CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — No. 23 Illinois will have to play most of the season without star cornerback Xavier Scott. Illini coach Bret Bielema said Monday that Scott will be undergoing a procedure on Wednesday for the injury that caused him to miss a 63-10 loss at No. 11 Indiana last weekend. Multiple reports have indicated Scott’s injury is to his lower leg. Bielema says Scott “will be out the majority of the rest of the year, but there's a chance he could come back at the end.”
UNDATED (AP) — Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is The Associated Press national player of the week in college football. The California transfer threw five touchdown passes for the second straight week and completed his final 17 throws in a 63-10 beat-down of Illinois. Mendoza completed better than 90% of his passes for a second game in a row, going 21 of 23 for 267 yards. BYU cornerback Evan Johnson is runner-up. He intercepted two straight Katin Houser passes in the first half and returned one for a touchdown in the Cougars’ 34-13 win at East Carolina.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference is moving to a nine-game league schedule for football while having teams play at least 10 games against power-conference opponents, though there will be variables due to the league’s odd number of football-playing member schools. Going from an eight- to a nine-game model would align the ACC with its power-conference peers in the Big 12, Big Ten and Southeastern conferences. The ACC would join the SEC in playing 10 games against Power Four opponents. The SEC announced its plans for a nine-game schedule last month.
UNDATED (AP) — Miami jumped LSU and Penn State into the No. 2 spot behind Ohio State in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll. Oklahoma is in the top 10 for the first time in two years and Indiana and Texas Tech made big moves after lopsided wins over ranked opponents. Miami has its highest ranking since 2017. Penn State, which had been No. 2 since the preseason, was idle and slipped to No. 3. LSU fell one spot to No. 4 after an easy win. Georgia, Oregon, Oklahoma, Florida State, Texas A&M and Texas round out the top 10.
UNDATED (AP) — The Red River Rivalry would be played a second time this season with Texas visiting Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff if the bracket were based on the new Associated Press Top 25 poll. The teams earning top-four seeds and first-round byes would remain the same as last week but in a different order. Ohio State would continue to be No. 1 followed by No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Penn State and No. 4 LSU. Oklahoma and Texas Tech are on the bracket for the first time this season and Illinois and Iowa State are off.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Indiana has spent coach Curt Cignetti’s entire two-year tenure hearing doubters question how good his Hoosiers really were. After making last year’s College Football Playoff with no wins over ranked teams and starting this season with victories over Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State, the critics were back. On Saturday, the Hoosiers responded emphatically with a 63-10 rout of No. 9 Illinois — the program's largest victory margin against a top-10 opponent. It was good enough to send the Hoosiers up eight spots to No. 11. The question is will it put an end to the nonbelievers?
