CFB DeptHITS: Wednesday, October 9
Let's get caught up on the latest news and notes from a busy previous 24 hours around college football as we prep for week seven.
We make hundreds of little tweaks and adjustments to our 134 live FBS depth charts over at the site, every single day. This feature is designed to pull out some of the “big ones” and get you a little more context around what it means. We’ll throw in a (CFBDm) Model play for tonight’s C-USA action for good measure. Enjoy!
South Carolina ::: LB Bangally Kamara has been dealing with an injury all season. He has now decided to take his redshirt and will enter the Portal this off-season to look for a new school to continue his career. He should have two years of eligibility remaining.
Further: Kamara is very talented and was slowed by injuries. This is just the world of college football player movement that we live in these days. We shouldn’t see an immediate drop in South Carolina’s defensive performance as Kamara has not been on the field much this year, thus far.
Georgia ::: Dawgs injury updates pre-week seven: DL Christen Miller is "questionable" after suffering an injury in week six. C Jared Wilson is back practicing, but not a full "go" yet. All of this while we await more information on WR Colbie Young, who has been arrested and charged with assault. For now, we will assume he's not playing in the near-term until we get an update.
Further: The news cycle just keeps on haunting the Dawgs with injury news, losses to bitter rivals and more trouble with the law. We won’t assume anything in the legal issues surrounding Young, we’ll just hope that it is a misunderstanding and that everybody involved is okay. For projecting on-the-field, which is what we do, we will go ahead and zero him out for this coming week unless we hear more. Update: Young has been indefinitely suspended from team activities.
Miller is a big loss if he is unable to go. He’s a key part of their rotation on the defensive line and has impacted things there all season. He doesn’t have any sacks, but does have five hurries and five stops on the season. He also rates out as the Dawgs top player overall on the line.
As for Wilson, they can really use him back. Drew Bobo has done an okay job filling in, but Wilson is a key cog in the line and is a difference maker.
California ::: Panthers injury updates: OLB Ryan McCullough joins the list of "questionable" players for week seven. RG Sioape Vatikani is also questionable. Star RB Jadyn Ott is "probable" but he is clearly still dealing with a lingering injury.
Further: McCullough is a really solid player (of many) in this Bears linebacking corps. If he is unable to go, it will affect depth. They play a 3-4 and so they’ll need somebody to step in and replace those 40+ snaps he is playing currently per game. We’ll keep an eye on that status report.
Ott is the name that jumps off the page here. He is a star and has been banged up quite a bit. This could be as little as “general” soreness or something that is lingering and ready to “pop.” We’ll go ahead and put on our optimism hats and assume it is the latter and project him for a full-load for the cross-country trip to Pittsburgh this weekend.
Virginia ::: Cavaliers injury updates: S Antonio Clary and WR Chris Tyree expected to miss week seven. WR Trell Harris remains "day-to-day" but hopeful to go against Louisville. CB Malcolm Green has decided to use his redshirt option and sit the rest of 2024 with the intention to transfer.
Further: Tyree just can’t seem to stay healthy. Bummer to see him back projected to miss time. It could be the perfect time to get an ailing Harris back in there for the Cavs. Meanwhile, the secondary takes a couple of gut punches with Clary set to miss and Green calling it quits for the season. This could be impactful against a solid Lousiville passing attack coming up here in week seven.
South Carolina ::: Both starting CB O'Donnell Fortune and reserve WR Dalevon Campbell suffered upper-body injuries in the week six loss to Ole Miss. They are now listed as questionable for week seven for Alabama.
Wake Forest ::: Injury updates from Dave Clawson include: WR Donavon Greene OUT for week seven. CB Capone Blue will return this week, but DB Travon West will be out "a while" after an injury.
UTEP ::: Update on WR Jaden Smith, the Miners' second-leading receiver, he missed week six with some form of injury. It turns out the ailment will keep him out the rest of the 2024 campaign. Also, starting CB AJ Odums has a "potentially severe, non-football related" injury that will keep him out for a while.
Iowa ::: TE Addison Ostrenga will miss week seven with an injury. No word yet on the severity of the injury or if it will be long-term.
Marshall ::: WR Elijah Metcalf, the Herd's second-most targeted receiver, is added to the injury report and could miss some time with an undisclosed injury.
South Florida ::: QB Byrum Brown is listed as "day-to-day" after the injury suffered in week five. We'll track his progress as the week rolls along. The Bulls could certainly use him.
Georgia Tech ::: WR Christian Leary has announced that he'll enter the Portal and will not play for the Yellow Jackets the rest of the 2024 season.
|||||| WEDNESDAY NIGHT SIMULATION
We are going to go ahead and say the Model was on the right side of the UNDER last night, but OT kind of ruined that. That’s part of this gambling life we choose to live. So, we’ll live with it and move along. Tonight, we have a thriller between Jacksonville State and New Mexico State, two teams heading in opposite directions with the Gamecocks blitzing a really bad Kennesaw State team a week ago, and New Mexico State losing in a shootout against New Mexico. Here is what our simulation says will happen. Warning: Model still a work-in-progress — don’t go throwing your life savings on any of this!
Granted, the Model has not been friendly to Jacksonville State all season and a little too lenient on the Aggies, it is all based on our data from the talent rankings driving that. The Model stays its course and will not overreact to past results. So, the play here is:
New Mexico State +20.5 (2 UNITS) and UNDER 58.5 (2 UNITS)
That’s our show for today. Hope you enjoyed it. Please subscribe and spread the word. It fuels us to keep going!
