| Akron | RB Teon Dollard, who made a splash last season with 66 YR and 6 TDs, is no longer with the team after his suspension in mid-August. |
| Alabama | Fifth-year sr. LB Christopher Allen, a starter this season after making 50 tackles last season and has collected 18.5 TFL over the last 3+ years, fractured his foot and will likely be lost for the season. |
| Arizona State | QB Jayden Daniels, who left the Southern Utah game with cramps after throwing for 132 yards, is expected to start against UNLV. |
| Army | QB Tyhier Tyler, a bit of a surprise starter in the opener, suffered an ankle injury in the 43-10 win over Georgia State. He’s expected to be available this week against WKU, but his presence might not mean a ton as sr. Christian Anderson, a former starter, is available. |
| Boston College | Projected starting WR Jaelen Gill missed the opener against Colgate with a foot problem. Gill, who had 29 catches for 435 yds. LY, wasn’t missed that much as the Eagles rolled to a 51-0 victory. |
| BYU | WR Gunner Romney injured his knee in 24-16 win over Arizona and is doubtful for the “Holy War” against Utah this week. |
| Central Michigan | Washington transfer QB Jacob Sirmon made his starting debut against Missouri and completed 23 of 45 passes for 295 yds. with a TD and 2 ints., in a mixed bag.. Backup WR Drayton Law (10 recs., 117 yds. LY) will miss the season for undisclosed reasons, joining RB Kobe Lewis on the injured list (previously reported out indefinitely with a knee problem). |
| Charlotte | Sr. CB/KR Geo Howard, a transfer via Purdue and the juco route, injured his ankle and was forced out of the Duke game. Check status. |
| Clemson | WR EJ Williams (24 catches, 306 yds., 2 TDs LY; projected to start this season after making 4 starts in ‘20) will require surgery on his injured thumb and is out for at least a month. Compounding that is the fact that WR Brannon Spector, who had 16 catches for 136 yds. last season, is in Covid protocol and out indefinitely. |
| Connecticut | Soph WR Cameron Ross (top receiver LY with 60 catches; 8 recs. first 2Gs TY) is out indefinitely with a foot injury suffered in the Holy Cross game. |
| Eastern Michigan | QB Preston Hutchinson was KO’d by a shot to the head and did not return against St. Francis. HC Chris Creighton got a pleasant surprise when he inserted sr. backup QB Ben Bryant, who completed 8 of 10 passes for 126 yards. Check status on starter Preston Hutchinson against Wisconsin this weekend, as he’s being listed a probable.. |
| Florida State | QB Jordan Travis suffered an undisclosed injury, likely related to his helmet being taken off with force by a Notre Dame defender and wasn’t available late in the 4th Q. McKenzie Milton, who hasn’t played since 2018 due to a major knee injury, entered the game and guided the Seminoles to a pair of late scoring drives to force OT, completing 5 of 7 passes for 48 yards and rushing for 6 more yards. In 2018, Milton, a transfer from UCF, threw for 2663 yds. with a 25-6 ratio and also ran for 307 yds. and 9 TDs in 10 games before being injured. |
| Georgia | G Tate Ratledge, who started the opener against Clemson, brooke his footand is likely out for the season. |
| Georgia State | Soph all-SBC WR Sam Pinckney missed the opener against Army due to Covid protocols. Pinckney was the team’s leading receiver LY with 47 catches for 815 yds. with a team-high 7 TD catches. |
| Georgia Tech | QB Jeff Sims was KO’d with an arm injury after completing 3 of 8 passes for 21 yds. and rushing 6 times for 34 yds. against Kennesaw and is iffy for this week. |
| Illinois | RB Chase Brown (540 YR, 3 TDs LY), who had an undisclosed injury in the opener against Nebraska and sat out the UTSA game last week has been cleared to go against Virginia. On the negative side, starting QB Brandon Peters, who injured his non-throwing shoulder against the Cornhuskers, has not been cleared for contact, so it could be backup Artur Sitkowski at the controls against Virginia. LB Calvin Hart is out for the season due to a knee injury suffered in opener against Nebraska. The NC State transfer had 63 stops with the Wolf Pack last year and was being counted on by first-year HC Bret Bielema. |
| Indiana | Backup WR Javon Swinton (4 recs. LY) was suspended for Iowa. |
| Iowa State | Star TE Charlie Kolar (two-time all-Big 12 selection; 44 recs. and a team high 7 TDs receiving LY) missed the Northern Iowa game with an ankle injury, although he went through warmups to test the injury before being held out. Kolar is a massive part of the Cyclone attack and would be missed greatly against Iowa this week (the two teams didn’t play LY, but he had 5 catches against the Hawkeyes in 2019). |
| Kansas | Projected starting RB Amauri Pesek-Hickson is out indefinitely for undisclosed reasons as is frosh Daniel Hinshaw. Those two combined for 4 starts and 374 yards LY. |
| Kent State | WR Ja’Shaun Poke was held out against Texas A&M and is doubtful with an undisclosed injury for VMI this week. Poke is the Golden Flash returning leader in receptions with 21 and in TD catches with 3. |
| Memphis | Arizona transfer QB Grant Gunnell missed the Nicholls State game with a lower body injury and will likely be sidelined for the Tigers’ next two games at Arkansas St. and Mississippi State. Frosh Seth Henigan went all the way in the opener, completing 19 of 32 passes for 265 yds. with a TD and no interceptions. |
| Miami Florida | QB D’Eriq King limped off in first half against Alabama, appearing to try but failing to jog off. He returned to direct a pair of solid drives in the 2nd half, however, and ended up accounting for 197 of Miami’s 266 yards of total offense against Alabama. The Hurricanes will be without the services of RB Jaylan Knighton, a freshman expected to contribute early, for four games after he was suspended. |
| Miami Ohio | In a bit of a surprise, AJ Mayer was the starter Saturday against Cincy. Soph Brett Gabbert had recovered from a preseason knee injury, but then hurt his thumb in an incident that wasn’t widely publicized. Gabbert started 16 games the last two seasons for the RedHawks, throwing for 2795 yds. and 15 TDs, and it’s unknown if he will be available for Minnesota. Mayer completed just 9 of 28 passes for 109 yards with no TDs against the Bearcats. |
| Michigan | WR Ronnie Bell, possibly the team’s most talented offensive threat, injured his leg against Western Michigan, left on a cart and will be out for the rest of the season. |
| Minnesota U | Gophers took a devastating injury to star RB Mo Ibrahim, who injured his lower leg in the third Q of a 45-31 loss to Ohio State and left the field in a walking boot with observers fearing an Achilles injury. Ibrahim is through for the season as his injury will require surgery. The Gophers “next up” at RB are RS frosh Treyson Potts (6.4 ypc LY) and Cam Wiley (6.2 ypc) who saw limited action last season and combined for 300 YR and 2 TDs. WR Chris Autman-Bell, the Gophers’ leading returning receiver from last season, sat out with a leg injury against Ohio State. Autman Bell had 22 receptions for 430 yds (19.5 ypc) in 2020. |
| North Texas | returning starting QB Austin Aune (55%, 1650 YP, 13-4 ratio last year) didn’t start against Northwestern State (healthy scratch; coaches decision). North Carolina transfer Jace Rudder was given the start in this warmup. |
| Oklahoma | WR corps thinning a bit. Starting WR Theo Wease is out for several weeks with a lower body injury and backup Drake Stoops (4th leading returning receiver with 15 for 219 yds. and 2 TDs LY) was held out of the opener at Tulane for undisclosed reasons. |
| Oregon | Star DE Kayvon Thibodeaux (2nd-team all-Pac-12, conference frosh Defensive POY LY), injured his ankle and limped off early against Fresno State, later returned to give it a try but then quickly called it a day. Thibodeaux had a strip-sack early in the first Q to set up the Ducks’ first TD of the game. Check status for showdown at Ohio State. |
| Penn State | LB Ellis Brooks will sit out the first half against Ball State for targeting. Baylor transfer RB John Lovett (1803 YR in 4 seasons with the Bears), who was expected to augment a deep RB contingent, was unavailable for the game at Wisconsin for undisclosed reasons. Another transfer expected to play a big role for the Nittany Lions, Arnold Ebiketie from Temple, was injured against the Badgers and went to the locker room in the 3rd Q, but returned to the game after being checked out. Ebiketie, who led the Owls in sacks, TFL and forced fumbles LY, is being counted on to lend some pressure to a Penn State DL that suffered some graduation attrition and then lost projected starting soph DE Adisa Isaac in preseason. Ebiketie had 5 solo tackles and a TFL before leaving. |
| Purdue | Projected starting RS frosh WR TJ Sheffield is set to return to action against this week against UConn after being held out of the opener against Oregon State. |
| South Carolina | QB Luke Doty, the projected starter who threw for 405 yds. with 2 TDs and 3 ints. and made a pair of starts last season, suffered a foot injury in camp and is out indefinitely. With another reserve QB also injured, HC Shane Beamer is going with North Dakota State graduate transfer Zeb Noland, who began as a graduate assistant, at the controls. |
| Temple | QB D’Wan Mathis injured his ankle after completing just 8 of 25 passes for 148 yards in the opener against Rutgers. Mathis might not start even if he is healthy after that performance, so expect true frosh Justin Lynch to at least see some time at Akron this week. TE David Martin-Robinson will also miss a good portion of the season, as he’ll have to sit out 6-8 weeks with a shoulder injury suffered in the 61-14 loss to Rutgers. |
| Texas Tech | RB SaRodorick Thompson has finally recovered from April shoulder surgery and has been cleared for contact. Thompson, who gained 1375 yards and scored 20 rushing TDs along with making 60 catches over the past 2 years, was held out of the Red Raiders’ opener but could be available for SF Austin this week. |
| USC | WR Gary Bryant (47 recs., 481 yds., 4 TDs LY) could return from a hamstring injury and being sidelined by Covid protocols this week against Stanford. |
| UTEP | RB Deion Hankins suffered a shoulder injury after carrying 11 times for 50 yards and a TD against New Mexico State in the opener, sat out the Bethune-Cookman matchup Saturday and won’t be available for Boise State this week. |
| Virginia | Oklahoma State transfer TE Jelani Woods was KO’d against Wm. & Mary due to an undisclosed injury. He’s questionable for Illinois this week. |
| Washington State | In a mild surprise to local observers, Tennessee transfer Jarrett Guarantano started the opener over Jayden de Laura. Guarantano left the Portland State game early with a possible knee injury after completing 8 of 13 passes for 56 yards, however, so the competition is still on, and de Laura, a frosh with 4 years of eligibility who threw for 886 yds. and 5 TDs in 4 games last year, is expected to eventually be the long-term answer. |
| Washington U | WR Ja’Lynn Polk was injured on the first play of the opener against Montana and underwent chest surgery after the game and will be out for the duration of the regular season. Polk had 28 catches for 264 yds. with 2 TDs in 10 games last season at Texas Tech. |
| West Virginia | TE Mike O’Laughlin didn’t dress for the Maryland game due to a lower leg injury. O’Laughlin caught 15 passes last season. |
| Western Kentucky | TE Joshua Simon, who had 63 catches for 800 yards with 7 TDs the last 2 years (3 recs., 73 yds, 2 scores in the ‘21 opener) is iffy for Army after injuring his knee against UT Martin. |
| Western Michigan | The Broncos took a possible serious blow when 2nd-team all-MAC WR Skyy Moore (28 recs. in 6 games LY) was KO’d at Michigan. Check status. |
| Wisconsin | Wiscy was with LB Leo Chenal (46 Ts LY was 2nd on the team) will also miss this week’s game with Eastern Michigan due to a positive Covid test. |
Archived: College Football Ticker
Sep 09, 2021 EST