CFB DeptHITS: Wednesday, September 25
Let's take a look at the quick hitters in the news from around college football as we continue to prep for week five...
We make hundreds of tweaks and updates to each of our live 134 depth charts over at CFBDepth.com. We’ve pulled out the key ones (with links to the full depth chart pages) for your content-loving pleasure. Please subscribe if you have not yet — it really helps fuel us to keep going.
UNLV ::: QB Matthew Sluka announced that he would sit the rest of this season and take a redshirt after promises were made to him and not fulfilled. This is very likely NIL-related and we'll have to see what is next for the FCS transfer as he'll retain one year of eligibility.
Virginia ::: DT Jason Hammond suffered a shoulder injury in the week four game that will sideline him for the entire rest of the season. He was a contributor, playing over 35 snaps/game and this will negatively affect depth on the defensive line.
Louisville ::: RB Maurice Turner missed last week and now appears set to miss the Notre Dame game as well. He is not included on the official week five depth chart released Tuesday.
Wake Forest ::: The Deacs appear to be getting back a key piece of their defense back as the reports are that DL Jasheen Davis is going to return to the field for week five, following their bye week.
Boston College ::: RB Kye Robichaux, part of a three-headed committee for the Eagles, is now "doubtful" to play week five. That leaves Treshaun Ward and true freshman Turbo Richard as the primary 1-2 punch against WKU.
UTEP ::: QB Cade McConnell has been named the starter ahead of the week five bye week and he will prepare this week for the week six game against Sam Houston.
Colorado ::: S Shilo Sanders is questionable and may be able to make his return this week five; but more likely looking at a full return after the week six bye.
Colorado ::: RB Dallan Hayden will return in week five for the Buffaloes and share in the carry load - or lack thereof - in the Colorado offense.
Kent State ::: QBs Devin Kargman (hip) and JD Sherrod (achilles) are both announced out for the season. Those two join Dru DeShields already on the list for missing the season. That leaves Tommy Ulatowski as the last man standing and the full-time starter for the Flashes going forward.
SMU ::: RB injury updates from the Mustangs: Jaylan Knighton's season is over. LJ Johnson Jr. is back to a "day-to-day" status heading into week five.
Kentucky ::: RB Chip Trayanum is ready to make his Kentucky debut in week five after his recovery from a broken hand is complete. He will work back into the mix for week five against Ole Miss.
Notre Dame ::: CB Jaden Mickey announces his plans to transfer out of Notre Dame following the season. He was a part of the rotation this year, playing four games, and now he will be able to utilize a redshirt and move on from the Irish.
San Diego State ::: The Aztecs lost both WR Baylin Brooks and CB Bennett Walker who both left the program. We have updated the depth chart with this change. Based on their released depth chart, we should see more snaps from WR Nate Bennett and CB Tayvion Beasley.
West Virginia ::: Neal Brown provided some injury updates and one key one is DB Aubrey Burks. He took a shot to the head in week four and needs to pass some protocols before being able to give it a go in week five. We'll be tracking as he is a key member of this defense.
UCLA ::: The hits keep on coming for the Bruins as we learn that two more defensive players are out for the season. Both DL Keanu Williams and S Kanye Clark are done for 2024.
Washington State ::: Punter Nick Haberer continues to be hampered by an injury forcing him to miss time and CB Jamorri Colston and WR Carlos Hernandez are on pace to return after the bye week six for Fresno State in week seven.
Massachusetts ::: WR Anthony Simpson has left the program. No reasoning given. He hadn't played since week two before warning up pre-game this past week four but didn't take the field.
|||||| READY FOR WEEK FIVE
As you may know, we don’t make automated updates to our depth charts. Our process to get these “ready” for the coming week is to respond to the big news as it breaks and then make meticulous changes based on the data we see, including snap counts from the previous week. Because we don’t want you to make any decisions or assumptions based on a chart that is not at 100% - we’ve added a “status bar” to show where each chart stands heading into the coming week. We added more to this list over the last 24 hours, including:
Holy Cross at Syracuse
UMass at Miami (OH)
Fresno State at UNLV
That’s our show for today. Thank you for following along.
