The insider notebook returns after taking a one-week hiatus hands of Hurricane Helene. Among the Week 8 topics of conversation:
It’s on: Travis Hunter vs. Ashton Jeanty for Heisman
Before some unnecessary downplaying of Ashton Jeanty’s early-season accomplishments at Boise State, Travis Hunter did make a fair and valid point in response to a Robert Griffin III question about his Heisman candidacy.
“You see Ashton Jeanty but it’s not like we haven’t seen a running back that’s been good,” Hunter said early in that response on Outta Pocket with RGIII. “But we haven’t seen a player that plays both ways.”
He’s not off-base with that part. In addition to being a special talent, Hunter continues to do something unprecedented and that we’ve never seen before — not just the workload (and averaging 130 snaps per game before an injury against Kansas State Oct. 12) but performing at what NFL scouts consider to be a first-round level on both offense and defense.
Charles Woodson didn’t do that. Neither have other two-way players like Champ Bailey or Chris Gamble. Doing something that’s so rare and truly transcendent adds to why Hunter may be deserving of winning the Heisman.
Several coaches and personnel staffers whom CBS Sports spoke to this week agreed.
Despite missing much of the game against Kansas State, Hunter ranks sixth among Power Four players with an average of 97.8 receiving yards per game and with six receiving touchdowns. He also has 16 tackles, two interceptions and a game-winning forced fumble on defense vs. Baylor. In addition, his play was key in the Buffaloes — who who were picked 11th in the Big 12 preseason poll — starting 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big 12 play before falling 31-28 to Kansas State with Hunter injured.
“That guy’s just so talented,” a Power Four personnel source said. “And the thing is he’s also playing hard. A lot of times, at least I would anticipate a guy that’s playing both ways, takes some plays off, but he plays f—— hard and he loves football. The Boise State running back’s really talented. He’s a lot of fun to watch. But what Travis is doing is unprecedented.
“And even with what he’s doing outside of football — the guy’s also like a f——professional streamer and entertainer — and it doesn’t cross over into football. A lot of times, guys that have distractions going on, there are missed assignments and different stuff, but he doesn’t.”
To be fair, though, there are coaches who do view what Jeanty, the current betting favorite in the Heisman race, is doing as rare as well.
Through just six games, Jeanty already has 1,248 rushing yards (and will have a shot at breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season record of 2,628 rushing yards) along with already having 17 rushing touchdowns. It hasn’t just come against non-Power Four teams either as he posted 192 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-34 loss to No. 2 Oregon. His current averages: 9.9 yards per carry and 208 rushing yards per game.
“I see what Travis is saying, but at the same time, man, when you see that guy from Boise, it’s like: Oh my God,” a Big 12 coach said. “The amount of tackles that he breaks, it’s crazy. That’s the thing, when Travis says it’s been done, it has to a certain extent — you’ve had guys like Adrian Peterson and all — but none of those guys have been on the pace that he’s on right now.”
Hunter is expected to return in full this weekend at Arizona.
Rocky few weeks for Tennessee’s multi-million QB
During an up-and-down 2023 season with redshirt senior quarterback Joe Milton leading the offense, there was a consistent fan buzz about whether Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel would turn to highly-regarded freshman and former five-star Nico Iamaleava. The response back, from talking to multiple people within the Tennessee program, over and over again was that Iamaleava just wasn’t ready yet. The talent was clearly there, but what the coaches saw in practice each day made them strongly believe he’d benefit from sitting a year before being rushed into a starting role.
What we’ve seen in Iamaleava’s first season at the helm has amplified those early concerns. Iamaleava arrived in Knoxville with outsized expectations because of a widely-eported $8 million name, image and likeness deal. (In John’s book “The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football’s Era of Chaos,” it reported that number was actually $10 million.) Fans expect a player reportedly making that much money that quickly to dominate the minute he takes the field, but it has taken time for Iamaleava to get comfortable.
Iamaleava is cautious in his decision-making in an attempt to limit big mistakes, but it also limits the big play opportunities that Tennessee excelled with under Hendon Hooker in 2022, especially against Alabama in that 52-49 shootout. The run game is what makes Tennessee’s offense go so that has to be baked into any discussion of Iamaleava’s play, but there’s no hiding the fact he’s thrown more interceptions (one) than touchdowns in the month of October so far.
Against an Alabama secondary that has looked vulnerable at times this season, there is curiosity from people we talked to about whether this will be the moment Tennessee’s coaching staff pushes Iamaleava to be more aggressive downfield.
Something to monitor: Quinn Ewers wasn’t usual self last week
After missing two games due to an abdominal strain, Quinn Ewers was back in action as Texas’ starting quarterback last week and helped the Longhorns come away with a 31-point Red River Rivalry win over Oklahoma.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t a perfect first game back for Ewers, who finished with 199 passing yards, one touchdown pass and one interception on the first drive of the game. On the second drive, Ewers sorely underthrew the speedy, wide-open Isaiah Bond on what would likely have been a walk-in touchdown. An opposing team staffer also noticed something with Ewers that could be worth monitoring heading into the No. 1 Longhorns’ matchup against No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET).
“The talent level’s apparent with him, but I will say that he did not look like he wanted to go extend and create plays last week,” that opposing team staffer said. “He looked like he wanted to get the ball out, which they do really well. They have the shortest depth of routes ran and the fastest spray to the perimeter of anyone in college football. But compared to the other weeks, he seemed like the internal clock was sped up even more, that he really didn’t want to get hit and like he really didn’t want to get hit on the lower half of his body.
“He looked very uncomfortable any time anyone got close to him. Granted, that was very few times anyone got close to him because they have good offensive linemen and they get the ball out quick, but the few times that he really dropped back and sat in the pocket, he just looked uncomfortable. Executed well but just looked uncomfortable.”
Ewers took ownership of his play and said there was no excuse if it was due to rust, as he had practiced the last two weeks.
Key factor in Illinois’ awesome turnaround
Last year, Illinois finished without qualifying for a bowl game.
Now, the Fighting Illini may be bowl eligible as soon as this weekend.
A year after finishing just 5-7, Illinois is 5-1 and ranked No. 22 heading into a matchup with No. 24 Michigan (3:30 p.m., CBS).
A big part of the turnaround, according to coaches, has been the improvement of QB Luke Altmyer. After finishing his first season at Illinois with lackluster production (1,883 yards, 13 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions), the former Ole Miss transfer has 1,446 passing yards, 14 touchdown passes and just one interceptions through six games this year.
“There are other reasons too like the o-line is playing better and the defense is playing better, but the quarterback is playing really well and he’s a lot more confident and decisive than he’s ever been,” a Big Ten coach said. “I would say that is 90 percent of the reason (for the turnaround). He’s playing extremely well.”
Improvement from the supporting cast has helped too, including improved play from a wide receiver unit that’s benefitted from the addition of another former Ole Miss player this offseason, Zakhari Franklin.
Franklin posted only four catches at Ole Miss last year but was previously a two-time all-conference selection at UTSA. Now, he’s bounced back, leads the Illini with 28 catches and has paired with fellow senior Pat Bryant to give Illinois a viable top-two at wide receiver. Bryant is tied for second nationally with seven touchdown catches.
“There are some really good receivers outside, so that’s helped,” that Big Ten coach said. “Zakhari’s made a massive difference because there are now two on the outside that are like legit NFL guys in my opinion.”
Miai has glut of NFL talent and and scouts love TE Arroyo
At the midpoint of the season, Miami has three of the nation’s top draft risers.
We’ve covered QB Cam Ward and EDGE Tyler Baron previously, but there’s another Hurricanes player who NFL scouts continue to bring up as a big-time stock up player as well — tight end Elijah Arroyo.
After posting just 11 total catches and one touchdown the previous three seasons, Arroyo has broken out with 14 catches, 286 yards, four touchdowns and an average of 20.4 yards per catch in Miami’s first six games. He’s gone from being off-the-radar for NFL scouts entering the season to now being viewed as a possibility to end up going in a similar draft range as other star tight ends such as Penn State’s Tyler Warren and Michigan’s Colston Loveland.
“I have him as a top-100 player,” an NFL scouting source said. Can easily see him gone by mid-second round.”
Arroyo, who 247Sports ranked as the fourth-best tight end and 129th-best overall prospect in the 2021 recruiting class, has scored a touchdown in four of the Hurricanes’ last five games, including each of the last two.
“Versatile!” that NFL scouting source said. “Can align anywhere and within the formation and contribute consistently in both run and pass. Good hands and shows the ability to track and adjust to the ball. Capable of attacking defenses at all three levels. Good mobility and contact balance after the catch. Excellent effort and play temperament.”
Pitt tabs Greene as AD, closing one of three Power Five openings
The first of three Power Five athletic director searches found its target Friday. Pittsburgh is expected to hire Tennessee senior deputy AD Allen Greene as its next athletic director, as first reported by ESPN.
Greene will replace veteran AD Heather Lyke who was abruptly fired last month. Greene continues a recent trend of schools looking to modernize their athletic departments and search for someone who can be more aggressive with NIL and other fundraising efforts. South Carolina, according to industry sources, is looking for a similar-type candidate to replace outgoing 66-year old AD Ray Tanner. There was frustration at Pittsburgh and South Carolina that they were falling behind in NIL, according to sources.
Greene comes from a school that has been aggressive and cutting edge under Tennessee AD Danny White. Tennessee’s fanbase was an early NIL adopter and has helped make its football program nationally competitive. Greene worked with White at three different stops – Tennessee, Ole Miss and Buffalo – and has seen what thinking outside-the-box can accomplish.
“Danny is a visionary,” University of Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman recently told CBS Sports. “He’s a leader in the SEC and I think he’s a national leader among ADs. He’s always thinking about what is the future of college athletics, let’s try to shape it rather than wait to see what happens.”
Greene succeeded White as Buffalo’s AD before becoming Auburn’s athletic director in 2018. He famously eschewed booster wishes to hire defensive coordinator Kevin Steele to replace Gus Malzahn, instead bringing in Bryan Harsin from Boise State. He ultimately left right before the start of the 2022 season when it became clear the school wasn’t going to give him an extension and Harsin was fired two months later.
Greene spent a year at Ole Miss as senior deputy AD under AD Keith Carter before rejoining White in December 2023. The 47-year old is a former Notre Dame baseball player who was in the New York Yankees organization before making the switch to college athletics.
What to expect as the DJ Lagway era gets underway
Graham Mertz’s season-ending injury has led to DJ Lagway having to transition from being the future of the quarterback position at Florida to now having to be the present for the Gators at QB.
Saturday vs. Kentucky will be the five-star freshman’s first career start against a non-FCS opponent. However, while there have been growing pains in his early action vs. non-FCS opponents, opposing team staffers believe Florida has clear reason for optimism with Lagway based on his early play with the Gators.
After stepping in for an injured Mertz during the third quarter last week against Tennessee, Lagway threw for 98 yards with a late game-tying touchdown pass and an interception. In his other most extensive SEC action, Lagway was 6 of 13 for 54 yards with a touchdown pass and two interceptions during Florida’s loss to Texas A&M.
“Great size and frame,” an opposing team staffer said. “Ball comes out of his hand with great velocity and with little effort. Still young so still learning how to see the field and read coverages but he’ll be fine. Can throw some different arm slots. Good enough ability to throw on the run and will only improve. Can be a physical runner. Young player who flashes what his projection could be — high-end type player.”
Three questions with Tennessee AD Danny White
What constitutes Tennessee being back?
It’s sustained success. Being in the right conversations from a recruiting standpoint, having a positive culture within our program. Josh has done a great job of that. We have really high character young men on our football program. Being in the national rankings consistently which we have been now over the last few years. But we have to show it’s not a flash in the pan. Now that we have this 12-team playoff, which I’m super excited about, we need to be a participant in that on a regular basis and we expect to.
You’ve been on both sides of a field rush and there’s been conversations around fines and other deterrents in the aftermath of the one in 2022. Is there a way to really stop a field rush?
I don’t believe attempting to stop it completely is the right thing. I think it’s a pretty cool part of college sports, field and court rushes. We just had it happen to us against Arkansas. There were probably 30,000 people on the field and they’ll remember it for the rest of their lives. It was really uncomfortable for our team but we shouldn’t have lost the game.
It’s not fun to be the visiting team in that situation, it’s actually kind of brutal, but I don’t think, for a variety of reasons number one being fan safety, we should try to stop them. We should try to manage them.
Where has the program come since that 2022 win over Alabama?
I’m bullish on our future as an athletic department and more specifically our football program. I think Josh has done a phenomenal job building it the right way. I think it’s going to be a great game. Having Alabama here is always special. It’s one of the most historic rivalries in all of college football.
MORE: Oral history of 2022 Tennessee vs. Alabama epic, featuring quotes from White, others
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