CFB Monthly Round-Up: August 2024

A summary of the notable events in CFB for the month of August.

The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.

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Gather in to the tavern, my friends. In today’s ‘Monthly Round-Up’, I will cover at a high level the notable headlines, rumblings, and quotable quotes in College Football and their relevancy to CFF. These will include camp rumblings, notable transfer portal news (when applicable), and injury/suspension events.

Given the amount of news that is coming out of Fall camps, and the fact that many of you are drafting throughout August, I’m releasing this month’s version early.

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Paid subscribers have full access to these monthly recap articles, which summarize information from a variety of sources into one succinct, concise document to keep you on the cutting edge of the CFF market. As a paid subscriber, you also have access to my quarterly rankings reports, paid exclusive articles that I publish (about one in of every four articles), and finally, full access to my weekly rankings and waiver wire reports during the season.

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Fall Camp Rumblings

NOTE: I have published separate reports covering the relevant details that emerged from spring games, which you can find here.

This article includes updates from: Kennesaw State, Georgia Southern, Alabama, Cincinnati, North Carolina, South Carolina, Stanford, Washington State, Wyoming, Washington, Miami, Houston, Nevada, Wisconsin, Fresno State, Louisville, UGA, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Utah State, TCU, Central Michigan, Oregon, USC, BYU, NC State, Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Auburn, Florida, Wake Forest, Ole Miss, LSU, Utah, San Diego State, Arkansas State, Virginia Tech, Michigan, Arizona, Illinois, Clemson, Penn State, FAU, Troy, UTSA, CAL, Boise State, Florida State, Baylor and ECU.

• From an update out of Kennessaw State’s camp:

  • Gabriel Benyard is finally making the full-time transition to wide receiver as Kennesaw State continues to rework its young pistol offense. He is gotten the whole experience, too.

  • The Owls have asked Benyard to do a lot already, having him line up both out wide and in the slot. In addition to still learning the intricacies of the position as a route-runner and run-blocker, he is going to be heavily involved on screens and jet sweeps, and he will be the main kickoff and punt returner.

  • Kennesaw State’s main priority with this move appears to be simple — get Benyard the ball.

• Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton recently said this about RB Jalen White:

  • He had a freak injury last year. Just got caught up knee wise in the turf. Nothing that he can really help prevent in that scenario. He was definitely going to be, in my mind, a 1,000-yard rusher last year. He’s got the capability I think to be a 13-to-1500-yard rusher.

  • A beat writer added this: With an uncertain quarterback, the team expects to rely on the running game. Fifth year senior Jalen White will help take some of the pressure off the new QB.

• An update on Georgia Southern’s ongoing QB battle:

  • As for the quarterback race it looks to remain a three-way battle between senior Indiana transfer Dexter Williams and sophomores J.C. French and David Dallas. [Clay] Helton said he has still not seen enough to put one player ahead of the other two, but has stated that he does not plan to rotate quarterbacks.

• Two notes out of Alabama’s camp on QB and RB rotation:

  • QB — Austin Mack was the third quarterback getting reps behind Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson, and ahead of Dylan Lonergan, in the positional drills. That was also the case earlier this week.

  • RB — Jam Miller went through running back drills first today, while Justice Haynes went through first on Thursday. It appears the tandem will have a true 1A/1B split in the offense if practice is any indication.

• Cincinnati QB Brenden Sorsby mentioned that he’s lost 15 pounds, and also that USC head coach Lincoln Riley reached out to him when he was in the portal:

  • Sorsby confirmed he got interest from USC and Lincoln Riley after he signed with Cincinnati, but he was already locked in and ready to lift the Bearcats from a 3-9 last-place record in the Big 12.

  • "I was already in Cincinnati, wasn't going to entertain it at all," Sorsby confirmed. "I knew Cincinnati was the right fit for me and nobody else could change that."

• From an article quoting North Carolina RB2 Darwin Barlow on his decision to transfer to the Tarheels:

  • They’ve got Omarion [Hampton] and stuff, but (running backs coach Larry) Porter just broke down that Omarion had a lot of carries, and they’re looking to