Tayven Jackson has been named Indiana’s starting quarterback after sharing time with Brendan Sorsby over the first two games.

Hoosiers coach Tom Allen noted that the offense played with more energy during Jackson’s time on the field so he opted to end the splitting time method leading into Saturday’s game against Louisville at Indianapolis.

Jackson went 18 of 21 for 236 yards in last Friday’s 41-7 victory over FCS program Indiana State. Sorsby was 9-of-16 passing for 108 yards.

“We’ve got two quarterbacks I believe can both successfully lead our program and do great things on game day,” Allen said on Monday. “I felt like we needed to get full game evaluation because it was so close and to be able to see, ‘OK, who moves the ball down the field and scores points?’

“That’s really what it comes down to at the end of the day, and there’s a field presence you have during games.”

Sorsby started the Sept. 2 season-opening 23-3 loss to then-No. 3 Ohio State and completed 8 of 16 passes for 58 yards. Jackson was 1 of 5 for 24 yards in relief. Both players are redshirt freshmen.

Jackson is the brother of former Indiana basketball All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis. He initially chose Tennessee and opted to transfer to Indiana after last season.

Sorsby got into one game last season and went 3 for 6 for 8 yards and an interception against Penn State.

“I know they both want to be the guy, I get that,” Allen said. “You’re competitive. You want to be in this position. But Tayven knows he’s got to perform, and Brendan knows he’s got to be ready. That’s the reality of competition and performing at an elite level.”

–Field Level Media

Freshman quarterback Nate Johnson will start for No. 12 Utah against visiting Weber State this Saturday if Cam Rising remains sidelined.

Head coach Kyle Whittingham confirmed his plan Monday for the Utes (2-0), who are coming off victories against Florida and Baylor.

Johnson was instrumental to Utah’s success Saturday at Baylor, rescuing a struggling offense with two late drives to clinch a 20-13 win in Waco, Texas.

“Based on the whole body of work that we’ve seen, Nate deserves the chance to be the (starter) and he’ll be the starter if Cam’s not available,” Whittingham said.

Johnson rallied Utah with a rushing touchdown to tie the game and a late TD drive to secure the victory.

“We really couldn’t get anything going so to speak offensively until the last stages of the game,” Whittingham said.

“That spark occurred in the last two minutes, well, actually before that, about 11 minutes to go in the game we took over, made the decision to put Nate Johnson in and give him the opportunity to show what he can do, you know, within the entire drive and he did a great job.”

Johnson hit 6 of 7 passes for 82 yards and rushed 11 times for 32 yards. Starter Bryson Barnes finished 6-of-19 passing for 71 yards with one interception.

“Nate was very poised on that last drive,” Whittingham said of Johnson. “I mean he made some outstanding decisions, outstanding plays.”

Whittingham said Rising, who injured his knee in January’s Rose Bowl, is practicing without limitations but has not been cleared.

Utah opens its Pac-12 schedule on Sept. 23 at home against No. 24 UCLA.

–Field Level Media

Jeff Sims is Nebraska’s starting quarterback if his left ankle injury allows him to play in Saturday’s home game against Northern Illinois.

Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule said Sims is the program’s starting quarterback. The Monday declaration came despite Sims throwing four interceptions and losing two fumbles in two losses to open the 2023 season.

“Jeff is our starting quarterback,” Rhule said of Sims, who missed Sunday’s practice. “So if this hadn’t happened, he’d still be out there. That being said, we can’t keep turning the ball over. So there’s that fine line.”

Sims threw three interceptions in a 13-10 road loss at Minnesota on Aug. 31. He threw another pick and lost two fumbles during Saturday’s 36-14 loss at then-No. 22 Colorado.

The Cornhuskers committed eight turnovers in two games and are at minus-6 in the takeaway column.

“When you’re the quarterback, not everything is your fault,” Rhule said. “You snap the ball and hits a guy in motion — sometimes it’s the quarterback’s fault, sometimes it is someone else’s fault.
“This is from the top down, starting with me, we have to be better. We can’t be minus-8. That goes without saying.”

Sims has completed 20 of 34 passes for 220 yards and one touchdown in the two games. He has been solid on the ground, rushing for 158 yards, including a 57-yard score against Colorado.

But the Georgia Tech transfer has always had turnover issues. He committed 31 in three seasons with the Yellow Jackets (23 interceptions, eight fumbles) and his troubles have continued with the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska’s backup options are Heinrich Haarberg and Chubba Purdy. Haarberg went 2-for-6 passing with 13 yards and a touchdown against Colorado while Purdy came in for one play and threw an incompletion after Haarberg’s helmet came off and had to miss a play.

Purdy is the younger brother of Brock Purdy, the former Iowa State star who is making a name for himself as quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers.

Rhule said Purdy has been bothered by a groin injury.

Haarberg would likely start if Sims can’t play against Northern Illinois (1-1).

“I thought the moment wasn’t too big for him,” Rhule said of Haarberg’s cameo against Colorado. “What I loved about Heinrich is that three times they had a guy blitzing, hitting in him in the face and he stood in there and threw it — that’s the courage that we need. I thought he looked excellent running the ball, which we knew.”

–Field Level Media

UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee completed the game-winning drive Saturday at Boise State, but the Knights must turn to South Florida transfer Timmy McClain for the next few weeks.

Plumlee injured his leg on a 7-yard run with 31 seconds left when his cleat appeared to stick in the turf during a collision with Broncos defenders on the final drive, which ended with Colton Boomer’s 40-yard field goal for an 18-16 victory.

“He had an injury late in that game. Took a pretty good hit,” UCF coach Gus Malzahn said Monday. “He’s gonna be out this week and he’ll be out for a few weeks. The good thing is he doesn’t need surgery. He will be back.”

Malzahn said McClain splits reps equally with Plumlee at least two practices each week — typically Tuesday and Wednesday — to keep the team and offense comfortable in situations like this weekend’s game against Villanova. UCF (2-0) plays in its Big 12 opener at Kansas State the following week (Sept. 23).

“He’s ready to go,” Malzahn said of McClain. “We have a lot of confidence in him. A guy that has played and started football games as a true freshman. So, really feel good about Timmy taking over for that.”

Plumlee, a fifth-year senior, has 163 rushing yards on 19 carries this season and completed 38 of 54 pass attempts for 553 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions.

–Field Level Media

Miami All-American safety Kamren Kinchens is out of the hospital and in “good shape” following a collision during Saturday night’s game that resulted in him being airlifted to a trauma center.

Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said Kinchens was released from the hospital Sunday.

“Ran all the tests and all the evaluations, and he’s in good shape,” Cristobal said Monday on WQAM radio. “He’s fine. He’s going to be well. He’s going to be really good. He doesn’t have anything that’s too serious. He just has some football stuff. We’re going to be in great shape.”

Kinchens collided with Texas A&M receiver Ainias Smith after a 20-yard completion with just under two minutes left in Miami’s 48-33 win and fell to the turf. He was attended to for nearly 10 minutes before being removed from the field and taken to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami.

Kinchens released a short message Sunday afternoon.

“I want to Thank everyone for the prayers, I’m doing better Love Y’all,” Kinchens wrote.

I want to Thank everyone for the prayers, I’m doing better Love Y’all ??

— Kamren Kinchens5 (@KKinchens5) September 10, 2023

Kinchens had seven tackles and an interception during the victory over then-No. 23 Texas A&M.

Last season as a sophomore, Kinchens earned first-team All-American honors while grabbing six interceptions. He also was first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference.

Kinchens earned first-team preseason All-American honors prior to this season and is one of the team leaders.

–Field Level Media

Miami All-American safety Kamren Kinchens, who was airlifted to a trauma center Saturday night at the end of the Hurricanes’ game, wrote on social media Sunday that he is “doing better.”

Kinchens collided with Texas A&M receiver Ainias Smith after a 20-yard completion with just under two minutes left in Miami’s 48-33 win and fell down to the turf. He was attended to for nearly 10 minutes before being removed from the field and taken to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami.

The school hasn’t yet revealed the nature of Kinchens’ injury, but later that night the program’s official Twitter account posted a photo of Kinchens sitting up in his hospital bed, making the school’s signature “U” with his hands.

Kinchens then released a short message Sunday afternoon.

“I want to Thank everyone for the prayers, I’m doing better Love Y’all,” Kinchens wrote.

I want to Thank everyone for the prayers, I’m doing better Love Y’all ??

— Kamren Kinchens5 (@KKinchens5) September 10, 2023

Kinchens had seven tackles and an interception during the victory over then-No. 23 Texas A&M.

“So far, the reports that we have on (Kinchens) are that everything seem to be relatively normal, so I’m going to head over there right after I get done with the press conference and see how he’s doing,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said in his postgame press conference. “I think we’re going to be fine. Obviously, aside from that, it’s hard to talk about the game when something like that happens, but the guys played really hard.”

Last season as a sophomore, Kinchens earned first-team All-American honors while grabbing six interceptions. He also was first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference.

Kinchens earned first-team preseason All-American honors prior to this season and is one of the team leaders.

–Field Level Media

Texas’ stunning 34-24 upset of host Alabama on Saturday night vaulted the Longhorns into the College Football Playoff conversation and quarterback Quinn Evers squarely into the Heisman Trophy race.

Ewers, who finished 24-for-38 passing for 349 yards and three touchdowns against the No. 3 Crimson Tide (1-1). His odds on FanDuel Sportsbook to win the Heisman Trophy dipped from +2200 earlier in the week to +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total) after Texas (2-0) snapped Alabama’s 21-game home winning streak.

“We knew this whole week if we came in here, we were going to ball out. We were going to try to make them quit,” Ewers told ESPN after the game. “God is so good. I can’t say nothing else. How much God has put me through, he’s made me so strong. I’m so proud of my team, my whole defense, we balled out. I’m fired up for the rest of the way.”

Ewers, whose performance boosted Texas seven spots to No. 4 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, moved from sixth to fourth (+1000) on FanDuel’s Heisman odds list, trailing three other quarterbacks: front-runner Caleb Williams of USC (+390), Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. (+850) and Florida State’s Jordan Travis (+850). Texas is also fourth alongside Florida State in FanDuel’s odds to win it all, behind Georgia (+230), Michigan (+460) and Ohio State (+1000).

“I don’t think the moment was too big for him,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said of Ewers. “From the moment the ball got snapped he showed great composure. There were times his feet got choppy in the pocket, but we got him settled down.

“I thought he managed the line of scrimmage really good. To be in this environment and not have one false start is a credit to Quinn managing things. It’s not like we lined up in static formations. There were shifts and motions and that’s a credit for our guys to manage all that.”

Over at DraftKings, Ewers was at +2200 to take home the Heisman, but after the Longhorns’ win over the Crimson Tide, he’s at +1000. As for Texas’ odds in the College Football Playoff, the Longhorns are at +1000 along with Florida State and Ohio State, trailing only Georgia (+240) and Michigan (+500), moving up from +2500 before Saturday’s game.

Elsewhere, Texas (+1100) vaulted to fourth in the odds to win the national championship on BetMGM, behind Georgia (+200), Michigan (+500) and Ohio State (+900). Ewers (+1000) now trails only Williams (+350), Travis (+850) and Penix (+850) in BetMGM’s odds to take home the Heisman.

–Field Level Media

Former Baylor coach Art Briles apparently was an unwelcome visitor on the field at Oklahoma after the Sooners beat SMU 28-11 in Norman, Okla., on Saturday night.

Briles, fired by Baylor in 2016 as the school investigated a wave of reports of sexual assaults by players, has been kept from other jobs since then because of negative fan reaction. And Oklahoma fans took to social media Saturday night to voice displeasure at seeing Briles on the field, wearing an Oklahoma shirt.

“I was made aware of it, just before I came in here, that he was [on the field],” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables told reporters just after the game. “That’s being dealt with.”

Briles is the father-in-law of Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator, Jeff Lebby, who said Briles attended the game with family.

“That’s the grandfather to my two kids, so he was down with our entire family well after the game, but he was down there. … He’s with his entire family,” Lebby said, per ESPN.

According to the ESPN report, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione issued a statement that said, “I was just as disappointed as many of our fans when I learned of the postgame situation tonight. It shouldn’t have happened and it was my expectation it never would, based on boundaries we previously set. I’ve addressed it with the appropriate staff.”

Fan reaction kept Briles, 67, from filling coaching jobs at Grambling State and with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.

ESPN reported he has been hired to coach the Dallas entry in the International Football Alliance, a new professional league scheduled to start next June. So far two teams in Texas and three in Mexico have been announced.

–Field Level Media

Michigan State has suspended football coach Mel Tucker without pay, the school announced Sunday, following media reports revealing a sexual harassment investigation.

The university held a press conference Sunday afternoon to address the embattled coach’s status. A previously reported hearing may ultimately determine Tucker’s future and remains scheduled for the week of Oct. 5 during Michigan State’s bye week.

Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller, who revealed the suspension, added that an investigation into Tucker’s behavior is ongoing and will not be concluded until after that hearing.

Tucker was allowed to coach the Spartans’ first two games before the allegations became public.

“The action AD Haller took comes with the full weight of my support,” Michigan State interim president Teresa K. Woodruff said. “As he shared, these new developments before the formal hearing can impact the case and the community. This step, to place Mel Tucker on an unpaid leave, is equally necessary and appropriate for today’s circumstances.”

Per multiple reports, secondary coach Harlon Barnett will serve as Michigan State’s interim coach, with former coach Mark Dantonio assisting as an associate head coach.

Tucker is the subject of a months-long investigation into whether he violated the school’s policy banning sexual harassment and exploitation as reported on by USA Today early Sunday.

In a lengthy article published Sunday, Tucker’s accuser — Brenda Tracy — described to USA Today how she met Tucker and told her story through to the night that led to the allegation. While Field Level Media’s policy is not to name alleged victims of sexual harassment or assault, Tracy agreed to be identified in her USA Today interview and provided hundreds of pages of documentation.

Tracy, a rape survivor, works to educate athletes about sexual violence. She was paid to speak to the football team twice, and she was named an honorary captain for the Spartans’ 2022 spring football game.

Tracy and Tucker apparently had a working relationship that became friendly, but Tracy said Tucker crossed the line during an April 28, 2022, telephone call. According to USA Today, she filed a complaint last December with the university’s Title IX office that said Tucker “made sexual comments about her and masturbated” during that call.

That report triggered a Title IX investigation, done by an outside attorney and completed in July, per the report.

In a statement to the Title IX investigator, Tucker said the two had consensual “phone sex” and acknowledged masturbating.

“Ms. Tracy’s distortion of our mutually consensual and intimate relationship into allegations of sexual exploitation has really affected me,” Tucker wrote in a March 22 letter to the investigator, per the report. “I am not proud of my judgment and I am having difficulty forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition.”

Tracy denies there was anything consensual about the call and said she had discouraged romantic advances from Tucker. She told USA Today that Tucker is trying to ruin her career and reputation.

Tucker hung up on a USA Today reporter who was seeking comment Saturday night, and Michigan State officials declined to make a statement, citing the investigation and the need for confidentiality.

Tracy is an influential advocate against gender-based violence through her nonprofit organization, Set The Expectation.

Tucker is one of the highest-paid coaches in college football, signing a 10-year, $95 million contract before the 2022 season. The contract is fully guaranteed if the school fires Tucker for performance.

However, it contains a clause that allows Michigan State to fire him, without payment, if he engages in “conduct which, in the University’s reasonable judgment, would tend to bring public disrespect, contempt or ridicule on the University,” per the report.

At the upcoming hearing, both sides can present evidence to corroborate their cases. USA Today said another outside Title IX attorney, hired by Michigan State, will review the initial report and all evidence to determine whether Tucker violated school rules.

Michigan State is no stranger to acts of sexual harassment and assault.

The university has paid out more than $510 million to hundreds of women who sued, claiming they were abused by former Michigan State sports doctor Larry Nassar under the guise of medical treatment. As part of their case, the women said the university ignored complaints for years and kept him in his job.

He was sentenced to at least 100 years in prison.

Tucker, 51, is in his fourth season as head coach of the Spartans, who are off to a 2-0 start.

A longtime college and NFL assistant coach, Tucker got his first head coaching job in 2019 with Colorado. Despite Tucker’s 5-7 record with the Buffaloes, Michigan State plucked him away for its coaching job before the 2020 season. In 2021, the Spartans were 11-2 and won the Peach Bowl, and Tucker was rewarded with the massive contract.

His overall record at Michigan State is 20-14 after a 5-7 season in 2022.

–Field Level Media