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.

Current Subscriber Count: 490

Goal: 1,000 by the National Championship on 1/20/25

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS:

TODAY’S SCHEDULE:

Betting Information as of time of writing

5-Star WR Jaime Ffrench Commits to Texas

5-Star WR Jaime Ffrench committed to Texas yesterday over LSU and Miami, among others like Tennessee.

Ffrench said that since his first visit to Texas, he’s considered the Longhorns the program to beat in recruiting him, and LSU and Miami both gave him something to think about at different times. But ultimately, it’s always been Texas.

Ffrench also sees what Coach Sarkisian has been building and continues to build in Austin, and he wants to be part of what he sees as a future national champion caliber team and coaching staff.

Ffrench ranks as high as 16th nationally and 2nd at the WR position, ranking 18th nationally and 3rd at his position according to On3’s industry composite.

This is Texas’ 3rd 5-star, 12th Blue Chip, and 19th commitment overall for the 2025 class, a class which ranks 6th nationally and 5th in the SEC.

Oklahoma WR Jalil Farooq Breaks Foot vs. Temple, Out 6-8 Weeks

Oklahoma WR Jalil Farooq broke his foot last night in Oklahoma’s game against Temple and is now expected to miss between 6 to 8 weeks.

Farooq came out of the game in the first half, and limped to the locker room later. This is a really tough loss for the Sooners, who had high expectations for Farooq as he was coming off a career high 694 yards in 2023.

UNC QB Max Johnson Officially Out for Season After Breaking Leg

North Carolina QB Max Johnson was carted off the field against Minnesota on Thursday night.

It was clear Johnson was significantly and severely injured, but the specific injury and extent of severity was not officially known. It was speculated but not confirmed that Johnson would be out for the season, but that has now been confirmed.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel officially reported yesterday that Johnson suffered a broken leg and would be out for the season. He successfully underwent surgery yesterday in Minneapolis and will return to Chapel Hill in a few days. Johnson, thankfully, is expected to make a full recovery.

Colorado S Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig Injury

Colorado’s starting safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig left the game against North Dakota State on Thursday night with an injury, but it’s unclear the severity of his injury.

Coach Deion Sanders also did not have many answers, saying that he had no update and hoped to have some answers soon.

What Sanders could say about Silmon-Craig helps explain the level of loss this would be for the Buffaloes defense: “He’s a leader, he’s a dog. He’s one of our defensive guys that, you know, losing a guy like that early in the game hurts. It did.”

4-Star DL Kevin Oatis Commits to Arkansas

4-Star DL Kevin Oatis committed to Arkansas yesterday over LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and others.

Oatis took an official visit to Fayetteville during the last weekend of May, and has been getting recruited by Pittman and Co. at Arkansas for around 20 months since being offered.

Oatis ranks 331st nationally and 27th at his position according to the On3 industry composite, but 3 of the 4 major recruiting services rank him 27th or better at his position. So, his recruiting ranking is anchored by On3’s individual rating, which finds him ranked 74th at the DL position.

This is Arkansas’ 4th Blue Chip commitment and 23rd commitment overall for a 2025 class which ranked 29th prior to Oatis’ commitment being factored in to the rankings. The Razorbacks’ 2025 class ranks 13th of 16 in the SEC.

Pitt RB Rodney Hammond Jr. Ineligible for 2024 Season

Pitt RB Rodney Hammond Jr. was competing to be the starting RB this season, but has apparently been ruled ineligible for the 2024 season.

The team announced in a press release that Hammond was ineligible for the 2024 season, that he was still a member of the team, and would be allowed to practice with the team. But no reason was provided, and none is known.

As a junior in 2023, Hammond put up 547 yards and four touchdowns, a career year for the running back.

In Hammond’s absence, Pitt now moves down the depth chart to Desmond Reid, a transfer from Western Carolina who coach Pat Narduzzi has already named the starting RB. Reid ran for 1,721 yards for the Catamounts before transferring in to Pitt.

Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz Not Worried about Injuries to Brett Norfleet & Theo Wease

Both starting TE Brett Norfleet and WR Theo Wease got banged up in Missouri’s 31-0 win over Murray State, but coach Eli Drinkwitz is not alarmed by what happened.

Both players exited in the first half of the game and never returned to the field, but Coach Drinkwitz specifically said that the Tigers “were just going to be smart with them in the second half. So I think they’ll be fine.”

It’s unclear from this answer is this means both players are healthy enough to play in the future and were just held out in the second half in an abundance of caution and lack of necessity, or if there was legitimate concern for their health in the future.

Oklahoma Starting Center Branson Hickman Leaves Temple Game with Ankle Injury

Oklahoma starting center Branson Hickman played 10 snaps last night against Temple for Oklahoma before seemingly injuring his ankle. He would walk off the field on his own power but would not return to the game.

Hickman transferred in to Oklahoma as one of the most coveted interior offensive linemen in the transfer portal after having spent his previous four seasons with SMU, playing in a total of 37 games and ranking out towards the top of the country in terms of PFF grade for centers.

It is unclear the severity of his injury, if he will miss any more action, or the timetable for his return. But given the questions for Oklahoma’s OL, especially concerning a possible lack of depth, Hickman’s health is something for Sooners fans to keep tabs on moving forward.

Ratings Release: Colorado/NDSU Averaged 4.8M Viewers

ESPNPR yesterday released that it’s Thursday night game between North Dakota State and Colorado on the main, flagship ESPN channel averaged 4.8 million viewers.

This marked the best Thursday night opener on ESPN since 2017, and was an increase in viewership from 2023’s matchup between Utah and Florida by 49%.

Last season, Colorado averaged 8.83 million viewers in its first four games, though those games were all on Saturdays.

3-Star ATH James Johnson Commits to USC

3-Star ATH James Johnson committed to USC over Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, and UCF, among others.

Johnson has yet to get to USC’s campus, however, as he will be making his first visit this fall when he makes an official visit. Despite not having visited yet, Johnson makes his commitment in large part due to his relationship with some members of the coaching staff, mainly DC D’Anton Lynn and DBs Coach Doug Belk.

Johnson ranks as the 1,452nd ranked prospect and 196th ranked WR on On3’s industry composite.

This is USC’s 18th commitment for the 2025 class, a class which ranks 16th nationally and 4th in the Big Ten, just ahead of Penn State.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

None.