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

Opportunistic Defense and a Trio of Rushing TDs from Braydon Bennett Gets Coastal Carolina Past App State 38-24

For every stat that sounds good for App State, there is one that sounds better for Coastal Carolina, as App State could not get out of its way and Coastal Carolina capitalized on enough mistakes en route to a 38-24 win. Or, in other words, Coastal Carolina said to App State, “anything you can do, we can do better.”

App State outgained Coastal Carolina, finishing with 376 yards to the Chanticleers’ 353… But Coastal Carolina had a higher yards per play and success rate, with a yards per play difference of 5.98 vs. 5.29.

It could be argued that Coastal Carolina made too many mistakes by being penalized 8 times for 90 yards, compared to App State’s 3 penalties for a grand total of 11 yards… But App State turned the ball over 3 times – which Coastal Carolina scored 17 points from – while Coastal Carolina did not turn it over once.

App State RB Ahmani Marshall ran for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns on 28 carries… But Coastal Carolina RB’s Braydon Bennett and Christian Washington combined for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21 carries, with Bennett rushing for all 3 touchdowns.

App State QB Joey Aguilar finished 17-for-31 with 226 yards and a touchdown, while Coastal Carolina QB Ethan Vasko finished 14-for-18 with 150 yards and a touchdown… But Aguilar threw 2 interceptions, averaged 7.3 yards per attempt, lost a fumble, while Vasko threw no interceptions and averaged 8.3 yards per attempt while also finishing with nearly twice as many rush yards and an extra rushing touchdown over Aguilar.

App State finished 9-for-20 (45%) on conversion downs, not a terrible day… But Coastal Carolina finished 6-for-10 (60%) on conversion downs.

App State LB Brendan Harrington finished with 10 tackles and 1.5 TFLs… But Coastal Carolina LB Clev Lubin finished with 9 tackles, 3 sacks, and 3.5 TFLs.

That’s probably enough examples to show the narrow margin between Coastal Carolina (5-4, 5th in the Sun Belt East) and App State (4-5, 6th in the Sun Belt East).

Katin Houser Throws for 5 TDs, Rushes for Another as ECU Beats FAU 49-14

East Carolina defended Dowdy-Fickland Stadium and the Boneyard last night in its 49-14 win over FAU as QB Katin Houser went off and accounted for 6 touchdowns.

Houser was stellar, finishing with 343 yards and 5 passing touchdowns on 17-of-22 passing, while also adding another 52 rushing yards and a touchdown – including a 35-yard rushing touchdown at the end of the first half – on 5 carries.

There was a scary moment, as QB Cam Fancher needed to be carted off early following a big hit. Reports are that it is a broken collarbone and Fancher is done for the rest of the season. Backup QB Kasen Weisman came in and finished as FAU’s leading rusher, but that might be more an indictment on FAU’s overall inability to run the ball with much consistency rather than anything else.

Weisman finished 20-for-35 passing with 188 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. He led all Owls’ rushers with 41 yards on 6 carries, with starting RB CJ Campbell Jr. running for 34 yards on 11 carries while also catching 5 passes for 13 yards and a touchdown. Weisman, Campbell, Fancher, and Gemari Sands received 27 of the 32 rush attempts, finishing with 83 rushing yards on those attempts. That’s only 3.07 yards per rush.

The leading rusher in this game was ECU WR Jhari Patterson, who ran for 61 yards on 3 carries. After was ECU RB Rahjai Harris, who finished with 55 rushing yards and a touchdown on 8 carries.

With this win, ECU improved to 5-4 on the season and is now one win away from bowl eligibility just a few weeks removed from firing former Head Coach Mike Houston. FAU is still winless in the AAC, the last team yet to win a conference matchup.

Florida Announces Billy Napier Will Be Back in 2025

Florida has announced, via Athletic Director Scott Stricklin, that it intends to keep Coach Billy Napier for the 2025 season.

Stricklin said in his statement, in part, “I wanted to let you know that Billy Napier will continue as head football coach of the Florida Gators. As we’ve seen these past several weeks, the young men on this team represent what it means to be a Gator…. I am confident that Billy will meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

Many have speculated that part of the reason why Coach Napier is not going anywhere is due to the leadership concerns at the top for the university and the athletic department. President Ben Sasse stepped down earlier this year, leaving Florida without a permanent university President.

Without a permanent President, Athletic Director Scott Stricklin can operate without a permanent boss, and Scott Stricklin as Athletic Director has hired two coaches (Dan Mullen, Billy Napier) – the university allowing him to hire a third one has been considered unlikely according to plenty of people in the media space, including Bud Elliott of CBS and 247Sports.

So, it’s been speculated that so long as there is no permanent President to make a decision on Athletic Director Stricklin, Coach Napier has a slightly longer leash than he might otherwise have. How much longer that leash may or may not be, however, is up for debate.

Texas WR Johntay Cook II No Longer with Texas Program, Will Enter Transfer Portal

Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian has confirmed that former 5-star WR Johntay Cook is no longer with Texas.

Inside Texas was the first source to report this, stating that apparently this rift had been building for a little bit, ultimately culminating with both sides mutually parting ways mid-season.

Cook has 137 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns on 8 catches on the season, but he has not logged a reception since the Mississippi State game on September 28th.

Isaiah Bond, DeAndre Moore, and Matthew Golden have been getting the majority of the receptions, with Ryan Wingo and Silas Bolden also getting some touches.

Cook was the #3 WR in the 2023 class, a 5-star from DeSoto. He is now expected to enter the transfer portal where he presumably will look for an increased workload and share of the targets.

2026 4-Star LB Izayia Williams Decommits from Florida State

Consensus 2026 4-star LB Izayia Williams decommits from Florida State after committing back in early September.

When Williams committed to Florida State, it was shortly after decommitting from Syracuse, and his decommitment from Syracuse came only a few short months after decommitting from Louisville, where he was committed for a few months.

Izayia Williams is currently ranked as high as 38th nationally by ESPN and 2nd at the LB position according to On3. But the On3 industry composite has Williams ranked 85th nationally and 6th at the LB position.

Even though it is early on for the 2026 recruiting class cycle, Florida State still has 5 Blue Chip commitments.

Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea on Diego Pavia Injury: No Restrictions Anticipated Going Forward

Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia has been dealing with a litany of injuries the last few weeks, but Coach Clark Lea and Co. are not concerned about Pavia’s health as it relates to his ability to play and be an asset for the Commodores.

Coach Lea said recently, “I think, Diego – it’s wear and tear.” Yesterday, Pavia was listed as probable, with Coach Lea saying he’s not anticipating any restrictions and is expecting nothing holding him back or restricting him.

His health is a concern for Coach Lea as far as how he calls plays for Pavia and the offense, though. With Pavia’s play style being a more physical brand of football that leaves Pavia exposed to a slightly higher injury risk, Coach Lea did share that game flow will dictate a lot as he tries to protect Pavia from himself at times, so to speak.

Sherrone Moore on Getting to Bowl Eligibility: Gotta Have It

Michigan is currently sitting at 5-4 with the schedule finishing @ #8 Indiana, (bye), vs. Northwestern, and @ #2/3 Ohio State. With the exception of the COVID season, Michigan has made a bowl game every year since 2014, and for new Coach Sherrone Moore, he spoke on the importance of making a bowl in his first season.

“We got to get it. It’s huge for us, huge for the program. Just gives you another chance to go play football, to get better, and impact this team, and put another win in the win column,” Coach Moore said.

As for how to get there, Coach Moore shared that he is still consistent in his messaging: it’s about protecting the football, getting the football from the other team, creating explosives on offense, and limiting explosives on defense.

SEC Sets Scholarship Limit to 85 Despite House Settlement Limit, Will Reserve 20 “Walk-On” Spots

The House v. NCAA (proposed) settlement would allow for programs to have football rosters up to 105, with each of those players qualifying for a scholarship.

However, it was announced yesterday that the SEC was going to move forward maintaining the 85 scholarship limit that has been around since pre-House. Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports is reporting that 20 walk-ons will be allowed to get to the 105 roster limit number despite no laws or settlement terms preventing those walk-ons from receiving any sort of financial benefit or scholarship from the university.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts the rest of college football and if other conferences follow suit. This also comes within a day of Georgia coach Kirby Smart sharing concerns about the depth of his roster compared to previous seasons. It will be interesting to see how the hierarchy of college football is impacted if, say, the Big 12 and Brett Yormark, ever the contrarian, decides its schools should have 105 Big 12-level scholarship-caliber athletes on scholarship.

One argument that has been made in support of the SEC limiting scholarships to 85 has been that it frees up more money in the program’s budget to players at the top of the roster.

3-Star DL Ka’Mori Moore Commits to Iowa State

3-Star DL Ka’Mori Moore committed to Iowa State after decommitting from Oklahoma back in late September.

Moore was between Iowa State and Nebraska, with On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine having given Nebraska an overwhelming advantage.

Moore is ranked as high as 53rd at his position in the 2025 class according to Rivals, but the On3 industry composite rankings place him 805th nationally and 79th at his position.

Iowa State currently has 17 total commitments for a 2025 class which ranks 59th nationally and 12th out of 16 in the Big 12.

Kirk Herbstreit Announces Passing of Golden Retriever, Ben

Ben Herbstreit, the golden retriever of Kirk Herbstreit, passed away yesterday at 10 years old.

Ben had been undergoing cancer treatments through 2024, and Herbstreit announced yesterday that it took a turn for the worse, as it spread throughout his organs and there was no longer anything that could be done.

Ben started coming on the road with Kirk back during the 2023 season and was immediately a hit with fans, coaches, players, and the like, as he eventually started getting media credentials from every game he attended. Unfortunately, Ben’s condition turned for the worse in the last few weeks and Kirk shared some heartfelt updates about Ben’s worsening condition culminating in the announcement of his passing yesterday at 10 years old.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

2026 3-Star (86) Scottland Dover commits to App State

3-Star (85) IOL Thomas Barr decommits from West Virginia

3-Star (82) DL Trey Kennedy-Coleman commits to Portland State

3-Star (82) DL Brendon Rice decommits from Rice

Unrated OT Turner Bertrand commits to Washington State