There was a surprising update in the Florida State quarterback battle at Saturday’s practice as redshirt senior signal caller Sean Maguire was in a boot. After practice, Jimbo Fisher confirmed that Maguire is out with a bone spur in his right foot, the same injury which Derwin James recently suffered, which will require him to miss four weeks. Jimbo Fisher expects that he will be healthy by week two or three.

With Maguire now out, the heir apparent at QB, at least for the first game of the 2016 season, seems clear in the form of redshirt freshman Deondre Francois. Francois had taken over first-team reps ahead of Maguire over the last few practices and is now a runaway favorite to land the job. Although Fisher did name Francois as the leader at this time, he did not go so far as to name him the starter for the first game of the season yet.

Still, Fisher conceded that Francois will receive the majority of the first-team quarterback reps until another person proves himself.

Although few were projecting Maguire to start against Ole Miss on September 5th, the injury delivers a major blow to the Seminoles’ quarterback depth. Should he be named the starter, Francois will be supported in the season opener by redshirt sophomore J.J. Cosentino, who has looked severely out of place in his limited in-game reps with the first team, and Malik Henry, a talented hurler with significant upside who is, admittedly, a true freshman.

Fisher made sure to state after practice that Henry and Cosentino are “getting better” but they will likely pose little threat to Francois seizing the starting spot on September 5th.

Francois’ first chance to impress will be a big one on Sunday afternoon when he takes the field for the Seminoles’ sole practice of fall which is open to the public inside Doak Campbell Stadium. The practice is slated to begin at 4:30.

The WSU Cougars picked up another recruit from the state of Washington on Saturday when defensive end Kelle Sanders announced via Twitter that he has committed to the Cougs’ 2017 class.

Sanders, out of River Ridge High School in Lacey, is a composite three-star recruit and chose WSU over offers from Missouri and Wyoming.

His measurables are reported to be around 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, which puts him very much in the mold of the kinds of athletes WSU is recruiting on defense this year: Long, rangy, athletic dudes who could fill any number of roles at the next level, depending on how they develop.

How athletic? Check out his receiver highlights that are mixed in with his defensive end highlights.

With Sanders’ announcement, the Cougs now have 16 players committed to their 2017 class, including four of the 19 players in Washington rated three stars or better by 247Sports.com — more than any other school. You can thank special teams coach Eric Mele for that. The class currently stands 38th nationally and sixth in the Pac-12:

And here’s a look at the class overall:

Haisten brought you the news earlier that former Alabama defensive back Maurice Smith has been granted a waiver by the SEC which will allow him to compete immediately for Georgia. After essentially staying mum on the struggle that pitted one of Smart’s former (and now current) players against his former boss, Kirby Smart has now issued a statement on the matter.

I want to express appreciation to Southeastern Conferenmce Commissioner Greg Sankey for granting the waiver which will allow Maurice Smith too pursue his dreams at the University of Georgia as a graduate transfer. This has been a difficult situation to navigate and we are grateful to all who have been involved in bringing it to a resolution. Now that it is behind us, we are all anxious to move forward.

In the end, Smith has a lot of work ahead of him. The Bulldog secondary is chock full of veteran players who’ve been working with Mel Tucker in Smart’s system since the spring. Smith also faces the challenge of getting back into football shape, which anyone whose ever spent August acclimating to Georgia weather in full pads will tell you is a very real thing. Still, Georgia is picking up a player with three solid years of experience in Smart’s defense, a player who was in position to start for the defending national champions before escaping the compound in Tuscaloosa. That alone won’t win any football games this fall, but it darn sure won’t hurt, either. Until later . . .

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

The Sun Devils held an afternoon practice session inside of the Verde Dickey Dome Friday.

Media was allowed to view stretches, team drills emphasizing agility, ball security, and stance-to-start, a couple of situational 11-on-11 series, and special teams drills.

Injuries Update

Running back Demario Richard was a full participant in practice, donning a taped right ankle.

Wide receiver Jalen Harvey is out of his walking boot.

Players in Green No-Contact Jerseys

Defensive backs: Maurice Chandler (limited), Laiu Moeakiola (NP), Dasmond Tautalatasi (NP), James Johnson (NP)

Linebackers: Khaylan Thomas (limited), Salamo Fiso (not in attendance)

Offensive linemen: A.J. McCollum (limited participant), Tyson Rising (non-participant)

Tight ends/Wide receivers: Cameron Smith (NP), Grant Martinez (NP)

Quarterbacks: Bryce Perkins (not in attendance)

Situational 11-on-11 Series

Here’s how the first team was assembled during the 11-on-11 set:

Offense

QB: Brady White

RB: Gump Hayes, Nick Ralston

WR/TE: Tim White, Ellis Jefferson (outside); Fred Gammage (slot); Kody Kohl, Raymond Epps

OL: Evan Goodman (LT), Sam Jones (LG), Stephon McCray (C), Quinn Bailey (RG), Zach Roberston (RT)

Defense (appeared to lined up in team’s nickel set)

DL: Tashon Smallwood, Ami Latu, Renell Wren

LB: Christian Sam (weak side), D.J. Calhoun (strong side), JoJo Wicker (Devilbacker)

DB: df Kareem Orr (boundary corner), Bryson Echols (field corner), J’Marcus Rhodes (field safety), Armand Perry (bandit safety), Tyler Whiley (nickel)

Notes

• It took one play before the defense ended the first possession—defensive lineman Ami Latu dropped back into middle-zone coverage from his nose tackle position, intercepted a Brady White pass, and then ran the ball back the other way for a pick-six. The defense was supposed to be hypothetically trailing by 2 points during the situation.
• Quarterback Brady White is still growing into the position; he was “sacked” by Wicker after holding the ball too long. On his lone completion, he stepped up and then was flushed out of the pocket, rolling right before connecting with Tim White, who needed to make an acrobatic catch to keep the play in-bounds.
• Defensive coordinator Keith Patterson is assuming greater play-calling abilities this season. There were multiple plays were nose tackle Ami Latu dropped back into coverage from the nose tackle spot, seemingly fulfilling Graham’s request to utilize more zone coverages as he alluded to installing at Pac-12 Media Days.
• In their nickel set, the safety position has some length in Rhodes and Perry, who are each listed at six-foot. On the first team’s final possession, Rhodes tracked back to deep middle of the field to deflect a pass which Texas transfer Bryson Echols managed to haul down for an interception.
• To answer a question previously posed in our comments: Tyler Whiley saw time as the nickel corner in the first-team nickel set.

Kick Return Drills

Receivers Kyle Williams and Tim White, and Gump Hayes were back fielding kicks on Friday.

PT-42 Jersey

Tim White once again sported the jersey, and is still the lone player to do so.

NFL at Practice

The San Francisco 49ers had a scout in attendance at today’s practice. He said he’ll be back for ASU’s home game vs Washington State on October 22.

Quotes

Todd Graham

• “Game day tomorrow. Pretty fired up.” Saturday’s practice will include a scrimmage that Graham says will be the team’s first opportunity to play in gameday-like atmosphere with full-live tackling.
• Tyler Whiley, who’s seeing time at nickel cornerback, has been a “pleasant surprise.”
• Defense is “still attacking” despite incorporating more zone pressures.

J’Marcus Rhodes

• “It’s just football, man.” Rhodes has seen time at both cornerback and safety, but says the transition has essentially been seamless. “I can handle (the safety spot). It’s just the more reps I get, the better and better I get.”

Graham named Rhodes as one of the defensive standouts to this point in the offseason.

It’s not a secret that Rich Rodriguez has been looking for other coaching gigs. He had a very public flirtation with the University of South Carolina last year, but after being offered the job, opted to remain with the Arizona Wildcats.

Below are three possible reasons why the tarot cards of the football gods foresee an imminent departure of Arizona’s coaching icon:

1. Arizona will earn a 2016-2017 BCS bowl:

I know, the football prognosticators have already deemed the Wildcats no better than fourth in the Pac-12 South. You can do like the experts have and look up and down every Pac-12 team’s schedule and pick out potential wins and losses. The result will be a sense of which teams are true competitors for the conference’s crown. However, football is a bit like a humid evening at summer camp. For some completely inexplicable reason, a few of your buddies will be incessantly swarmed by mosquitoes while you need only swat an occasional one from your ear canal. Injuries in football are the same way. And injuries can determine the outcome of a conference champion more than ease or strength of schedule.

So yes, I am proposing that Arizona gets a BCS bowl more out of attrition than conference domination. The Wildcats are more prepared to withstand injuries at the offensive skill positions than any other conference team.

Arizona gets a BCS bowl and Coach Rodriguez capitalizes with a timely departure to a university back east.

2. Wildcats will have a top-five offensive team in the country:

The 2016 defensive squad appears to be a train wreck. There isn’t a single defensive position where Arizona will be considered dominant. But there’s one thing that can affect the performance of football players more than an injection of raw talent, and that’s renewed coaching energy. Donte’ Williams and Marcel Yates will get the most out of the defensive squad and Wildcat fans will be treated to an emotional defensive intensity not seen in the desert since the early 1990s.

All this defensive improvement will parlay the offense into better field position, more offensive possessions each game, and a top-five national ranking. Rich Rod’s stock will rise as a result.

3. RichRod’s contract payout:

Per page eight of Coach Rodriguez’ contract, he is due a $500,000 retention bonus if he’s still the Arizona head coach on November 30th, 2016. He gets this payout even if he voluntarily leaves after the November date. As for the Longevity Bonus (his share of the 175,000 units of the Master Limited Partnership) it becomes a Time Value of Money problem.

RichRod’s choice will be one of being paid millions more in the short-term versus the potential for a few million more in the future. The smart investor takes the money now.

All is not hopeless, though. If Coach Rodriguez does depart for the OKG-laden East Coast, there’s an intriguing new defensive coordinator looking to move into the head coach’s office.

Finally, football is back. Sort of. The Wisconsin Badgers opened fall camp on Monday, following Sunday’s media day festivities. On days such as the past week, when we’re unable to get out to practice ourselves, we’ll do our best to bring you roundups of relevant media analysis and observations from practice.

Full pads are back! After the first four practices were limited with, at-best, “half-pack,” Wisconsin players were in full gear on Friday morning.

All eyes are on the quarterbacks, as Bart Houston and Alex Hornibrook are competing to start against LSU on Sept. 3. On Friday, reports had Hornibrook, the 6’4, 219-pound southpaw, performing better than Houston.

A reminder to all of those watching the quarterback race: it’s still early. Really early. First–day–of–pads early. You cannot deny the progression of the redshirt freshman, however, from the end of the spring to now. He’s firmly in the race to be the starter in 2016.

Observations on the wide receivers

Replacing Alex Erickson and his 77 receptions from 2015 will be a task for this year’s wide receivers. The position group is talented, especially with the welcomed development of Robert Wheelwright and Jazz Peavy last season, along with Reggie Love and George Rushing blossoming more during the tail end of spring practices.

It will be interesting to see how the true freshmen like Quintez Cephus and A.J. Taylor develop early on, but Cephus — a former basketball recruit — seems to be standing out early on.

Corey Clement, Jon Dietzen added to injury report

Other highlights

Big news for Fighting Illini football! Three-star cornerback/wide receiver Tony Adams (MO) announced his verbal commitment to the Orange and Blue on Friday night, opting away from the Missouri Tigers in the process. Adams was one of program’s top secondary targets, and he’s rated as the No. 1078 player in the country (No. 8 player from Missouri).

Thank you to everyone who made this day possible! I’m committing to the University of Illinois #Wewillwin pic.twitter.com/uAJIofEKoe

— T.A (@Iwill_suceed20) August 12, 2016

Adams has other scholarships on the table from Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Illinois State, North Dakota State, Wyoming, South Dakota, Southeast Missouri State, and Southern Illinois.

Illinois became Adams’ first Power 5 offer after he impressed coaches during a St. Louis satellite camp in June. Missouri followed suit shortly after, and it quickly became a two-horse race for the 6-foot, 184-pound athlete. This is a big win for Lovie Smith and his staff because it signifies one of their first head-to-head wins over another big program.

Adams is the second defensive back to commit to the program, joining three-star corner Antwan Collier. The Fighting Illini recruiting class now has eight verbal commitments, though it still ranks last in the Big Ten.

Tony Adams Highlights

At this time last year, the question on everyone’s mind was “Who would be the starting quarterback?”

Well, this year, there’s no doubt who that is. He’s on this week’s cover of Sports Illustrated, after all.

But, with the departure of Jerry Neuheisel to Japan, this year’s quarterback question is “Who will back up Josh Rosen?” Let’s take a look at this year’s QBs.

Personnel Changes

In addition to Neuheisel, UCLA has also lost Jake Hall. At the same time, there are three freshmen quarterbacks who will battle Mike Fafaul to be Josh Rosen’s backup. They are, in no particular order, Dymond Lee, Matt Lynch and Devon Modster. Now, this is where the state of UCLA recruiting could end up influencing the situation.

UCLA does not have an elite quarterback lined up for the 2017 recruiting class and that’s a big deal. Why? Because Jim Mora could have redshirted that individual with intention of making him the starter in 2018 when Josh Rosen will probably be off to the NFL.

So, what does UCLA do with the three freshman?

If it’s up to me, I think all three freshmen should get redshirted this year. Realistically, the only way anyone other than Rosen plays this year is if a. Coach Mora decides to give the backup some reps in the UNLV game to get them some experience…just…in…case, or b. the worst possible situation arises and…well…I’m not going to say it, but you know what the worst possible situation is.

So, more than likely, there won’t be a need to use a freshman quarterback this year.

Meaning that plan should be to redshirt all three unless something bad happens.

Here’s this year’s QB roster:

Projected Depth Chart

So the question becomes “What does the projected depth chart look like?”

I guess, under ideal circumstances, it looks like this:

Oh, you wanted to know who was backing Josh Rosen up? All right. It looks like this:

I get it. You want to know who is the guy to replace Josh Rosen…when his helmet comes off and he has to leave the field for one play…Who is not the guy. Who’s on first. Wait…wrong sport.

If I go with my gut, that’s Mike Fafaul. The guy has put in the time behind Hundley, Rosen and even Jerry Neuheisel in Jerry’s World a few years ago.

There’s only one time that may change: If Josh Rosen is unable to be on the field for multiple plays.

But, even in that situation, I still think it will be Fafaul with one exception. That exception is if Rosen is unable to be on the field for multiple plays at the start of a game. For our readers who may happen to go to Southern Cal, that means that Rosen probably hasn’t practiced all week either. And, if you can’t figure out why Josh Rosen might not practice any given week, I’m not going to tell you. Phone a friend. Alright, alright. I’ll give the Trogens a hint. It rhymes with “SI Purse”.

In that case, and that case only, I think Jim Mora burns Devon Modster’s redshirt and goes with him.

But, we all know that it’s NEVER going to come to that.

And, with that, we conclude Bruins Nation’s 2016 UCLA Football Fall Preview. I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

Go Bruins!!!