In a week when injuries seemed to land in bunches, a few of college football’s biggest names are suddenly living on the sport’s edge. Some cases look manageable. Others could reshape the race in a hurry.
The cleanest break in the bunch belongs to Florida State. Running back Ousmane Kromah’s night in the loss to Miami ended with a cart ride, an air cast, and a season that’s now over.
Kromah was injured late in the second quarter, and Florida State later announced he sustained a lower leg injury. He stayed in Miami on Saturday for surgery, then returned to Tallahassee on Sunday.
The Seminoles will be without him the rest of the year.
Kromah had been the kind of workhorse a team leans on all fall. He entered Saturday with 100 carries for 565 yards and five rushing touchdowns, and he’d already shown plenty as a freshman last season with 408 yards on 72 carries.
Texas is also staring at a major defensive problem. EDGE Colin Simmons was helped off the field against Florida with very little weight on his leg, then left on a cart.
On the broadcast, it looked serious enough to raise immediate alarm. Steve Sarkisian said he didn’t know the full extent afterward, but late Saturday OnTexasFootball.com reported the initial diagnosis was an ankle sprain with unknown severity.
That matters because Texas is already dealing with enough issues on offense, and Simmons has been driving a dominant season on the other side of the ball. The Longhorns now have to get ready for Ole Miss and Trinidad Chambliss without knowing exactly what they’ll have from one of their most disruptive defenders.
Ohio State got the kind of injury update that sends a program into immediate planning mode. Ryan Day said quarterback Julian Sayin’s right throwing arm injury means “several weeks,” which is vague enough to leave plenty of room for concern and very little room for comfort. The Buckeyes now have to lean on freshman backup Luke Fahey, and the bye week at least gives them time to shape the offense around him.
That injury could ripple beyond Columbus. If Ohio State can’t maximize what it has at quarterback, this one has the potential to swing not just the Big Ten picture but the national championship race too. After the bye, the Buckeyes travel to USC.
Alabama’s run game took a hit as well, though the panic level is lower. RB EJ Crowell went out in the second quarter against Tennessee and didn’t return.
He did get back to the sideline, but according to The Tuscaloosa News, he left Neyland Stadium late in the fourth quarter with a brace on his left knee. Kalen DeBoer didn’t offer much after the loss, saying, "We'll just work through it here this week.
I don't have much more than that," when asked about Crowell and corner Zabien Brown.
The timing isn’t ideal for Alabama, which has had trouble consistently running the ball the conventional way. Keelon Russell’s ability to extend plays gives the Tide a weapon, but if they want their College Football Playoff hopes to really take shape, they need more downhill production. By the fourth quarter against Tennessee, the game script had basically pushed Alabama out of the run.
Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover had everyone squinting a bit during the loss to Ohio State, but this one doesn’t look nearly as serious. Hoover was clearly uncomfortable late, though he said the issue came from a scramble and was "nothing really too bad."
He also told reporters "I'm feeling good" after the game. He only missed one play, and his performance didn’t appear to be heavily affected.
Indiana will need him sharp next week against Michigan, especially with what the Wolverines can bring as a pass-rushing team.
LSU’s situation with EDGE Princewill Umanmielen is somewhere in the middle. He left the blowout win over Mississippi State and didn’t return for the final three quarters after what was described as an apparent head injury.
After the game, Kiffin said, "Our doctors held him, which obviously is the right thing to do." On Sunday, Kiffin had no comment when asked about Umanmielen’s status.
Fellow Tigers defender TJ Dottery said Umanmielen told him he was fine. LSU heads to Auburn this weekend and then gets a bye.
Umanmielen’s importance is obvious. He’s tied for No. 2 in the nation with eight sacks, which is exactly why any head issue gets treated with extra caution.
The week delivered a brutal reminder of how quickly a season can tilt. Some teams got the kind of news that forces immediate adjustments.
Others got a scare and a little breathing room. But for a handful of contenders, the margin just got a lot thinner.
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