Florida Gators (33 days until)
1. PLAYERS TO REMEMBER – Vernell Brown III, WR:
– “Brown, a former 5-star recruit, became just the third true freshman receiver in school history to start a season opener, joining Percy Harvin (2006) and Antonio Callaway (2015). He had three catches for 79 yards and three punt returns for 45 yards. All told, Brown played 35 snaps, the most of any receiver.”
2. PLAYERS TO REMEMBER – J. Michael Sturdivant, WR:
– “Sturdivant caught two passes for 7 yards and a touchdown. He played 33 snaps and had a 63.2 PFF grade.”
3. PLAYERS TO REMEMBER – Jake Slaughter, C, and Austin Barber, OT
– “Florida’s highest-graded offensive players in Week 1 on PFF. Barber’s 91.3 overall grade and 90.3 run blocking grade are good for second among all FBS offensive tackles. Slaughter’s grade tops FBS centers. He also owns the best run blocking grade (90.2) among FBS centers through Week 1, per PFF.”
4. KICKING WOES…
– Trey Smack Made 18 out of 21 field goal attempts (long of 55-yards) in 2024… On Saturday against Long Island, Smack was 2-5 with missed from 39, 40 and 57. Smack was a Lou Groza Semifinalist in 2023.
Oklahoma Sooners (40 days since)
1. INJURY – Jaydn Ott: HC Brent Venables briefly explained why Ott didn’t play much in the first game.
– “He missed a lot of practice,” Venables explained. “But you’re going to see a lot more of him.”
– “Jaydn’s a special player and a special talent,” Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “He’s absolutely going to find his rhythm and find his place in this offense. I’m not worried one bit about Jaydn Ott. He’s a great kid, he’s a hard worker, he’s a smart kid. So I’m excited to see what he does throughout the course of the year.”
2. OFFENSIVE LINE UPDATE – Febechi Nwaiwu: is well aware that the OU offensive line needs to improve.
– “The starting offensive guard played all but two snaps in Oklahoma’s season-opening win over Illinois State. And he was arguably the team’s best offensive lineman, playing both right and left guard. But as a group, it’s clear the offensive line has a lot to work on. The Sooners only ran for 103 yards.”
– “OU shuffled a lot of players up front. With Michael Fasusi, Derek Simmons and Heath Ozaeta all out for the game and starting left tackle Jacob Sexton leaving in the first quarter with a knee injury, it meant others were going to get to play. One of those players was true freshman Ryan Fodje.”
– Another new Sooner who got a lot of playing time was Stanford transfer Jake Maikkula. Maikkula replaced starting center Troy Everett in the third quarter. And Maikkula played well, likely earning himself more playing time as OU tries to figure out its best five up front.
3. HISTORIC WEEKEND FOR OU RECRUITING – SoonerScoop has been talking all summer about this week’s Michigan game being the biggest of Brent Venables time in Norman.
– Notable Non-OU Commits with Texas Offers
- Kevin Ford – EDGE – Duncanville, Texas – OU OFFER – UF COMMIT
- Peyton Houston – QB – Shreveport (La.) Evangel – OU OFFER
- Ismael Camara – OL – Gilmer, Texas – OU OFFER
- Zane Rowe – DL – Denton (Texas) Guyer – OU OFFER
- Cooper Witten – LB – Argyle (Texas) Liberty Christian – OU OFFER
- Eli Johnson – S – Cibolo (Texas) Steele – OU OFFER
– SoonerScoop has compared this weekend to the Florida State weekend on Sept. 17, 2012 where the Sooners hosted names like Nelson Agholor, Mario Edwards, and Dorial Green-Beckham, amongst many others.
4. PLAYERS TO REMEMBER – Jaren Kanak, TE
– The newly converted OU tight end, who played linebacker his first three years in Norman, responded in a big way. He totaled five receptions for 90 yards, which was the most in a game by an Oklahoma tight end since Brayden Willis in 2022.
– “It was a great response,” coach Brent Venables said. “You know, he didn’t go in the tank, which is no surprise. Tough guy, he’ll learn from that. Just trying to fight for extra yards and a guy you don’t see on the way down. But great job. Very athletic, really explosive, smart football player. Understands the defense. That’s why he’s able to get open and make some really good plays tonight.”
– “Jaren is just consistent with everything that he does,” offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “He has the skillset that really fits that mold really well, and he does a great job of understanding the game plan, understanding his assignment, and putting himself and his body in position to be successful and seize the opportunity whenever it comes to him. Just really proud of him, really proud of how he’s worked the last 8 ½, nine months.”
Georgia Bulldogs (75 days until)
1. PLAYERS TO REMEMBER – Gunner Stockton:
HC Kirby Smart was asked, “How do you feel about Gunner Stockton as a pure passer?”
– “Define pure passer. What does that mean?” Smart responded. “Well, it depends on how much we have to pass him, you know what I mean? Like, he’s really good on the run, he scrambles, makes plays, he extends plays. He does a great job navigating the pocket and understands where he has to go with the ball.”
– “Certainly, he can improve as a running quarterback, a boot and naked (bootleg) quarterback, a play-action quarterback, and a drop-back quarterback,” Smart said. “But he distributed the ball well (Saturday). That will be a measure of decision-making he has to do all year.”
– “If you can use the quarterback to run the ball, it adds an extra element, and it makes it harder to stop the run. You’re seeing that across college football. I saw it (Friday) night in the Auburn game, the Georgia Tech game. Running the ball is easier than throwing the ball. But running the ball in some conferences is harder than in others. There are no free yards in football. You earn everything you get. So, when you have the extra element, it certainly helps. But you’ve got to be smart about it, too.”
2. PLAYERS TO REMEMBER – Juan Gaston, OT:
– Georgia head coach Kirby Smart made it clear that he wants to play as many players as possible this season.
– “We want to lead the country in snaps over 100,” Smart said of how he approaches rotating players.
– The freshman from Westlake (GA), made his first career start at right guard before exiting the game in the first half with an ankle injury.
– “Don’t know much. We took him to do an MRI, it looks like an ankle,” Smart said post-game of Gaston’s injury. “We don’t know if it’s a high ankle or not in terms of that.“
Notes Gathered via UGASports.com
