Injury news
UCLA (-3.5) vs. Arizona State
ATL: UCLA -2.4
UCLA QB
Dorian Thompson-Robinson missed a play after injuring his shoulder against Stanford last week. But he returned to throw one more touchdown pass. He took another hit on that play.
Thompson-Robinson did not speak with the media after the Stanford game. His status for this weekend’s game against ASU is up in the air.
Missouri (-3) vs. Tennessee
ATL: Missouri -1.1
Tennessee Vols quarterback
Hendon Hooker was injured in the fourth quarter of Saturday's loss against the Florida Gators.
"I don't know where we're at (with
Hendon Hooker's status) at this point," Vols HC
Josh Heupel said after the game.
Joe Milton, who began the year as the starter before suffering an injury of his own, replaced Hooker on Saturday. Milton will start if Hooker can’t go.
The Vols are also currently dealing with injuries to their offensive and defensive lines.
Wake Forest (-6.5) vs. Louisville
ATL: Wake Forest -6.1
Louisville starting LB
Monty Montgomery will miss the rest of the season with a torn right ACL. He was injured a little over a week ago against UCF.
Montgomery is one of Louisville's best defenders. He had eight sacks and 12.5 TFL between 2019-2020. Montgomery will be replaced by
Jaylin Alderman, who had a big late-game interception to seal the win over UCF.
The Cardinals also lost sophomore WR Braden Smith for the rest of the season with torn knee ligaments. More of a role player, Smith had a 11-68-1 receiving line in 2021.
NC State (-18.5) vs. Louisiana Tech
ATL: NCSU -22.5
Louisiana Tech announced shortly before kickoff against North Texas over the weekend that star QV
Austin Kendall wouldn’t play due to “medical reasons.” It was the first we’d heard of Kendall’s medical issue.
Forced to turn to backups
Aaron Allen and
JD Head, LTU prevailed 24-17 anyway. The Bulldogs have not yet updated Kendall’s status for this weekend’s game at NC State.
Oklahoma State (-4) vs. Baylor
ATL: OSU -1.0
Baylor upset Iowa State 31-29 last weekend. But the heart and soul of the Bears’ defense, LB
Terrel Bernard, suffered a knee injury in the upset win. The fear is that it will cost him the rest of the season.
“Find out more on Monday. We’re fearful that it might be a tear of the meniscus,” Baylor HC
Dave Aranda said after the game. “We’ll have to see.” Aranda has already basically ruled out Bernard for Oklahoma State.
Last year, Bernard was playing like an All-American for five games before he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Baylor’s offense has exceeded expectations during the 4-0 start. That unit is going to have to be even better with Bernard on the sideline.
On Okie State’s side, the Cowboys lost starting DE
Brock Martin to an arm injury during a 31-20 victory against Kansas State on Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium,
“I think that he will be back in a few weeks,” HC
Mike Gundy said. “I don’t think it was something that would end the season. He’s had some shoulder problems and stuff, and I think he’s got it dinged up again.”
The Cowboys’ depth on the edge will be tested, especially with DE
Trace Ford out for the season following two ACL tears.
Clemson (-16) vs. Boston College
ATL: Clemson -13.6
Clemson is dealing with major injury concerns at the moment. Star DT
Bryan Bresee tore his ACL in the second half of Saturday's 27-21 loss to NC State and is out for the season. Bresee is one of the most disruptive forces in America.
Clemson was already dealing with depth issues at the position with fellow starting DT Tyler Davis out for the next two months with a bicep injury.
The Tigers are also dealing with major backfield depth issues following frosh RB
Will Shipley's leg injury. HC
Dabo Swinney expects Shipley to miss 3-4 weeks. RB
Lyn-J Dixon recently entered the transfer portal after Shipley won the starting job. So it appears that
Kobe Pace is going to have to handle a bellcow role for the next month.
Meanwhile, Clemson appears to have avoided a scare on redshirt senior LB
James Skalski. Skalski left Saturday's loss with a shoulder injury. But Swinney says Skalski should be fine.
Boston College has weathered its own major injury -- the season-ending wrist injury suffered by star QB
Phil Jurkovec -- to start 4-0. RB Pat Garwo looks great and the defense has exceeded expectations. QB
Dennis Grosel, however, has been shaky in two starts.
Can Boston College continue its run of magic against a depleted Clemson roster? Or will the Tigers wake up and roar at home this weekend?
Oregon (-8) at Stanford
ATL: Oregon -8.9
Oregon DE Kayton Thibodeaux returned to the field on Saturday against Arizona after missing two-plus games with a left ankle sprain. But he left the win over the Wildcats in the second quarter after landing awkwardly.
Ducks HC
Mario Cristobal told the media after the game that Thibodeaux didn’t re-aggravate the ankle sprain. Cristobal said it was always the plan to pull Thibodeaux early.
“I don’t think it’ll completely feel normal all the time but there was no re-aggravation of an injury,”
Cristobal said. “With him it’s been load management and we reached that. So that’s why we pulled him out." If Cristobal is to be believed, we should see Thibodeaux when Oregon plays Stanford this weekend.
Oklahoma (-10.5) at Kansas State
ATL: OU -11.9
Oklahoma S
Delarrin Turner-Yell, the team’s leading tackler, left Saturday's 16-13 win over West Virginia early with an undisclosed injury. Turner-Yell was helped to Oklahoma's medical tent after making a tackle.
Turner-Yell previously dealt with a broken collarbone in December 2019. It’s unclear if this is a new injury, or related to that one. It’s also currently unclear what Turner-Yell’s status is for this weekend.
Michigan State (-10.5) vs. Western Kentucky
ATL: MSU -13.7
Michigan State senior DE
Drew Beesley was carted off the field in last Saturday's 23-20 OT win over Nebraska with a foot injury. We should get further clarification on his injury later this week,
Beesley is one of Sparty’s most disruptive defenders. In the Spartans’ upset win over Miami two weeks ago, he made life hell on QB
D'Eriq King, posting five quarterback pressures and two sacks along with a forced fumble on King.
Notre Dame (-3) vs. Cincinnati
ATL: ND -0.8
Brian Kelly said after Saturday’s blowout win over Wisconsin that
Jack Coan should be ready to play next week. Sure enough, Coan was the starter on the depth chart Kelly released for the Cincinnati game on Monday.
"We got clean x-rays,"
Kelly told reporters. "It's a soft tissue injury. It doesn't even respond like a high ankle sprain. So, we're pretty optimistic that we'll be able to see him back next week. So, good news."
Hopefully Coan’s ankle is sound. If not, he could be a sitting duck behind a beleaguered offensive line against Cincy’s defense.
LSU (-3.5) vs. Auburn
ATL: LSU -1.9
RT
Austin Deculus left last week’s win over Mississippi State but later returned. The Tigers cannot afford for him to miss time with LT Cam Wire out. The offensive line has been a problem area for LSU this fall.
Purdue (-2.5) vs. Minnesota
ATL: Purdue -5.1
Purdue TE
Payne Durham is in concussion protocol following Saturday's 13-9 win over Illinois. His status for this weekend against Minnesota is very much in question. Durham ranks No. 10 in the nation among tight ends with 209 receiving yards.
The Boilermakers have serious health concerns right now. Also out: RB Zander Horvath (leg), RB
King Doerue (illness), WR
David Bell (concussion), WR
Mershawn Rice (foot) and and DB Cory Trice (ankle).
Georgia (-18.5) vs. Arkansas
ATL: UGA -15.7
Georgia is expecting RB
Kendall Milton, WR Dom Blaylock, WR
Arian Smith, TE
Darnell Washington, and DB
Tykee Smith to return for Arkansas. None played in Saturday’s blowout win over Vandy.
Arkansas also expects to be near full-strength. QB
KJ Jefferson and WR
Treylon Burks both suffered injuries in last weekend's win over Texas A&M. But HC
Sam Pittman said that he expects both to play this weekend against Georgia.
Michigan (-1) at Wisconsin
ATL: Wisko -0.9
Michigan HC
Jim Harbaugh deemed LB
Josh Ross “probable” to play against Wisconsin after Ross missed the second half of Saturday's win over Rutgers with an apparent leg injury.
Coastal Carolina (-34.5) vs. UL-Monroe
ATL: CC -29.6
Louisiana-Monroe QB
Rhett Rodriguez was on a ventilator in the ICU as of Sunday evening with a lung injury he suffered in Saturday’s upset win over Troy.
Warhawks HC
Terry Bowden said he wasn't aware of any more specifics than that, and wasn't sure how long Rodriguez would be sidelined.
Coaching news
Georgia Southern (-2) vs. Arkansas State
ATL: GSU -0.7
Georgia Southern fired HC
Chad Lunsford following a 1-3 start. Lunsford came into the season 27-18. But GSU athletic director Jared Benko did not hire him, opening up the possibility that Lunsford's seat would get hot quickly if the Eagles started poorly.
CB coach
Kevin Whitley was named interim head coach.A former All-American and Canadian Football League player, Whitley was a successful high school coach before joining GSU's staff three years ago.
Arkansas State is also 1-3, with the win coming against an FCS team. The Red Wolves were pulverized by Washington and had one-possession losses to Memphis and Tulsa.
Wrong team favored?
South Carolina (-7) vs. Troy
ATL: Troy 1.4
PointsBet installed South Carolina as touchdown-favorites. ATL disagrees, installing Troy as short favorites. This despite Troy’s head-scratching 29-14 upset loss to UL-Monroe last week.
Both teams are 2-2, and each have beaten an FCS team. South Carolina’s other win was a 20-17 road squeaker over ECU; the two losses were a blowout to Georgia and a six-point loss to South Carolina. Troy beat Southern Miss 21-9 two weeks ago and lost to Liberty 21-13 the week before that.
Will the Trojans bounce back from last week’s debacle in this road showcase against an SEC opponent?
Washington (-2) at Oregon State
ATL: Oregon State -1.4
ATL says the home Beavers should be favored, not the road Huskies. And ATL isn’t even taking into account all the injuries Washington is dealing with at the moment.
Washington junior CB Brendan Radley-Hile was knocked out of last Saturday's 31-24 win over Cal with a shoulder injury. The Oklahoma transfer has functioned as the Huskies' slot cornerback this season.
Washington has dealt with a spate of injuries this fall -- 15 players were inactive for the 31-24 OT win over Cal, including CB
Trent McDuffie and TE
Cade Otton,
Per HC
Jimmy Lake, Otton is also expected to miss this weekend's game at Oregon State due to COVID protocol. McDuffie, who limped off the field of the win over Arkansas State the week before, faces an unclear return timeline.
If McDuffie is out again this weekend, the Huskies’ corner depth will be severely compromised against an improved Oregon State offense.
Situational spot
Texas A&M (-7) vs. Mississippi State
ATL: A&M -5.5
Last week, the Aggies saw their playoff chances take a huge hit during a loss to Arkansas as 5.5-point favorites. Next week, the Aggies host Alabama. In-between, 2-2 Mississippi State, which is on a two-game losing streak. But those losses came by a combined five points.
The Bulldogs may have beaten Memphis were it not for an officiating error that facilitate a kick-return TD. Last week, MSU had 143 more yards than LSU, 14 more first downs and possessed the ball more than 10 minutes longer, but were done in by a pair of turnovers and a few explosive LSU passing touchdowns.
