After having a couple of days to reflect on another wild and unpredictable weekend in college football, it’s now time to look at the fall out of everything that happened. Let’s take a look back at this past week and glance ahead to next week.
Another Drop
For the third time in four weeks, Clemson has dropped a spot in the polls, falling from No. 3 to No. 4 this week while being leapfrogged by Ohio State, which sits behind only Alabama and LSU. The polls don’t matter as much as the rankings from the College Football Playoff committee, but it’s not a good sign for the defending champs that they’re falling in the polls despite winning.
Under the Knife
After suffering a sprained right ankle in Alabama’s win over Tennessee, Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa underwent surgery on Sunday. Tagovailoa has been ruled out for Saturday’s game against Arkansas, although it’s believed that he’ll be ready for a Nov. 9 showdown against LSU.
Tagovailoa had the same procedure on his left ankle after last year’s SEC Championship Game but was able to return for the College Football Playoff. After that surgery, he returned to practice after 13 days, albeit in a limited capacity.
The LSU game is set for 20 days after the surgery, which would mean a quicker return than when Tagovailoa played in the CFP last season, and even then, he admitted that he was less than 100 percent. Nick Saban is doing his best to manage expectations by saying that there’s no real timeline for Tagovailoa at this point.
Stepping Out
USC could be without running back Markese Stepp for at least a month after he suffered an ankle injury during last week’s win over Arizona. Stepp will have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his ankle, keeping him out for at least three weeks but also up to five weeks.
He becomes the third USC running back on the shelf with Vavae Malepeai undergoing knee surgery last week and Stephen Carr nursing a hamstring injury he suffered during last week’s win. Those three account for over 900 of the team’s 1,058 rushing yards this season, so trouble could be brewing for the Trojans in the backfield depending on Carr’s status for Friday’s game against Colorado.
Another Separation
Miami could be forced to make another change at quarterback with N’Kosi Perry suffering a separated shoulder during Saturday’s loss to Georgia Tech. Perry recently took the job away from freshman Jarren Williams, who also suffered a shoulder injury.
Perry’s injury is to his non-throwing shoulder, which could allow him to play against Pittsburgh this week. If both Perry and Williams are ruled out due to injury, the Hurricanes will have to turn to Ohio State transfer Tate Martell.
Blind Tweet
Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin was fined $5,000 by Conference USA after tweeting a picture of blind refs on a football field with seeing-eye dogs. The tweet mentioned Conference USA specifically and was in response to FAU’s loss to Marshall on Friday.
Kiffin says that the league has admitted to him there were “inconsistencies” in the officiating during Friday’s game. However, Conference USA still didn’t take kindly to Kiffin publicly criticizing the officials, even in a less conventional way.
