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…
Michael Wojtychiw 