Roundup: Injury bug bites Oregon and Colorado

Solemn injury news out of Eugene – Oregon wide receiver Devon Allen is out for the year with a torn ACL, writes Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports (DuckTerritory.com was first to the story). Ugh.

More bad injury news, this time out of Boulder – linebacker Derek McCartney is out of the season with a torn ACL, while Sefo Liufau’s status is still uncertain (right ankle injury) and kicker Diego Gonzalez is out for the year after tearing his Achilles tendon (Nick Kosmider, The Denver Post).

USC head coach Clay Helton announced Monday that Sam Darnold will be the starting quarterback against Utah on Friday. He’ll replace Max Browne, who started the first three games of the season but was replaced by Darnold late in the loss to Stanford.

Washington wide receiver Brayden Lenius is eligible to play Saturday against Arizona, as he is now off suspension. Chris Petersen is not committing to playing him yet, though.

After a near-catastrophe against Texas, Cal coach Sonny Dykes has mandated that his team hand the ball to the official after scoring a touchdown to ensure that, you know, his guys actually enter the end zone with the ball in hand (Sam Cooper, Yahoo Sports). Kaelin Clay should be brought in to every training camp in the Pac-12 to teach players about the dangers of dropping the ball to celebrate an apparent touchdown.

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has Stanford as the No. 4 seed in his latest College Football Playoff projections. In Palm’s world, the Card would square off against top-seeded Alabama, while No. 2 Clemson would play No. 3 Ohio State. I think people (especially those around Palo Alto) have been salivating for a ‘Bama-Card matchup for a few years now.

Kyle Goon writes about how wide receiver Cory Butler-Byrd’s return boosted the Utah offense in the 34-17 win at San Jose State. CBB caught five passes for 66 yards after being suspended the first two games of the season for a charge of misdemeanor criminal mischief from a summer incident.

Doug Haller tells us how Arizona State tests for concussions in-game in this link. Good stuff as always from Haller.

Jacob Thorpe puts up a social media post from the chaplain of the Pullman Police Department regarding his thoughts on the situation between the police department and Washington State football, as well as how the media has portrayed the issue. Interesting stuff here.

After effectively halting BYU, UCLA now prepares for Christian McCaffrey as the Bruins get ready to play their first conference game of the season.

Gina Mizell gives us the highlights from Gary Andersen’s press conference on Monday as he and the Beavers begin preparations for Boise State.

Michael Lev features Arizona running back J.J. Taylor, who rushed for 168 yards and a score in a win against Hawai’i last weekend.