Houston – Philip Causey suffered a season-ending knee injury, the team’s only major injury coming out of camp…Backup junior center Blake Sargent will be sidelined for at least the first month of the season. He underwent surgery on the shoulder that he injured in spring practice on Monday morning…Defensive tackle Joey Mbu is one of the true freshmen that figures to be in the mix for some playing time this fall…The strong safety spot is still up for grabs, according to coach Kevin Sumlin. Both Kent Brooks and Colton Valencia will play, at this point, it’s just a matter of who goes out there and lines up for the first snap.

Rice – Sr. LT Jake Hicks (calf), Jr. TE Taylor Cook (knee) and Jr. RB Sam McGuffie (undisclosed) were slowed during camp but are now fit…Rice coaches say that McGuffie is one of the toughest players they’ve seen…Rice has lost 41 of last 42 meetings with Texas, including last 22 in Austin. Owls haven’t won in Austin since 1965…UT has averaged 53.6 points in its last three games home games against Rice…Linebacker Trey Briggs (ACL) has been cleared but won’t play in the season opener.

SMU – Walk-on kicker Chase Hover is slated to handle kickoffs and place kicking…Kenneth Acker has won the open starting job at right cornerback and Victor Jones at outside linebacker…Torlan Pittman is back at nose as expected after missing last year dealing with a legal issue…SMU has been lobbying hard this week for a shot to replace Texas A&M, who has filed paperwork to leave the conference

Tulane – Strong safety Taylor Echols spent much of fall camp battling for the top spot with Kyle Davis. But Echols incurred a concussion last week and has been sidelined since. Bob Toledo said Davis will get the start on Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana..A week after getting ejected from practice for losing his temper, defense tackle Shane Delery is now suspended for the Green Wave’s first game on Saturday…Tulane freshman defensive back Renaldo Thomas practiced last Friday for the first time since losing consciousness during a drill two weeks ago.  Coaches said he will not play defense the first week or two, but may play special teams

Tulsa – Tulsa WR Damaris Johnson arrested, booked on complaint of felony embezzlement charge on Thursday morning…Bob Stoops said he has always been a fan of Tulsa coach Bill Blankenship and that he has respect for the Tulsa program and success they’ve had

UTEP – Right tackle James Nelson, who has a high ankle sprain, will miss up to a month, but Aubrey Alexius’ quadriceps, Jerel Watkins’ ankle and James Robinson’s knee could be healthy in time for next week’s game at SMU…Freshman James Martin will start in place of Nelson…

East Carolina– Head coach Ruffin McNeill expects his top four outside linebackers to get nearly an equal share of the action against South Carolina…Set to miss the showdown against the Gamecocks due to injury are defensive back Desi Brown (doubtful, right shoulder), inside linebacker Kyle Tudor (doubtful, left knee), and offensive linemen Drew Gentry (out, left knee) and Mack Helms (out, concussion). Defensive end John Lattimore (knee) and defensive tackle Leroy Vick (knee) are both out for the season…Defensive back Emanuel Davis and receiver Michael Bowman were suspended by McNeill following their arrests by Greenville police on June 17.  They will sit out Saturday’s opener.

Marshall– Troy Evans was indefinitely suspended after he was arrested Tuesday in connection to several armed robberies that took place over the weekend…True freshman Rakeem Cato earned the starting nod at quarterback…Tight end Eric Frohnapfel is the other true freshman to get the starting nod…Aaron Dobson, appearing recovered from a nagging hamstring injury, will start at the X receiver spot…Tron Martinez OR Travon Van who will be taking Mountaineer Field first as the team’s starting running back. In other words, the two will most likely split carries.

Memphis – Despite suspending five players for their opener against Memphis, Mississippi State defeated the Tigers 59-14…A year after starting against MSU at quarterback, Cannon Smith started against the Bulldogs at strong safety…The Tigers committed four penalties on their first nine offensive plays…Freshman Taylor Reed and Andy Summerlin rotated at quarterback, with Reed getting the majority of the snaps, completing 23/35 passes for 149 yards, with a touchdown and interception

Southern Miss – Southern Miss was cited for numerous secondary violations: USM football coach Larry Fedora, while attending a high school game his son was playing in November of 2008, gave a radio interview at the game, which is not permitted by NCAA rules; The USM football strength and conditioning staff created videos of summer workouts and put them on a YouTube channel the staff created for the public to view in 2011; A rivals.com media member, Lanny Mixon, attended an event for football prospects on campus on Feb. 26, 2011, and published photos of prospects at the event, which is against NCAA rules; A non-coaching member of the football staff helped the coaching staff send in signals during the 2011 football spring game; A football camp brochure was 17×25 inches, with three inches being a tear-out registration form. The NCAA allows only a 17×22-inch brochure; A student-athlete, a football kicker, who had not signed a student-athlete statement and drug testing consent form, was allowed to participate in practice activities in 2009…

UAB – Nolen Smith looks like he is a pure receiving threat at tight end and coaches are looking for him to put up big numbers, despite playing a new position…Three true freshmen, including kicker Ty Long, are penciled in for the UAB starting lineup when the Blazers open the season against Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Sept. 10.  Other freshmen expected to start are tight end Kennard Backman and defensive end Diaheem Watkins.

UCF – Brynn Harvey is coming off of an ACL injury, which caused him to miss the 2010 season.  He was a first team  All-Conference USA player in 2009…Senior starter Josh Linam is the sole linebacker with significant game-day experience…UCF returns three players — Jeff Godfrey, Latavius Murray and Ronnie Weaver — who rushed for at least 10 touchdowns apiece last season.