It seems like every day I am circling 5-10 players who have been lost for the season for one reason or another. You need to go to the injury list on the front page and update your magazine. There are nearly 600 players that were lost since the magazine was written which is about 5 players per team! I use a red pen to circle players that were lost prior to the year and then a blue pen to circle players lost during the year. This gives you a real good idea of the most beat up and also the most injury free teams during the year. Remember when Oklahoma won their national title in 2000 they had ZERO starters miss ZERO games with injury. Also in 2007 Utah went just 9-4 as they led the nation in starts lost to injury. How did that team do with less injuries in 2008? They went unbeaten and finished #2 in the country! I keep a weekly tally of starts lost for the year with injury and will have a list here on PhilSteele.com each week.

Here are some key players that will not be playing this season:

Tennessee DE Ben Martin (PS#1) led the Vols in sacks LY with 3.5 and was expected to anchor an improved DL but is out for the year with an Achilles injury.

Nebraska has lost a couple of key players during Fall camp in returning starting C Mike Smith (broken leg) and MLB Sean Fisher (broken leg) who was expected to be a key contributor as a Soph for the Huskers defense.

Kansas has also lost a key OL and LB in RT Jeff Spikes (lower leg injury) and OLB Huldon Tharp (foot) who had 59 tackles LY as a true frosh.

Florida St WR Jarmon Fortson was kicked off the team for violating team rules. Fortson had 610 yds (13.6) LY and led Seminole receivers with 4 TD’s.

Washington TE Kavario Middleton who was our preseason 1st-Tm All-Pac-10 was dismissed for a violation of team rules and tried to transfer to Nebraska but was unsuccessful. Middleton had 257 yds (9.9) and 3 TD’s a year ago.

Connecticut DE Greg Lloyd who was our preseason 1st-Tm All-Big East will RS this season after suffering a knee injury and will return next year. Lloyd had played linebacker a year ago and had 91 tkls.

Colorado St has lost a couple of DE’s in Zach Tiedgen and Cory Macon for the season. With the loss of two projected starters I now expect Soph CJ James to explode onto the scene.

The high-powered Houston offense took a bit of a hit when LY’s leading rusher Charles Sims was ruled academically ineligible this season. However, 2008 CUSA Frosh of year Bryce Beall (670 yds, 4.8 LY) should be able to step in.

Rice DE Scott Solomon who was one of the best DL in the CUSA has recently suffered a foot injury that will keep him on the sidelines the rest of the season. Solomon was a 2nd Tm CUSA selection LY with 63 tkls and 6.5 sks.

Marshall QB Willy Korn who recently was moved to Safety by new coach Doc Holliday has decided to transfer to Division II North Greenville. Korn was a PS#2 coming out of HS and played 3 years at Clemson before transferring to the Thundering Herd.

Talented Utah St RB Robert Turbin who tore his ACL in February originally was expected to miss a month of the season but now it looks like he will miss the entire year. Turbin ran for 1,296 yds (6.3) a year ago. The Aggies also lost their leading returning WR Stanley Morrison to a foot injury in fall camp which means Utah St will have to rely QB Diondre Borel to make even more plays with his feet.

New Mexico St has lost its returning starting kicker/punter Kyle Hughes and its leading returning tackler FS Stephon Hatchett to academics this year. 

Finally, San Jose St has suffered some key losses as leading returning WR Marquis Avery and top returning tackler FS Tanner Burns will not participate this season.

Also a final reminder to get your votes in for the non-conference polls on the front page. You have until Monday morning to vote on every single non-conference game played this season and then the Weekly poll contest will begin. I will post the non-conference poll results in the Monday Blog.

Have a great weekend!

Only 5 Days Until the First College Football Game!!