AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas and Ohio State have a short rivalry over more than 130 years of college football. The Longhorns and Buckeyes will meet Saturday night for just the sixth time, but the third season in a row. The Buckeyes got the best of the Longhorns the last two years and will be the first No. 1 team to visit Austin since Alabama in 2022. Longhorns senior defensive tackle Hero Kanu has seen the matchup from both sidelines. He spent three seasons at Ohio State before transferring to Texas before last season.
UNDATED (AP) — Longtime coach Kyle Whittingham was unaware the stadium clock he watched Saturday night at Michigan might not reflect the official game time. Purdue coach Barry Odom also was caught off guard as he watched on television. The two Big Ten coaches acknowledged Monday they did not know there could be a discrepancy between what everyone was seeing on television and inside the stadium and the conference’s tracking system. But that’s how conference officials explained the dramatic conclusion to No. 16 Michigan's 13-12 victory in Whittingham's debut in Ann Arbor. After the refs added 1 second to a clock that appeared to expire on the previous play Bryce Underwood hooked up with J.J. Buchanan for a 47-yard TD pass on the game's final play.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas coach Steve Sarkisian says fifth-year offensive lineman Cole Hutson, who returned to the team after tryouts with multiple NFL teams, is still waiting for the NCAA to clear him as eligible to play. Hutson won a Texas court ruling to allow him to return to the Longhorns and he began practice on Aug. 7. He was listed on the roster for the opening game against Texas State but was not on the depth chart and did not play in Texas’ 59-7 win.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — This is a complicated time to be a high school quarterback recruit. There aren’t as many roster spots available for those guys now that most Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks rely on transfers as their starting quarterbacks. And it allows college coaches to be choosier. About 65% of the FBS starting quarterbacks to open this season transferred at some point in their careers. The reliance on transfers by most major programs leaves fewer roster spots available for high school prospects.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter is back from his one-game suspension by the NCAA over a flight to an NFL training facility during the pre-draft process with plan to turn his plays this season into helping people with cancer treatments. Carter is partnering with his mother’s nonprofit Girls in Real Life Situations to donate $427 for every tackle this season. That matches the dollar amount of that flight that sidelined him for No. 20 Tennessee’s opening win over Furman. The linebacker will donate $500 for every sack, $1,000 per interception or forced fumble and $5,000 if he scores a defensive touchdown this season under the plan announced Monday.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham says Bryce Underwood has to improve to keep his job as starting quarterback. Whittingham says everyone on the team is held to the same standard. Whittingham's decision at quarterback will be closely watched in his first year with college football’s winningest program after being relatively under the radar in Utah. Whittingham says he doesn't want to panic. The 16th-ranked Wolverines host No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday. Michigan's backup quarterback is Tommy Carr, whose brother is Notre Dame QB CJ Carr.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The big group of Texas transfers brought the big plays and the big violence to their burnt orange debut, a season-opening rout of Texas State. The No. 5 Longhorns will want more of that next Saturday against No. 1 Ohio State. Wide receiver Cam Coleman caught Texas’ first touchdown of the season, then added a second one in the second half. Hollywood Smothers set up the game's first TD with a 45-yard run on the Longhorns’ first play. Raleek Brown scored twice. And linebacker Rasheem Biles forced a fumble and had an interception. That's the production coach Steve Sarkisian expected.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The University of Florida revived its “gator bait” cheer during the team's season opener, bringing it back more than six years after the school banned it because of “horrific historic racist imagery” associated with the phrase. New school president Stuart Bell said in June that “traditions matter” and hinted that the cheer could return because “it’s meaningful to the Gator family.” It returned to the Swamp early in the first quarter against Florida Atlantic — and was welcomed with a raucous reception.
