CFB DeptHITS: Wednesday, November 27

Today we have lots of impactful status updates heading into the final regular season week, some coaching hiring/firing, a transfer portal commitment and closing the 2024 books on two MAC schools.

Nov 27, 2024

We make hundreds of tweaks and small adjustments based on our data for all 134 live depth charts over at CFBDepth.com — this feature is designed to pull up the ‘big ones’ to the top to ensure you are informed with the most impactful and keep you educated every day (except Sunday). Today we have a smorgasbord of updates that include our typical player status updates, some coaching news, a portal commitment and we are closing the books on two MAC schools - Kent State and Akron - in 2024. We also throw in a comparison of our “All-In Rankings” compared to the CFP’s latest top 25 rankings. Enjoy!

Georgia ::: Starting RB Trevor Etienne looks to remain sidelined for week 14's matchup with Georgia Tech. Chances are, if the Bulldogs needed to win this game, he would find a way out there. He's resting and recouperating for the stretch run. Expect more Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens against the Yellow Jackets this week. It’s also possible we finally see Roderick Robinson - who has returned to practice - but we aren’t planning on that.

Meanwhile, WR Colbie Young was arrested back in early October on charges of assault. Those charges were later dropped by the accuser and he is now back at practice for the Bulldogs. He's unlikely to play week 14, but is now setting himself up for a return for the SEC Championship and beyond, giving Carson Beck another weapon at his disposal.

Colorado ::: Coach Prime gave us some updates on injuries that are of note. That includes two key players on defense returning to the field in CB Preston Hodge and DT Shane Cokes. Also, RB Isaiah Augustave will be available. He countered that with some bad news that DT Amari McNeill would be out week 14 and starting RT Phillip Houston would also miss the matchup with Oklahoma State. WR Jimmy Horn Jr. has an 'outside shot' at playing. That is translated to 'doubtful' on our charts.

Toledo ::: QB Tucker Gleason was banged up a week ago and was questionable heading into the regular season finale on Friday evening. He was able to return and played well, going 31/44 for 289 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. Somehow the Rockets lost this game to the Zips and the post-game win expectancy says they should not have. Gleason is back for the Bowl game.

Iowa ::: It appears the Hawkeyes will be without RT Gennings Dunker again for week 14. He missed week 13 and Kirk Ferentz mentioned that it didn't look like he would be back for the Friday night regular season finale against Nebraska.

Virginia Tech ::: Both top QBs Kyron Drones and Collin Schlee are questionable to play week 14 against UVA. Currently, that leaves William "Pop" Watson III getting the first-team reps and is most likely to start. True freshman Davi Belfort would be the backup if both of those guys are not available.

Missouri ::: WR Mookie Cooper has been out since week nine and didn't show many signs of a return. Today he was confirmed to be out for the remainder of the season.

Oklahoma ::: WR Deion Burks missed week 13's thrilling upset over Alabama. He is back to 'up in the air' according to head coach Brent Venables for the week 14 finale at LSU.

Virginia ::: Injury updates for the Cavs ahead of week 14 include three players who are 'day-to-day' (questionable for our purposes): RB Kobe Pace, starting CB Kempton Shine and starting LG Noah Josey. Also, WR Trell Harris is (finally) expected to be cleared to take the field.

Memphis ::: We have another early verbal portal commitment as former Kennesaw State DT Thomarius "Pooda" Walker will join Memphis in 2025.

|||||| COACHING UPDATES

Rice ::: The Owls have found their next head coach. After parting ways with Mike Bloomgren in late October, Pete Alamar led the program through the rest of the season. They have identified Davidson head man Scott Abell as the next head coach. He has experience winning at non-traditional, academic-focused schools in his past and the journey begins for him as a FBS head coach.

North Carolina ::: The administration has decided to fire head coach Mack Brown. This comes one day after Brown says he had every intention to return. Brown will remain on board to coach the final game of the regular season here in week 14. It has yet to be determined if he will stick around for the Bowl game. More to come.

|||||| MOVING TO ‘OFF-SEASON’ MODE

If you are just getting familiar with our depth charts, you’ll want to know that we have a “status bar” on each to let you know where each depth chart stands in the update process. Once a season in complete, we will move to ‘off-season’ mode and start to track the movement that occurs for each. We have our first two of the season as two seasons ended (mercifully) last night as Akron and Kent State finished up 2024.

Akron ::: The Zips closed to books on their 2024 season with a flurry and a victory over a Bowl bound Toledo squad. Coming into the season the expectation was of improvement over back-to-back 2-10 seasons under Joe Moorhead. They did just that and did it with a flurry, grabbing two MAC wins at the end of the season. He did enough to keep his job as he works his way closer to the 'at or about .500' expectation in Akron, Ohio.

Kent State ::: The Flashes played their final game of a forgettable 2024 season, going winless and being competitive in only two games. They played a tough early schedule but things did not improve even as they moved into MAC play. This was Kenni Burns' second season at the helm here and he has managed just one (yes, one) win in those two seasons. The expectation in Kent, Ohio appears to be just field a team. No word on Burns' status but if they give him three seasons, he must show some signs of improvement, or else this job will be open to the next victim.

|||||| CFP RANKINGS COMPARISON

We decided to take the most recent version of the College Football Playoff (CFP) committee rankings and compare them to our “All-In Rankings” at CFBDepth.com…