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.

Thamel: UTEP in “Deep Discussions” with Mountain West

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Mountain West is in “deep discussions” with UTEP about possibly leaving the Conference USA to join the conference.

Both the Mountain West and Pac-12 are looking to get to the requisite 8 member institutions to be a conference in the eyes of the NCAA. Texas State, Northern Illinois, and Toledo are all also schools which have been suggested as potential candidates for Mountain West expansion.

UTEP, geographically, makes the most sense as it is located essentially in New Mexico, where Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico all come together. NIU and Toledo would be football only members, and Texas State would be a full member for all sports.

SEC & Big Ten Looking For 4 Automatic Spots in Each CFP

According to ESPN’s Heather Dinich, the Big Ten and SEC are coming together for some sort of scheduling partnership. But more importantly, the two conferences are also interested in securing four guaranteed spots for each conference in the CFP as early as 2026.

Dinich is reporting that “CFP leaders haven’t determined yet what the playoff will look like beyond this season and next. Some said they need to know that before making any decisions about future scheduling partnerships.”

An SEC source told Dinich: “I’m for anything that gives us the maximum number of postseason opportunities. I don’t count bowl games as postseason opportunities.” As nauseating as that is to read, the purpose from the SEC’s and Big Ten’s perspective is to remove as much subjectivity in the hands of the CFP Committee as possible.

Some officials with the SEC and Big Ten have expressed an interest in limiting the role of the committee, with some suggesting even eliminating it entirely.

DJ Uiagalelei Injury Update: Backup QB Brock Glenn to Start

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Florida State QB DJ Uiagalelei is expected to miss some time – at least a few weeks – after suffering an injury to his hand in Florida State’s 42-16 loss to SMU.

In Uiagalelei’s place, backup QB Brock Glenn is expected to start.

In 5 games, DJU had 1,065 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions to go with a 53.8% completion percentage.

Glenn has appeared in 6 games in his career and has thrown for 229 yards and 2 interceptions on 19-for-55 passing. He has also added 22 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries (including sacks). Most of that action came against Louisville in the ACC Championship and against Georgia in the Orange Bowl.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers Injury Update Ahead of Rivalry Game Against Oklahoma

Quinn Ewers suffered an injury to his oblique when Texas beat UTSA in Week 3 and has since missed starts against both UL Monroe and Mississippi State, games in which backup QB Arch Manning comfortably led the Longhorns to victories in.

Ewers was listed as questionable the entire last week ahead of Texas’ game against Mississippi State, but was ultimately officially ruled out 90 minutes before kickoff. Reports unofficially were that he was never all that close to playing, but there was always an outside chance.

For Texas’ game against Oklahoma next weekend, Coach Steve Sarkisian said that, “[Ewers has] got to do enough to show me he can play. … We’ve got a game plan. Can he execute the game plan? I hate to pare it down to that, but that’s really the truth. I want to make sure he’s healthy enough to play at a high level. Can he go operate the game plan we have in place for him?”

Texas has a bye week to give Ewers one more week to rest up, but his ability to get healthy is incredibly important for Texas and its National Championship aspirations, even though backup QB Arch Manning has looked very solid this season, totaling 900 passing yards, 9 passing touchdowns, only 2 interceptions, a 70.5% completion percentage, 82 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns on just 13 carries. Manning’s 11.5 passing yards per attempt ranks 2nd in the NCAA so far.

Billy Napier on Florida’s Plan to Rotate Graham Mertz & DJ Lagway

Florida’s Billy Napier shared that there is going to be a set plan to rotate between Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway, but there will be the ability to adjust as needed, like the Gators did against Mississippi State.

Napier acknowledged this is not a simple QB competition: “if they were very similar in experience and age, you know, then – and it was a true competition, then I think we probably would treat it that way. But we would make that decision in camp. I think here we’ve got a very unique dynamic. You got a guy who is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Then you got a young player who undoubtedly brings a level to the team that I think can help the team be better.”

On the season, Mertz has thrown for 487 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions for 75% passing, while also adding 34 rushing yards on 10 attempts. Lagway, on the other hand, has thrown for 617 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions on 66.67% passing, while also adding 38 rushing yards on 16 attempts.

Napier also said, “I think ultimately for me, what I don’t want is a guy to be playing cautious. I want him to do what he’s supposed to do, have confidence in the play, be aggressive, and then they’re working together and not looking over their shoulder worrying about if I screw up. I just don’t think that’s good for either player.”

Big Ten Announces Rule Change After Controversial Call in Michigan vs. Minnesota

The Big Ten announced yesterday that they were changing their rules regarding where officials are to stand to prevent another onside kick mishap like that which happened in the Michigan vs. Minnesota game this past weekend.

Via ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the conference released a statement stating, “effective immediately, the Big Ten has been approved by the NCAA to implement a modified officiating mechanic that will allow the conference to change the manner in which it officiates onside kicks by positioning the Line Judge and Head Line-Judge on the kicking team’s restraining line, thereby putting multiple officials in the best position to consistently make the correct judgment.”

Minnesota was called for an offsides on an onside kick which it recovered down 3 points with just 1:36. The only problem with that call is it does not look like any Gophers were offsides. The following kick was recovered by Michigan, and that was the ballgame.

SMU CB Jahari Rogers to Opt Out of Rest of 2024 Season, Redshirt, & Transfer

SMU CB Jahari Rogers has announced he will be opting out of the rest of the 2024 season, redshirting, and transferring after graduating from SMU this December.

Rogers started his career in Florida after being a Top 100 recruit in the 2020 recruiting cycle, but transferred to SMU after just one year there.

He has appeared in 43 games in his career, totaling 76 combined tackles, 16 passes defended, 3 interceptions, 2 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.

In 2024, however, Rogers has appeared in just 3 games for a total of 38 snaps but had a solid PFF grade of 84.3 in limited action. He saw the most action in 2021, playing 619 snaps and registering a PFF grade of 53.9

3-Star TE Dakotah Terrell Commits to Missouri

3-star TE Dakotah Terrell committed to Missouri yesterday over offers from Michigan, Texas A&M, and in-state programs Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, among others.

Some sources list Terrell as 6-foot-8, some list him as 6-foot-9. Either way, we feel comfortable listing him as “really tall.”

Terrell ranks as highly as 19th at his position according to 247Sports, with the On3 industry composite ranking him 554th nationally and 31st for his position. This ranking is really anchored by his Rivals rating of 5.6, though, as the other 3 major recruiting services rank Terrell somewhere between 19th and 24th at the TE position.

This is Missouri’s 18th commitment for a 2025 class which also ranks 18th nationally and 9th in the SEC.

3-Star WR Carl Jenkins Decommits from UCF

3-star WR Carl Jenkins Jr. decommitted from UCF yesterday after originally committing back on June 29th.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine give Louisville, USF, Mississippi State, and Florida A&M the best chance to land Jenkins’ commitment, in that order, with a recommitment to UCF the most likely probability at the moment. He also holds offers from Texas A&M, Miami, Iowa, Duke, Indiana, Pitt, West Virginia, Kansas, and others

Rivals ranks him the highest as the 68th highest WR, rating him 4-stars. The On3 industry composite ranks him 712th nationally and 111th for his position.

UCF has 18 commitments for the 2025 class, a 2025 class which drops to 29th nationally and ranks 2nd of 16 in the Big 12.

3-Star WR Lebron Hill Decommits from Purdue

3-star WR Lebron Hill decommits from Purdue yesterday after originally committing back on June 25th.

Hill’s decommitment comes very shortly after Purdue decided to move on from Offensive Coordinator Graham Harrell.

Hill is ranked as high as 91st in the country at his position according to Rivals, and the On3 industry composite ranks him 858th nationally and 135th at his position.

Purdue still has 13 commitments for the 2025 class, a fairly lean class which ranks 56th nationally and 16th out of 18 in the Big Ten.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (86) LB Mana Tuioti commits to Boise State

3-Star (85) Edge Josh Smith decommits from Coastal Carolina

3-Star (82) CB Lamarcus Hicks flips from Northern Illinois to Iowa State

Unrated DL Jartavius Flounoy commits to Georgia State