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

New Mexico State Beats Louisiana Tech In Double OT 33-30

New Mexico State beat Louisiana Tech last night in double overtime, 33-30, to pick up its first conference win of the season.

Louisiana Tech had a chance to win the game in regulation, but a 27-yard-field goal was blocked by New Mexico State, forcing overtime. After dueling field goals in the first overtime, and Louisiana Tech kicking a field goal to open the second overtime, a 4-yard run from RB Mike Washington proved to be the decisive score.

New Mexico State was outgained 399 to 364 and lost the turnover battle 2-0, but ultimately the Aggies did just enough to win the game. QBs Parker Awad and Brandon Nunez finished with a combined 204 passing yards and a touchdown on 15-for-29 passing while also adding a combined 53 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns on 10 carries.

RB Seth McGowan led all rushers with 66 rushing yards on 17 carries. And New Mexico State DE Kale Edwards finished with an insane 4 sacks and 7 total tackles.

For Louisiana Tech, WR Tru Edwards led all receivers with 9 catches, 102 receiving yards, and both passing touchdowns thrown. QB Evan Bullock finished 22-for-41 with 225 yards and 2 touchdowns. RB Omiri Wiggins finished with a team-high 60 rushing yards and the running back room’s only touchdown on 13 carries.

South Alabama Beats Troy 25-9 After Taking Early 19-0 Lead

South Alabama commandingly beat Troy in a game where the Jaguars outgained the Trojans by 146 yards and won the turnover battle 3-0.

Troy threw 3 interceptions, including one to Lardarius Webb Jr. that was nearly returned for a pick-six. QB Tucker Kilcrease opened the game 2-for-6 for -6 passing yards and a pick before being replaced by Matthew Caldwell, who finished 17-for-30 with 142 yards, a passing touchdown, and 2 interceptions.

For Troy, defender Brendan Jackson did have an impressive game, finishing 2nd in the game with 10 tackles and leading the game with 4.5 tackles for loss. Devonte Ross also played well for the Trojans, finishing with 7 catches, 70 receiving yards, and Troy’s lone touchdown.

South Alabama QB Gio Lopez finished 16-for-21 with 158 passing yards and a passing touchdown. Lopez also led all rushers in this game with 67 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. RB Fluff Bothwell added 53 rushing yards on 12 carries.

In Game with 16 Punts, 757 Punting Yards, Middle Tennessee Beats Winless Kennesaw State 14-5

Middle Tennessee beat a winless Kennesaw State 14-5 in a defensive slugfest that only saw one offensive touchdown.

5 drives went at least 40 yards, but only 2 resulted in points, as two teams turned the ball over on downs following drives of 80 and 71 yards, respectively. Middle Tennessee also missed a field goal on a 9-play, 57-yard drive.

On the game, only 518 yards were gained by both teams combined, as Kennesaw State finished with 3.84 yards per play and Middle Tennessee had a marginally better 4.06 yards per play.

Owls RB Qua Ashley led all rushers with 79 rushing yards on 11 carries. Though, one rush did go for 60 yards, which means the rest of his 10 carries went for a combined 19 yards.

Kennesaw State QBs Khalib Johnson and Braden Bohannon combined for 103 passing yards and 2 interceptions on a combined 10-for-27 passing.

Middle Tennessee QB Nicholas Vattiato finished with 199 passing yards on 19-for-34 passing, with Holden Willis and Omari Kelly his favorite targets (8 rec, 92 yds; 6 rec, 77 yds). Kelly also scored a punt return touchdown, giving Middle Tennessee it’s second touchdown of the game.

RBs Jaiden Credle and Jakail Middlebrook did a bulk of the rushing for the Blue Raiders; Credle finished with 49 yards on 10 carries, while Middlebrook finished with 42 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

To give some credit to the punters, Kennesaw State’s Jacob Ulrich punted the ball 9 times and averaged almost 50 yards per punt with an average of 48.2 yards and 3 pinned inside the 20. Middle Tennessee’s Grant Chadwick also averaged a solid 46.1 yards per punt on his 7 punts.

USC LB Eric Gentry Will Redshirt After Multiple Injuries Hamper 2024 Season

USC LB Eric Gentry has announced he will redshirt this season after suffering multiple concussions early in the year.

Gentry shared that it was a tough decision, but after discussing his well-being and long-term health with his family and the coaching staff, taking the rest of the season off after a series of concussions in a short period of time is in his best interest.

In his statement, Gentry made it abundantly clear that this is not an opt out move for the purposes of preserving eligibility to earn more NIL money: “I want to make it clear that this decision has absolutely nothing to do with my playing time or NIL opportunities. My love for this team, this program, and all of you is unwavering. I give it my all on the field thanks to Allah SWT, and I will continue to support my teammates and the Trojans in every way I can as I focus on getting back to full health. Thank you for all your support, and I look forward to coming back stronger than ever inshallah.”

Georgia LB Smael Mondon Expected to Miss Game Against #1 Texas

Georgia is expected to be without starting LB Smael Mondon this weekend against #1 Texas.

Mondon did not play against Mississippi State, and On3’s Georgia affiliate is reporting that Mondon is expected to miss at least a few more games, including this weekend’s game against Texas.

Currently, there is no exact timetable for Mondon’s return, but he was a key piece of the defense, including 5 tackles, a pass defended, and half of a sack against Alabama in the close loss.

NCAA Looking To Change Rule Around 12-Men On the Field After Oregon’s Intentional Use

The NCAA Football Playing Rules Committee is apparently actively engaged in taking some in-season action after Oregon and Dan Lanning exploited the benefits of a 12-men on the field penalty to beat Ohio State 32-31.

Yahoo! Sports recently reported that the NCAA was evaluating the situation after Coach Lanning shared that the Ducks were prepared for the situation. And the situation was that the clock would not be reset, thus costing Ohio State the more valuable commodity (time) in exchange for a less valuable commodity (5 yards). The Big Ten officiating crew handled everything properly, which is the crux of the issue, evidently.

Formal rule changes can only be made in the off-season, so at least for now, taking advantage of extra defenders in exchange for time dripping off the clock will last throughout 2024, though this rarely comes into play.

Oklahoma’s Brent Venables on Jackson Arnold: He Wants to Be the Starting QB of OU

In the 2024 season, players redshirting and then transferring has become common after either not getting the playing time the player wants or the player is benched outright, like QB Jackson Arnold was.

Arnold did not use a redshirt in 2023, despite being the backup, due to being used in a variety of specialty packages in more than 4 games. He has, however, only played in 4 games thus far in 2024.

When asked about the possibility of Arnold opting out of the rest of 2024 and transferring after redshirting, Coach Brent Venables shared:

“He wants to be the starting quarterback at the University of Oklahoma. I feel like it’s only right to give Mike [Hawkins] the opportunity a chance to be the guy and have a body of work. It’s been discussed between us. What was told to Jackson is, if we put you in, it’s because we need you to help us go win. We’re certainly sensitive to everything. We’re not sitting with our head in the sand or naive to what it is. But he’s a great teammate, and he wants to be the starting quarterback of the University of Oklahoma.”

SEC Assoc. Commissioner on Fake Injuries: Not Within My Job Description

SEC Associate Commissioner Garth Glissman was recently on the Paul Finebaum Show, and naturally, the topic of faking injuries came up.

Glissman started by stating “that’s not within my current job description.” But then Glissman shared more, pulling from his experience working with the NBA when injuries were a big question surrounding the league, as well.

Glissman said, “we had to, on occasion, look into whether a player really was healthy or not. The NBA has some different incentives. In the NBA, there were actually instances where star players weren’t playing enough, so the teams would say, ‘the player’s hurt, he can’t play in this game,’ and we’d say, ‘no we think he’s healthy enough to play.’”

Glissman continued, “so I’ve given that a little bit of thought, but that’s not currently within my job description. So maybe something for the future.”

USC Edge Anthony Lucas Out for Rest of Season

USC edge Anthony Lucas suffered an injury against Penn State and now will miss the rest of the season after undergoing a procedure to heal the injury.

Lucas is a transfer from Texas A&M’s 2022 class where he was experiencing the best year of his career yet. He finishes the season with 16 tackles and a pass defended.

Coach Lincoln Riley described the injury as a “lower extremity injury.” Coach Riley also said that it’s particularly disappointing for Lucas “because he had really improved and had an impact on our defense.”

2025 3-Star IOL Daniel Pierre-Louis Commits to Florida State

3-star IOL Daniel Pierre-Louis committed to Florida State yesterday over offers from Florida, NC State, and others.

Pierre-Louis took an official visit to Tallahassee a couple weeks ago, and after shared that he thought it was a great atmosphere. He also shared that he loved how he thought the guys worked together and the leadership that was evident in the building.

Pierre-Louis is a consensus 3-star, ranked the highest by On3. According to the On3 industry composite, Pierre-Louis is ranked 921st nationally and 71st at his position.

This is just Florida State’s 12th commitment for the 2025 class, a class which ranks 18th nationally and 3rd in the ACC. The Seminoles’ class, however, ranks 9th by average recruit ranking according to On3.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (88) WR Trishstin Glass commits to Wake Forest

3-Star (85) Zion Lawson commits to Georgia State

2-Star (79) IOL Cam Todd commits to Coastal Carolina

Unrated OT Kendall Walton commits to East Carolina

Unrated DL Archie Roseman V commits to Middle Tennessee