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

South Alabama Blasts Appalachian State 48-14

South Alabama entered last night’s game as 7.5 point underdogs, but no one told the Jaguars they were not supposed to win, apparently, as it put a hurting on Appalachian State, 48-14.

South Alabama scored on 4 of its first 5 drives, jumping out to a 28-0 lead and averaging over 8 yards per play.

South Alabama QB Gio Lopez finished with 105 rushing yards, a rushing TD, 154 passing yards, and 2 passing TDs.

Ultimately, Appalachian State did finish with a moderately strong 5.66 yards per play, but South Alabama’s defense made plays when it mattered most, forcing two turnovers and getting two turnovers on downs. Appalachian State’s two touchdowns came at the ends of each half, as the Mountaineers hit a Hail Mary going into halftime. The Mountaineers also put together a scoring drive with under a minute in the 4th quarter when the game was already 48-7.

Arch Manning Making First Career Start Against UL Monroe

Texas QB Arch Manning has officially been announced the starter ahead of Texas’ game against UL Monroe.

Manning is filling in for an injured Quinn Ewers who suffered a minor oblique injury against UTSA. Ewers is considered day-to-day, but he is not healthy enough to go this weekend against the Warhawks.

Manning replaced Ewers during the game against UTSA, throwing for 223 yards and 4 passing touchdowns.

Consensus 4-Star LB Tyler Lockhart Commits to Mississippi State

Consensus 4-star LB Tyler Lockhart committed to Mississippi State yesterday over offers from Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, Tennessee, and others.

Lockhart was originally committed to Auburn but recently decommitted. Ultimately his relationship with Coach Jeff Lebby and the rest of the Mississippi State staff carried the day with the linebacker.

Lockhart is ranked 144th nationally and 14th at his position according to the On3 industry composite rankings.

This is Mississippi State’s 4th 4-star commitment and 19th commitment overall for a 2025 class which ranks 36th nationally and 15th in the SEC ahead of only Vanderbilt.

Mack Brown: Offense & Passing Identity Has Changed This Year

North Carolina coach Mack Brown recently spoke on the passing offense of the team, stating that the identity of the offense has changed. This is noticeable to anyone who has watched a North Carolina game, as the Tar Heels are averaging roughly 169 passing yards per game.

Brown spoke on the differences that the coaching staff has needed to adapt to going from 2 NFL quarterbacks to the quarterbacks currently on the roster. He did also point out that before the last game, all of the talk was on the running game and red zone efficiency.

But after going 5 for 6 in the red zone and rushing for over 300 yards, then Brown starts to get asked about the passing game, saying, “there’s always something to fix. These are human beings.”

How Confident Should USC Feel Against Michigan?

WeAreSC’s Scott Schrader recently shared the confidence level he believes USC should have going into its first Big Ten matchup against Michigan in The Big House.

Coming off USC’s first shutout since 2011, Schrader said that the Trojans are and should be incredibly confident ahead of the game against Michigan.

The bye week came at a good time for player’s health, as Schrader stated, “there’s a couple of guys that were dinged up that they’ll have back for Michigan.”

Schrader said that right now, the players have a high, high level of confidence. USC travels to Ann Arbor this weekend as 5.5 point favorites.

Steve Sarkisian: Quinn Ewers is Still the QB1 of Texas

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian recently shared that quarterback Quinn Ewers is still unequivocally the QB1 of #1 Texas once he comes back from injury. After suffering an oblique injury against UTSA, backup QB Arch Manning took over and impressed.

With Manning making his first start this weekend against UL Monroe, there were understandably some conversation on what is going to happen when Ewers is healthy. Sarkisian cleared that up, though: “One thing I tried to impress upon Quinn is – all the goals he had and that we’ve had for him coming into the season are all still there for him. I think we have a national championship-caliber team and he’s the quarterback of that team. I think we still have in front of us to go do that.”

So, once Ewers is healthy to come back, he will still be the QB1 for the Longhorns.

Mike Norvell on The Team Improving & Responding: Don’t Have a Choice

Florida State starting 0-3 was not ideal, and now the Seminoles and Mike Norvell feel like they have their back against the wall.

In talking about the team needing to respond, Norvell said that the Seminoles don’t have a choice. “If it’s true in your core of who you want to be, go get better and go show that you are better. Go take the steps that are necessary. We sit around and feel sorry for ourselves, but nobody cares. I’m like, ‘it doesn’t matter. Go show it. Show it in the work, show it in how we prepare and then dang well need to make sure that it shows up on game day.’”

Florida State hosts Cal tomorrow night at 7 PM ET as the team tries to find its first win of the season.

Mike Elko on Success With NIL: Nobody Wants To Give Away the Formula

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko recently was asked about how he consults mentors on NIL and the transfer portal, and Elko, frankly, was understandably not really sure how to answer.

Elko specifically stated that he doesn’t know that anyone really knows what they’re doing with the transfer portal or NIL, but if someone does have a formula that works for them, they’re not going to go and give it away: “I think everybody is working in their own, individual silos, trying to come up with the plan to give their university an advantage. And we’re certainly no different.”

Even though Elko has a couple of people he trusts to have backchannel conversations, but generally, the teams are on their own – especially when it comes to NIL.

Update from Brian Kelly on LSU WR Chris Hilton’s Injury

LSU WR Chris Hilton Jr. has been battling an ankle injury through the start of the 2024 season, not having played in the first few games of the season.

The great news for LSU is that coach Brian Kelly has shared that Hilton is probable for this weekend’s matchup against UCLA, but he will likely be reintroduced to the offense slowly and gradually. In the last couple of seasons, the speedster has caught a total of 22 balls for 415 yards and 3 touchdowns.

LSU hosts UCLA at 3:30 tomorrow.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson Wears ‘TCU Sucks’ Shirt Ahead of Iron Skillet

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson had a city council meeting in which he wore a shirt in SMU colors that says “TCU Sucks.” The Iron Skillet game between SMU and TCU is in its second to last iteration, with 2025 being the last scheduled matchup between the two teams.

On top of wearing the shirt, Johnson has also called on his counterpart in Fort Worth, Mayor Mattie Parker, to try and get future Iron Skillet matchups scheduled. Johnson and Parker have both had friendly wagers in previous seasons based on results of the Iron Skillet games, including having food catered from famous Dallas or Fort Worth based establishments.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

Unrated S Kyndrick Williams commits to Arkansas

Unrated WR Elijah D’oleo commits to Army