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

Louisiana Remains Only Unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference Play with 23-17 Win Over Texas State

Louisiana improved to 4-0 in conference play and 7-1 overall as the only Sun Belt team to remain undefeated in conference play as it got past Texas State 23-17.

Louisiana outgained Texas State 423-378 and was much more efficient, finishing with 6.82 yards per play compared to the Bobcats’ 5.25 yards per play. Louisiana also won the turnover battle 2-0, with both turnovers coming in a second half where Texas State only had the ball 4 times in a one-possession game and scored on the other possessions.

Texas State QB Jordan McCloud suffered an ankle injury in the first half of this one, but was 12-for-18 for 88 yards when he got hurt. RJ Martinez relieved him, finishing 11-for-14 for 113 yards and the interception in Texas State’s last possession.

RB Ismail Mahdi finished with 82 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while Torrance Burgess Jr. also added 65 rushing yards.

Louisiana kept WR Joey Hobert in check, as he finished with only 3 catches and 14 receiving yards, but WR Kole Wilson did finish with a respectable 57 yards on 6 catches.

For Louisiana, QB Ben Wooldridge finished 18-for-28 with 252 yards and a touchdown while also adding 39 rushing yards. RB Dre’lyn Washington led all rushers in this game with 94 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, while RB Zylan Perry also added 28 yards of his own. WR Lance LeGendre led all receivers in this one with 76 receiving yards.

Both kickers were perfect in this one, as Louisiana’s Kenneth Almendares and Texas State’s Mason Shipley each went 3-for-3, though all of Shipley’s were from within 25 yards.

Sam Houston Beats Louisiana Tech In A Game with 11 Punts and 6 Turnovers 9-3

Sam Houston’s Jeyvon Ducker scored the decisive and lone touchdown on the day as Sam Houston improved to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the Conference USA with a 9-3 win over Louisiana Tech.

Louisiana Tech had an amusing drive chart to open this one up (unless you’re a Louisiana Tech fan): fumble, field goal, safety, interception, fumble, and finally, end of half. And despite their troubles, Louisiana Tech still somehow had a 3-2 lead at halftime because Sam Houston’s drive chart was less amusing but equally inept: punt, punt, punt, interception, and finally, a turnover on downs.

Sam Houston scored on its first drive of the second half thanks to Ducker’s 40-yard touchdown run. But then Louisiana Tech went punt, punt, punt, punt, fumble, turnover on downs, and turnover on downs. And Sam Houston followed the touchdown with drives of missed field goal, punt, punt, fumble, punt, punt, and then victory formation.

And that’s how you have a game with 12 total points scored.

For the Bulldogs, Louisiana Tech starting QB Evan Bullock was 16-for-25 for 148 yards and an interception. Starting the 4th quarter was backup Jack Turner, who finished 8-for-15 for 59 yards. At RB, Omiri Wiggins finished with 49 yards on 11 carries, while Amani Givens finished with 10 carries and 27 rushing yards. WR Tru Edwards did finished with a game-leading 80 receiving yards on a game-leading 8 catches.

For the Bearkats, QB Hunter Watson finished 14-for-22 with 146 and an interception. Watson did suffer an injury somewhat late in this one, though, and backup QB Jase Bauer finished this one 4-for-4 with 17 yards. RB Jay Ducker led all rushers in this one with 72 rushing yards and the aforementioned touchdown on 13 carries.

FIU Uses Big Second Half to Beat New Mexico State 34-13

FIU’s Eric Rivers headlines with 295 receiving yards to set a program record as FIU pulls away from New Mexico State to win 34-13.

Eric Rivers gave FIU its first lead by hauling in a 52-yard pass early in the 2nd quarter to take a 7-3 lead, and the Panthers never trailed again. FIU would go on to win the second half 27-7 as it outgained the Aggies by a final total yardage tally of 438 to 246 with a yards per play discrepancy of 7.06 for FIU and 3.97 for New Mexico State.

FIU also won the turnover battle 2-0, thanks to an interception from each of New Mexico State’s quarterbacks from last night.

New Mexico State QB Santino Marucci led the Aggies in passing yards with just 18 on 2-for-4 passing and one of the two aforementioned interceptions. Brandon Nunez had the bulk of the pass attempts, though, finished 5-for-15 with 12 yards and an interception.

Both Marucci and Nunez each added 20 rushing yards, though, as New Mexico State ran for over 200 yards. Leading all rushers in this one was Mike Washington, who ran for 88 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, good for 8 yards per carry. Seth McGowan also added 65 rushing yards on 16 carries for New Mexico State.

As for FIU, QB Keyone Jenkins had a great game and finished 18-for-27 with 338 yards and 4 touchdowns, while also adding 27 rushing yards.

As mentioned, WR Eric Rivers had an explosive day, going for 295 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns on 11 catches, each a noteworthy statistic by themself.

West Virginia Expected to Part Ways with DC Jordan Lesley

According to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, West Virginia is expected to part ways with Defensive Coordinator Jordan Lesley, with linebackers coach Jeff Koonz expected to be named the interim.

Lesley was in his sixth season with the Mountaineers, where the team was 3rd to last in terms of scoring defense in the Big 12. Lesley was spent one season as the DL coach with the program before being promoted to DC the following season, where he was then a Broyles Award nominee in 2020 and 2021.

Lesley was West Virginia’s highest paid assistant coach, making $700,000 per year, according to USA Today.

Louisville Head Coach Jeff Brohm: Not In Agreement with Caullin Lacy Redshirting

Louisville WR Caullin Lacy was one of the prized transfers in the portal this past offseason for Louisville, but a broken collarbone in fall camp put a hamper on the early season hype.

However, Lacy battled back from injury and was able to play some of the season before ultimately deciding to shut it down and take a redshirt season.

Coach Jeff Brohm does not agree with this decision, though, stating, “well, with Caullin, you know, we support all of the decisions that our players make, that they think is best for them. You know, I was not in agreement with the decision. It was not best for our football team, but I understand where he’s coming from. We definitely want to do what’s best for all of our players and always will do that.”

The notable thing here is that Lacy’s agent shared that this “was a decision agreed upon by both parties,” back when it was first announced that Lacy would be sitting out the rest of the season to heal up and come back in 2025 for a full season. But as for 2025, Coach Brohm is still interested in what Lacy has to offer, saying, “when it comes to Caullin Lacy? You know, we’d love to have him back.”

Big Ten on Michigan/Michigan State Skirmish: No Further Action Will Be Taken

The Big Ten has released a statement after a fight broke out between Michigan and Michigan State at the end of their game (again).

Below is the entire statement, but the long-story made short is that the video review was inconclusive, and no further action is being taken. This should effectively end this chapter in the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry.

The statement from the Big Ten reads: “The Big Ten Conference thoroughly reviewed video of the incident that occurred at the conclusion of Saturday’s Michigan-Michigan State football game. Amidst the confrontation, student-athletes from both teams were on the ground and surrounded by so many individuals that both players were completely obscured from view. The video review was inconclusive as to whether individual discipline was appropriate for anyone in the immediate vicinity of the two players who were on the ground. While the confrontation was a disappointing conclusion to the contest, the Conference appreciates the efforts made by staff from both teams, security personnel, and game officials to rapidly de-escalate the incident, as well as the responses by both head coaches. The Big Ten discussed the situation with both institutions and determined that no further action be taken.”

Brent Venables on Jackson Arnold: Why Would He Not Want to Be Back?

Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables was recently asked if he expected QB Jackson Arnold to want to be back, rather than transferring after a season that saw him benched and then reinstated as the starter.

Coach Venables stated that he believes that Arnold has the right stuff and will not back down from previous adversities. He also said, “my assumption is that you’re dang right he wants to be back. Why would he not?”

Coach Venables continued, “you turned down a lot of good people to come here, and now that you’ve faced some headwinds, now you’re just going to quit? I don’t see that in him, and I don’t see that in guys in our locker room. Does it happen in college football and in life? You’re damn right but not with people that are built with the right stuff, not at all. Jackson’s got the right stuff.”

Georgia Tech Special Teams Coord. and CBs Coach, Ricky Brumfield, No Longer on Staff

Adam Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported that Ricky Brumfield is no longer with Georgia Tech. Brumfield was the Associate Head Coach for Special Teams and Cornerbacks Coach.

Georgia Tech has since released the following statement: “Georgia Tech associate head coach for special teams Ricky Brumfield is no longer with the program. Senior advisor to the head coach Tim Salem will assume the role of coordinating the Yellow Jackets’ special teams.”

Brumfield did not travel with Georgia Tech on the road to Virginia Tech, to which Head Coach Brent Key had little to share other than that he did not make the trip, and that’s all the information he had.

This was Brumfield’s second season with Key’s Georgia Tech staff; he was special teams coordinator last season before taking on an expanded role this season as associate head coach for special teams, as well as also taking on the role of cornerbacks coach.

Mario Cristobal on (Lack of) Familiarity with Manny Diaz

Miami faces off against Duke this weekend in a matchup where both coaches have something in common: being the head ball coaches at Miami, as Manny Diaz was the Head Coach at Miami prior to Mario Cristobal.

Both Diaz and Cristobal started as graduate assistants in 1998, Diaz at Florida State and Cristobal at Miami, but since, Cristobal shared that their paths have not crossed much.

Cristobal pointed out that they may have gone up against each other as position coaches or coordinators when Cristobal was at Alabama and FIU while Diaz was at Mississippi State and Middle Tennessee, respectively.

What Cristobal did have to say about Diaz and Diaz’s Duke team is that he thinks they’re, “really impressive, they force a lot of turnovers. Besides the turnover margin, third down they’re excellent, red zone they’re excellent. Tackles for loss, I believe they’re second or third in the country, if not first. Very disruptive, they play really hard. …”

Texas Tech QB Behren Morton Injury Update

Texas Tech faces #10 Iowa State this weekend, and is dealing with some questions at the quarterback position as QB Behren Morton suffered a shoulder injury against TCU that forced him out of the game.

Through 8 games, Morton currently has personal highs for both passing yards and passing touchdowns in a single season, but did need QB Will Hammond to finish the game for him last week.

However, ESPN’s Pete Thamel is reporting that Morton had a strong practice yesterday and is expected to play.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (86) IOL Takaylen Muex decommits from Miami

3-Star (84) IOL Liam Vaughan decommits from Western Michigan