that he was previously locked in with Oklahoma, but after seeing how USC has looked this season, that changed his mind and now he wants to shut his recruitment down and play for the Trojans.

Boucard is ranked as high as 17th for his position by Rivals – who rates him as a 4-star, but the On3 industry composite places Boucard 479th nationally and 44th at his position.

USC is up to 21 commitments for the 2025 class, including 12 Blue Chip commitments, for a class which ranks 10th nationally and 3rd in the Big Ten, behind only Ohio State and Oregon.

UCF DB Bryon Threats Redshirting, Entering Portal

UCF DB Bryon Threats is planning on redshirting and entering the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining.

Threats originally started his career with Cincinnati, spending his first three seasons with the Bearcats, where he started 19 games and played on the 2021 team that made the College Football Playoff.

In 2023, he played in 12 games and started 9 for Cincinnati, finishing 2nd on the team in total tackles (57), adding 6 passes defended, 2 interceptions, and a sack.

In his career, Threats has tallied 130 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 4 interceptions, and 9 passes defended.

2026 3-Star QB Cash Herrera Commits to Iowa

2026 consensus 3-star QB Cash Herrera committed to Iowa yesterday over UCLA, among other offers.

For Herrera, he said his visit to the Iowa State game this season was “super influential” in his decision. He was impressed with how he and his family were treated, and it feels like a family atmosphere that he wants to be a part of.

The On3 industry composite ranks Herrera 510th nationally and 40th at the QB position for the 2026 class.

This is Iowa’s 2nd commitment for the 2026 class, as Herrera joins 4-star OT Carson Nielsen.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (87) RB Daniel Anderson decommits from Notre Dame

3-Star (81) ATH Jaylen Johnson commits to Southern Utah

Unrated LB Andre Farrow commits to Georgia State

Unrated LB Brenden Reese commits to North Texas

2026 Unrated Edge Mason Leak commits to Boston College