The announcement comes while the Pac-12 and Mountain West are engaged in a massive fight for schools at a time in which there is a shortage of available Western programs.

Sacramento State, located in the capital city of California, is preparing for its bid to join the league by building the new facility that would have at least 25,000 seats.

Sac State president Luke Wood said during a press conference that the stadium would also be used for soccer and rugby and would host commencements.

"This will be a place where the community can come together and celebrate together," Wood said. "This will be a stadium where teams can compete on a national stage and show the country the best of Sacramento State and the best of our city and our region."

Area leaders are rallying around the project.

"Sacramento State is ready to take the national stage with the elevation of our university to the Pac-12," California State Sen. Angelique Ashby said in a news release. "Today's stadium announcement is a giant leap for the Hornet Nation, our region and the State of California. We have the media market, the talent, and a strong Alumni community to not only support this move but to help the Hornets continue to be a powerhouse across multiple sports."

Sacramento is home to the Sacramento Kings, an NBA team that receives strong local support. The city also will host the Oakland Athletics for the next three seasons until their new ballpark in Las Vegas is ready.

Sacramento State has been in the Big Sky since 1996 but only recently raised the level of its football program.

The Hornets have made the FCS playoffs four times since 2019, including winning first-round games the past two seasons. They never previously qualified for the FCS playoffs.

Sacramento State made the Division II playoffs in 1988, winning two games to reach the semifinals before losing to North Dakota State.

The Hornets defeated Stanford 30-23 last season for their third win against a then-Pac-12 program. Sacramento State also defeated Oregon State in 2011 and Colorado in 2012. Oregon State is still a member of the Pac-12.

Ewers left the Longhorns' Week 3 win over UTSA with an abdominal strain and was replaced by Manning. The redshirt freshman started in Ewers' place last weekend in a 51-3 drubbing of Louisiana-Monroe as Texas moved to 4-0.

Sarkisian told reporters Thursday that he wants Ewers, in his third season as the Longhorns starter, to have the maximum time to recover before naming his QB.

"We're going to decide on the quarterback thing (Friday)," Sarkisian said. "It won't be a secret. We're not trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. Just want to give Quinn every opportunity to see if he's ready to play and what he looks like. I'd say he's improved every day. I think Arch has had a very good week."

In his first college start, Manning was 15-of-29 passing for 258 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions against ULM. In relief of Ewers in the UTSA game, Manning completed 9 of 12 passes for 223 yards with four TD passes and 67-yard touchdown run.

Ewers is 19-6 as a starter at Texas. He has 6,347 career passing yards, good for seventh place in program history. His 45 passing touchdowns rank sixth.

Mississippi State will be the first-ever Southeastern Conference opponent for the Longhorns. The Bulldogs (1-3, 0-1 SEC) lost their conference opener to Florida 45-28 last Saturday and lost quarterback Blake Shapen for the season to a shoulder injury.

Freshman Michael Van Buren will get his first college start for the Bulldogs on Saturday in Austin.

ESPN ranks Utu as a five-star recruit and the No. 13 overall prospect in the 2025 cycle. The 247Sports composite, which rates him as a four-star, lists him as the No. 2 interior offensive lineman in the class.

Utu is 6-foot-4 and 317 pounds and plays at powerhouse Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. The school won the Nevada 5A Division I state title after an undefeated season in 2023.

He made official visits to Washington, Michigan, Nebraska and Alabama before visiting Tennessee, where he committed on June 24.

Utu adds to an already impressive class at Oregon, which features commitments from two players ranked as No. 1 at their positions on the composite: wide receiver Dakorien Moore of Duncanville, Texas, and Trey McNutt, a safety from Cleveland.

No. 8 Oregon (3-0) will make its Big Ten debut on Saturday at the home of a longtime Pac-12 foe, UCLA (1-2).

UNLV rejected overtures from the rebuilding Pac-12 Conference. Air Force turned down heavy interest from the American Athletic Conference.

The decisions by the Runnin' Rebels and the Falcons to stay put follows the previously announced departures of five Mountain West members to the Pac-12: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State.

Air Force and UNLV made the choice to stay put after receiving "significant financial incentives," Yahoo Sports reported. A specific dollar figure was not provided.

The Mountain West has six full members and seven football-playing schools, including Hawaii. It still must meet the minimum requirement of eight member schools set by the NCAA and College Football Playoff.

All of the remaining Mountain West schools -- including New Mexico, Nevada, San Jose State and Wyoming -- are expected to sign a binding agreement with the league on Thursday, according to ESPN and Yahoo Sports.

With seven members, the Pac-12 is still one short of the minimum requirements. On Monday, Memphis, Tulane, South Florida and UTSA all passed on Pac-12 offers to remain in the AAC.

Both teams opened league action with victories last week that strayed from their calling card -- offense.

The Bearcats (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) blanked Houston 34-0, the first shutout of a Power 4 team of 2024, while the Red Raiders (3-1, 1-0) also leaned on defense by limiting Arizona State to 99 rushing yards in a 30-22 triumph.

As impressive as those performances were, both defenses will be tested Saturday.

Cincinnati and Texas Tech enter the matchup ranked Nos. 2 and 3 in the Big 12 in total offense and neither has had much trouble putting points on the scoreboard. Both rely on balance to move the ball, with two of the best running backs in the conference and two quarterbacks who have thrown the ball well.

The Bearcats feature quarterback Brendan Sorsby (1,055 passing yards, eight TDs, zero interceptions) and running back Corey Kiner (404 rushing yards, two TDs) in the backfield, while receiver Xzavier Henderson is tied for fourth in the conference with 25 receptions and ranks sixth in yards (326).

The Red Raiders counter with dynamic signal-caller Behren Morton (1,175 yards and Big 12-best 12 TDs) and bulldozer back Tahj Brooks (126.3 yards per game). Josh Kelly has hauled in 31 passes (second in the Big 12) for 376 yards. The result is an offense generating 41.0 points a game, second in the league.

"Offensively, we're trending in a good direction, where this is the most points that we've averaged since we've been here," third-year Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said.

Cincinnati has similar confidence in an offense directed by Sorsby that is averaging 467.5 yards a game.

"He's had a great four games so far and we just need him to keep it going," said Bearcats coach Scott Satterfield. "You love to have guys like Brendan who are mobile and who can get out of the pocket if they need to so they can decipher defenses, make accurate throws and make third-down plays when we need him to."

This is the first meeting as conference opponents. The last time the Bearcats and Red Raiders played was in the 1968 season opener, a game in Lubbock that ended in a 10-10 tie.

Head coach Mike Norvell and the Seminoles are scheduled to play in Dallas at SMU on Saturday night and could change travel plans from the current itinerary, which calls for the FSU team charter to leave Florida on Friday morning. The team marching band bus to SMU was canceled earlier in the week.

"We are still monitoring all things with the storm," Norvell said. "We have tentative plans in place, and we have A, B and C (contingency plans). If anything needs to be adjusted we will go from there."

Florida A&M, also in Tallahassee, postponed its scheduled home football game this weekend with Alabama A&M to Nov. 29.

Norvell didn't indicate Florida State could reschedule its road trip to SMU, but said Tuesday there was only one priority.

"The No. 1 thing is the health and the well-being of this team and the staff and everyone that's involved. We have our plans if we need to adapt and adjust," Norvell said.

FSU closed its campus on Wednesday. The University of Florida announced it will close its Gainesville campus starting Thursday, postponed a soccer match scheduled for Thursday against Tennessee and canceled Friday's swim meet against Nova Southeastern.

While the Gators' football team is on a bye week, other college football games could be impacted. Parts of South Carolina could see "10-15 inches of rain" according to the National Weather Service.

No. 2-ranked Georgia visits Alabama on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, which is about 320 miles northwest of Tallahassee. But Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart said this week the Southeastern Conference and weather authorities are heavily involved in monitoring Helene in the event changes to pregame events and travel out of Athens would become necessary.

Some models projecting the path of the hurricane place Atlanta and Athens in front of Helene. While the University of Georgia is 275 miles from Tallahassee, the Weather Channel indicated Helene could become a Category 3 hurricane with significant risk from sustained winds inland to Atlanta gusting over 80 mph and potentially record rainfall.

Georgia Tech said its Atlanta campus was open on Wednesday and any changes would be communicated via the school website and social media channels. The Yellow Jackets are off this week. Further north, warnings are already active in Knoxville, Tenn., where the Volunteers are also on a bye week.

"We've been following it and watching it with the SEC office and our in-house people at Delta," Smart said. "It looks like it's trending more and more eastward which may affect us, but less and less affect towards the game. My biggest concern is the travel and our travel arrangements. Being able to get there in a convenient way is my concern right now."

Tar Heels coach Mack Brown said it's a good time to play the neighboring Blue Devils in Durham, N.C., because the Tar Heels need to bond together for a common cause.

Duke (4-0) will play its third home game, while the Tar Heels (3-1) will arrive wounded after a 70-50 home loss to James Madison.

That outcome spawned an array of upheaval regarding Brown's longevity and a long list of defensive deficiencies. Reports that Brown offered to step down were rebuffed by the winningest active Division I coach.

"I love my job and I want to keep doing it," Brown said. "Excited about the future and love my job. Love these kids, and I love this place, and that's why I hate losing so much. ... Let's go, let's move forward. Can't wait to get back to work and go play Duke."

Brown and his coordinators have provided the only explanations for what happened in the James Madison game and the challenges of facing Duke. Tar Heels players weren't available for comment after Saturday's game or leading up to the Duke game.

"Obviously, a lot of things to fix," Brown said. "We couldn't have done more things wrong in a game."

It's the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both programs.

Duke first-year coach Manny Diaz said playing a longtime rival to start league play is a big deal.

"All other types of distractions which really aren't the focus of what actually will matter Saturday at 4 o'clock which is how well we block, how well we tackle, how well we throw, how well we catch," Diaz said.

Jacolby Criswell became the third North Carolina starting quarterback of the season in the James Madison game. Turnovers hurt the Tar Heels, but Criswell gave a boost to the offense.

"I think it's all there," Brown said. "This offense can be really, really good after what we saw from Jacolby."

Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy, who's in his first season in the program, threw three touchdowns last week against Middle Tennessee.

However, Diaz said the Blue Devils can't be content with airing it out against North Carolina. Duke running back Star Thomas has exceeded the 100-yard rushing mark in each of the past two games

"Not just the way that he can see holes, but what he does when he gets downfield," Diaz said. "His toughness is inspiring our football team."

Duke's defense is averaging 11 1/2 tackles for loss. That could be troublesome for North Carolina's offensive line.

"We've got our hands full," Brown said.

North Carolina prevailed 47-45 in double overtime against Duke in Chapel Hill last year to claim the Victory Bell.

The Mustangs (3-1, 0-0 ACC) will face the Seminoles (1-3, 1-2) for the first time. SMU enters the game with one of the most potent offenses in the country under coach Rhett Lashlee and coming off a 66-42 shootout win over rival TCU.

SMU is 16th in the nation in scoring offense, led by Miami transfer Brashard Smith with 380 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

Both teams have dealt with struggling quarterbacks differently in recent weeks.

SMU entered the season with Preston Stone as the starter. Stone was benched after the Mustangs' 18-15 loss to BYU on Sept. 6 and replaced by Kevin Jennings, who shined in the win over TCU. Jennings completed 14 of 19 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 41 yards on 10 carries.

Jennings complemented Smith effectively as the latter finished with 127 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

"We felt like to win, from the first play to the last play we needed to just leave no doubt that we're the most physical team on the field," Lashlee said.

Meanwhile, Florida State has stuck with starter DJ Uiagalelei despite his subpar play most of the season. Uiagalelei has completed 72 of 126 passes for 843 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Last week, he passed for 177 yards and an interception against Cal but also had the game-winning, 36-yard TD pass to Ja'Khi Douglas.

"Obviously, we all get to have the opportunity to go out and get better, and that's going to be the push throughout the course of this week," FSU coach Mike Norvell said. "There were some good things that DJ did in some very critical moments, and there are things where he has to be better."

Norvell said the Seminoles will be without running back Roydell Williams for an extended period of time due to an undisclosed injury.

"There's probably going to be more and more of this going on, especially as the year goes on, November and December," Smart said on the SEC media teleconference on Wednesday. "Athletic departments are going to struggle to be able to make their commitments come to fruition. I think we're going to see some really tough times in college football when all this is said and done."

Sluka, a senior, announced Tuesday night he was taking a redshirt and not playing the rest of the season for UNLV. He transferred to Las Vegas after four seasons at Holy Cross when, according to Sluka's father, UNLV committed to paying the quarterback $100,000 under allowed Name, Image and Likeness rules.

Sluka's agent, Marcus Cromartie of Equity Sports, told ESPN an assistant coach gave the six-figure verbal commitment to Sluka. Only after multiple inquiries, Cromartie said, did UNLV and its collective agree to make a payment. But it was for far less -- $3,000 for four months, or $88,000 short of what the player and his representative claim was the initial agreement.

Bob Sluka said his son, Matthew, was told when he arrived at UNLV that he would be put on a payment plan but didn't receive pay. The elder Sluka said Cromartie eventually was told the quarterback would receive only $3,000 to cover the move to Nevada, and his living expenses weren't covered.

"I guess you're asking me for a solution? I don't have the answer," Smart said Wednesday. "I can tell you that I don't think it will be the last, and the way we're moving into this abyss of unknown, and I'm talking about fiscal responsibility, financial commitments, financial promises, people sometimes make promises, and I know I've come across it in our recruiting, that they can't keep.

"I'm not suggesting UNLV made promises they can't keep. I'm not saying that. I don't know that situation. I want to be clear. What I'm saying is it happens more and more. And it's going to happen even more and more as we move into this revenue-share, where I feel like unless there's a contract, and there's a set contract where Person A has to stay a certain amount of time or they're going to have to pay back this contract, we're never going to get to where we want to get to."

The Sooners are set to go with a first-time starter for their first-ever Southeastern Conference road game.

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables made the announcement Monday that true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. would start at Auburn after replacing a struggling Jackson Arnold in the first half of last week's 25-15 loss to Tennessee.

"We got to get better," Venables said. "I know, again, that everybody knows that we're not playing very well right now on offense, and we've got to do a good job of putting our players in position. It's us. It's we. It's ours. And it's no finger pointing. We got to do a better job."

After some early struggles, Hawkins gave the Sooners a spark and finished 11-for-18 passing for 132 yards and a touchdown and ran for 22 yards.

The Sooners (3-1, 0-1 SEC) have struggled to find offensive continuity across the board, with a revolving door on the offensive line, where nine different players have started, and a receiving corps that has been battered by injuries.

Jayden Gibson is out for the season; Nic Anderson and Jalil Farooq have appeared in just one game each, and Deion Burks, who leads the Sooners in both receptions and receiving yards, was hurt late against Tennessee. Anderson and Farooq will be out against Auburn, and Burks' status is unclear.

On the other side, Auburn's offensive woes have centered on turnovers. The Tigers (2-2, 0-1) have 14, tied for the most in FBS. Eight are interceptions, with five by Payton Thorne and three by Hank Brown.

"It's hard for me to explain them, truthfully," Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said of the interceptions.

All of Brown's picks came in last week's 24-14 loss to Arkansas. After two in the final minute before halftime, Thorne took back over at quarterback.

"I know there's people open and I know that we're running the football," Freeze said. "And we've got to find a guy that won't throw it to the other team. And we've got to find running backs that hold onto it."

Freeze said the competition between the two was open.

"It's going to be a battle this week -- try to figure out who can master the plan against all these fronts we're going to face at Oklahoma," Freeze said.

Even with Oklahoma's offensive issues, the Sooners are tied for third nationally with a plus-seven turnover margin. Auburn is at minus-10.

The Sooners have eight fumble recoveries and four interceptions, tied for the nation's lead in turnovers forced.

"Nothing impacts a game like turnovers," Venables said. "Everybody wants someone else to blame. We have to take care of the ball, make better decisions. Things we can and can't do."

The Tigers have run the ball effectively, with Jarquez Hunter entering the game with 340 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

The Sooners have never played at Auburn before. Oklahoma has won both previous meetings with the Tigers, the most recent in the 2017 Sugar Bowl.

The loser drops to 0-2 in the 16-team Big 12 and would have to stack wins in the second half of their schedule to ensure postseason bowl eligibility.

With Kansas' home stadium under construction, the teams are playing at Arrowhead Stadium. It's the first time since 2011 the Jayhawks will play at the home of the Kansas City Chiefs.

"They're in a spot kind of like we are," Kansas coach Lance Leipold said. "It's tough to win on the road in this conference. There are a lot of close games."

Last week, the Jayhawks (1-3, 0-1 Big 12) blew an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead in a 32-28 loss at West Virginia. Devin Neal rushed for 110 yards, the fourth straight game he's surpassed the century mark, and had a touchdown, Jalon Daniels passed for 184 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

TCU coach Sonny Dykes said the Horned Frogs need to control the Jayhawks' running game and force third-and-long situations.

"I would run the ball until we stop them," Dykes said. "And they are very good at doing it. I've never seen a team run the ball as well as they do in third and medium."

Kansas has a three-game losing streak and in each game had had a fourth-quarter lead. All three losses were by one score and Leipold said the Jayhawks have to improve their four-minute offense and make plays as time drips from the clock.

"We haven't played our best football at the time it is needed," Leipold said. "There's moments when we've played good football, but there are times, especially late in the game where we need to be at our best and we are not."

The Horned Frogs (2-2, 0-1) lost the Iron Skillet last week, their annual trophy game with SMU, 66-42. The Mustangs held a 17-0 first-quarter lead and Josh Hoover, who was 28-for-43 passing for 396 yards, three passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and two interceptions, was forced to try and throw TCU back into the game.

Jack Bech leads the Big 12 with 516 receiving yards and had eight catches for 166 yards and two TDs against SMU.

"This will be the best quarterback and receiving corps we've gone up against," Leipold said.

The Knights (3-0, 1-0 Big 12) won their first three games in 2023 before their season went into a lengthy struggle that led to a final 6-7 record. The Buffaloes (3-1, 1-0) started 3-0 last year before stumbling to a final 4-8 mark.

Both coaches are putting aside any thought of a repeat performance.

"This is a completely different team," UCF's Gus Malzahn said this week. "We have more experience. I've said that before. We're actually 1-0 in the conference and we weren't that way last year.

"We have a real quality road win (at TCU) so it's a different year. That ship's sailed. We're not thinking that way. We've got a big game and we've got to take care of business."

Colorado's Deion Sanders likes the way his Buffaloes have progressed in bounce-back wins over Colorado State and Baylor since a Sept. 7 loss at Nebraska.

"We're getting there," he said. "We're getting closer. The one thing I can honestly and wholeheartedly say is we're getting better every week in different facets of the game. You know darn well that you can't compare last year's defense to this defense or the offense as well. You see progress."

The Knights enter the game ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 in both rushing (375.7 yards per game) and stopping the run (64.0). The Buffaloes are last in rushing (68.8) and 10th in stopping the run (150.8).

"Load up the box and pray," Sanders said of his plan for slowing a UCF run game led by R.J. Harvey's 149.3 yards per game.

UCF's concern is contending with Colorado's passing game. Shedeur Sanders has thrown for an average of 335.0 yards a game and hit a Hail Mary as time ran out to send last week's win over Baylor to overtime.

"You've got to put pressure on him, there's no doubt," Malzahn said. "So far we've not done a great job putting pressure on quarterbacks when they're thrown it. "

The Demon Deacons (1-2) have an opportunity to move past consecutive losses to Virginia and Ole Miss, which was ranked No. 5 at the time, against the Sun Belt Conference's Ragin' Cajuns (2-1).

"When you're not playing well, you want that feeling out of your stomach," Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said, "and when you are playing well you want to keep playing."

The Deacons, who began the season with a 45-13 victory against FCS opponent North Carolina A&T, played Virginia to the wire in a 31-30 loss but wasn't competitive in a 40-6 loss to Ole Miss.

Clawson, in his 11th season at Wake Forest, is trying to get his program to bounce back from a 4-8 season a year ago, which was its worst record since 2015.

"I think we have a good team," Clawson said. "I think we have a better team than a year ago, but I think this is a team that will have a lot of one-score games. This week's game will probably be one of those games."

The Ragin' Cajuns are coming off a one-score game, a 41-33 home defeat against Tulane last week. They are finishing their nonconference schedule before playing eight consecutive games in the Sun Belt.

"We need to hit our stride going into conference play," Louisiana coach Michael Desormeaux said. "We've got to get things corrected and we've got to get back on track and get back in the win column."

The Cajuns outgained the Green Wave 421-355 but allowed touchdowns on an interception return and a kickoff return.

Ben Wooldridge completed just 19 of 34 passes for 238 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, including the pick-six right before halftime.

"We need to get back to being more efficient in the throwing game than we were last week," Desormeaux said.

N.C. State (2-2) is coming off a crushing defeat in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener, falling 59-35 on the road to Clemson. It was the most points the Wolfpack had given up since Nov. 17, 2012, when they lost 62-48 to Clemson.

Meanwhile, NIU (2-1) was ranked No. 23 -- boosted by an upset win at Notre Dame in Week 2 -- before losing 23-20 at home to Buffalo in overtime last week.

The Wolfpack announced this week that pass rusher Red Hibbler -- who led the team in sacks last season -- is no longer on the roster. Further, starting left tackle Anthony Belton won't start against NIU. Belton was ejected from the loss to Clemson for spitting on an opponent.

"He put strain on our team and got ejected from the game for it. He's learning a tough lesson," Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. "That's not what we do. He'll learn from that and he'll grow from that. Choices have consequences."

What's also up in the air for the Wolfpack is the status of quarterback Grayson McCall, who did not play against Clemson and exited N.C. State's win over Louisiana Tech with an undisclosed injury. In his place, true freshman CJ Bailey completed 16 of 25 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown.

NIU seemed headed for a 3-0 start as it led Buffalo 14-3 at halftime, but the Huskies were outscored 20-6 in the second half and OT. In the first half, NIU also coughed up a fumble that led to a Buffalo field goal.

"We were prepared to play but didn't make the plays necessary to put ourselves in a position to win," NIU coach Thomas Hammock said. "The only way we can lose the game is if we turn the ball over, and that's what we did."

Before taking the reins at N.C. State in 2013, Doeren was the head coach at NIU for two seasons, leading the Huskies to a 23-4 record and two MAC titles. This is the first time N.C. State has faced NIU since 1997.

"It's a great place, and I think Thomas Hammock, their head coach, has done a really good job building a tough football team," Doeren said of NIU. "And they're going to come in here and run the football."

After dropping Michigan State from the unbeaten ranks with a 23-19 win last week, the Eagles (3-1) turn their attention to the Conference USA foe and a chance for the program's fourth 4-1 start since 2009.

"There should be no trap games for Boston College," first-year coach Bill O'Brien said. "We only get 12 opportunities. We've got to make sure that we're playing at as high a level as we can play every single week."

While Lewis Bond caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from Thomas Castellanos to win with 1:28 remaining last week, Max Tucker's interception -- the team's fourth takeaway of the game -- clinched the victory.

Moving forward, the Eagles will look to turn those opportunities into more points.

"The interceptions came at times where we had to have them," O'Brien said. "We have to do a better job of turning those turnovers, whether it was the kickoff team or defensively, turning them into (touchdowns)."

Bond and Treshaun Ward became the first Boston College duo to log 100 receiving and 100 rushing yards in the same game since 2018.

A 14-point comeback and timely defense were keys as Western Kentucky (3-1) beat Toledo 26-21 last week. Devonte' Mathews picked off two passes in the final two minutes as Toledo drove into the red zone. He also has a team-leading 20 tackles on the season.

The Hilltoppers' recipe for success at Boston College will be more of the same.

"We've got momentum and (are) looking for a big win," WKU coach Tyson Helton said. "We're doing some good things, we're rising. ... It's going to take another (defensive) performance like last week to have an opportunity to win. It'll be a challenge, but I know our guys will be excited."

Mathews' heroics lifted quarterback Caden Veltkamp, who was 20-for-30 passing for 241 yards and one touchdown in his first collegiate start. Veltkamp, a redshirt freshman, also ran for two scores.

"Now that he's got that first start under his belt, he needs to take the biggest step as far as improving," Helton said.

Sluka, a senior, said he will instead use his redshirt year. He spent the first four seasons of his college career at Holy Cross.

"I committed to UNLV based on certain representations that were made to me, which were not upheld after I enrolled," Sluka posted on X, formerly Twitter. "Despite discussions, it became clear that these commitments would not be fulfilled in the future. I wish my teammates the best of luck this season and hope for the continued success of the program."

Sluka completed 21 of 48 passes for 318 yards and six touchdowns with one interception in three games this season. The dual threat also had 39 carries for 253 yards and a score for the Rebels (3-0), who host Fresno State (3-1, 1-0) in their Mountain West Conference opener on Saturday.

Either Hajj-Malik Williams or Cameron Friel will start at quarterback for UNLV in that game.

USC (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) had its conference debut spoiled last week on the road against reigning national champion Michigan. After trailing most of the way, the Trojans rallied to take a 24-20 lead with 7:01 remaining on Miller Moss' 24-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Kobi Lane.

However, Michigan's 89-yard, 10-play drive that culminated with a final-minute touchdown run sent USC to a 27-24 defeat. The loss exposed concerns for the Trojans about line play, especially on offense.

USC surrendered four sacks and amassed just 96 total rushing yards. The Trojans' line woes included left tackle Elijah Paige playing through what coach Lincoln Riley on Tuesday described as "cramping pretty heavily."

"Certainly didn't help," Riley said. "Then we played against some good players in a tough atmosphere. We made some adjustments, and that's part of it. On the topic of the whole group, we all have to be better there. ... There was plenty of opportunities in that game where we were blocking just fine, and we missed several opportunities that way, too."

Moss passed for three touchdowns and 283 yards despite facing heavy duress, but he was intercepted for a Will Johnson pick-six that proved critical to the final outcome. The Trojans' front faces more uncertainty with tight end Lake McRee sidelined due to a knee injury sustained at Michigan.

Blocking was a major concern for USC the last time it faced Wisconsin, a 23-21 Badgers win in the 2015 Holiday Bowl. Wisconsin linebacker Jack Cichy sacked USC's Cody Kessler on three consecutive plays in that game, the first win for the Badgers over the Trojans in seven tries.

Wisconsin, set for its Big Ten opener, will play at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time since 1966. The Badgers (2-1, 0-0) are coming off of a bye week after falling 42-10 to No. 4 Alabama on Sept. 14 in Madison, Wis.

"(The bye week is) an opportunity for a couple things: to self-scout yourself," Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said this week. "And it was another opportunity for Braedyn Locke to get a lot more reps now that we're in the situation that Tyler (Van Dyke) is done for the year."

After leading Wisconsin to blowout wins over Western Michigan and South Dakota to start the season, Van Dyke, a Miami transfer, was knocked out of the Alabama game with a torn right anterior cruciate ligament. He subsequently underwent season-ending surgery.

Locke stepped in against the Crimson Tide to go 13 of 26 for 125 yards with a touchdown throw to Will Pauling.

Those were Locke's first snaps since a stretch midway through the 2023 season in which he threw for five total touchdowns against Illinois, Ohio State and Indiana but struggled with his accuracy.

Locke completed fewer than 52 percent of his pass attempts in each of the four games in which he saw significant action last year.

This week marks the second in as many Big Ten outings for USC facing an opponent with a quarterback making his first start of the season.

The Trojans saw Alex Orji a week ago and limited the Wolverines quarterback to 32 yards on 7-of-12 passing, but USC surrendered 290 rushing yards in the loss.

Iowa State (3-0, 0-0 Big 12) looks to please its coach on Saturday when it visits Houston (1-3, 0-1) in the Cyclones' conference opener.

The Cyclones do have a 20-19 victory over fierce rival Iowa on the ledger, but Campbell said his team has to perform much better to survive in Big 12 play.

"We've got a lot to prove. We're a football team that's got a lot of work to do," Campbell said. "When you get into conference play, you want to be at least creating some momentum for yourself. We were able to do some of that at times. But to win in the Big 12 is hard. To win week in and week out is really, really hard.

"The challenge for us is can we keep getting better? Can we keep improving? Can we continue to show up? We're on the road (this) week, which isn't easy to do. It's really hard to win conference games on the road, and it'll be a great challenge for us."

Iowa State rolled to a 52-7 home win over Arkansas State last weekend, building a 31-0 halftime lead and cruising to Campbell's 56th win at Iowa State. That tied him with Dan McCarney (1995-2006) for most victories in school history.

Jayden Higgins (17 catches, 208 yards, three touchdowns in three games) caught a touchdown pass for the fifth straight game to match the school record. Sidekick Jaylin Noel (15-317, two TDs) has caught at least one pass in 35 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak in school history.

Cornerback Darien Porter has a team-best two interceptions for a defense that ranks ninth nationally in opponents' scoring at 9.67 points per game.

The Cougars could have a hard time moving the ball against the Cyclones after being blanked 34-0 by host Cincinnati last weekend. Houston had just 233 total yards and 12 first downs.

The poor performance led first-year coach Willie Fritz to switch to a two-quarterback system. Donovan Smith will start against Iowa State, but backup Zeon Chriss also will see action.

Smith has thrown four interceptions while completing 65.3 percent of his passes for 610 yards and two touchdowns. Chriss is 2-for-5 passing for 19 yards.

"They've both done some good things," Fritz said. "I've seen some good things and some things not so good. We're going to play both of those guys, and we're going to give both opportunities to show us what they can do. We've got to play better at the other 10 guys. That's a big part.

"The quarterback gets too much credit when things go well, and they get too much blame when things don't go well. The whole offense has got to play better. That starts with the head coach, the coordinators and the position coaches as well. We've got to do a better job."

The Cougars rank 129th (out of 133 FBS schools) in scoring at 13 points per game, and they sit 122nd in total offense at 294.2 yards per game.

Houston safety A.J. Haulcy had 11 tackles against Cincinnati for his eighth career game of 10 or more stops. Linebacker Michael Batton had a season-high 10 tackles.

This is the first meeting between the teams.

The teams get a head start on their budding rivalry on Saturday night when the Cougars visit the No. 25 Broncos at Boise, Idaho.

Washington State and Oregon State are attempting to rebuild the Pac-12 and Boise State was one of four teams from the Mountain West that recently announced they had accepted an invitation.

The two schools are located roughly 300 miles apart via mountain roadways and have played just six times. The Cougars have won five of the meetings, including a 47-44 triple-overtime win at Pullman in 2017.

Though the Cougars (4-0) are unbeaten, the Broncos (2-1) are the team that is ranked. Boise State also will have the best player on the blue turf in star running back Ashton Jeanty.

The All-American and rising Heisman Trophy candidate is averaging a sparkling 10.5 yards per carry. Jeanty ranks second nationally with 586 rushing yards and is tied for second with nine rushing touchdowns in just 2 1/2 games -- he sat out the second half of last week's 56-14 victory over Portland State after gaining 127 yards on 11 carries in the first half.

"Ashton's a pretty special guy," said Boise State offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, a former NFL and college head coach. "I think he's a special character. We're calling downhill runs and we're not expecting 75-yard runs."

The 5-foot-9 Jeanty has scoring runs of 77, 75 and 70 and a non-scoring run of 68 yards. He set school single-game records for rushing yards (267) and rushing touchdowns (six) when the Broncos beat Georgia Southern 56-45 on Aug. 31.

Washington State coach Jake Dickert is impressed with Jeanty's running style and skill-set.

"He's strong. He's got one of the best stiff arms I've seen in a long time," Dickert said. "So if you think you're going to tackle him above the waist, it's not happening. You gotta get through his legs. You gotta kill his motors. You gotta gang tackle with this guy. It's not gonna be one person."

The Broncos are averaging 48.7 points per game while the Cougars are averaging 46.3, so the scoreboard figures to be busy.

Washington State is coming off last Friday's 54-52 double-overtime home win over San Jose State. The Cougars trailed by 14 points entering the fourth quarter before rallying for the victory.

Quarterback John Mateer passed for a career-best 390 yards and added 111 on the ground to become the first Washington State quarterback to pass for 300 and rush for 100 in the same game.

Overall, Mateer has passed for 1,102 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for 425 yards and five scores.

Dickert indicated the Cougars have plenty of room for improvement after the close call against the Spartans.

"I just think there's so many things to clean up," Dickert said. "We haven't played our best football. We were on the short week. We got the win, and we're moving on to Boise State."

Broncos quarterback Maddux Madsen has passed for 616 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.

"I'm proud of how he's efficient with our offense," Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. "He knows the offense, he knows how to move the offense, he makes the right throws and he's very efficient with it. It's a testament to how he preps and he's a competitor."

The Orange (2-1) are coming off a 26-24, last-second loss to Stanford and will finish a four-game homestand to open the season.

Holy Cross, under new coach Dan Curran, is 1-3 after giving up a touchdown with 12 seconds left and losing to Yale 38-31 last week. All three of the Crusaders' losses have been by a touchdown or less.

Syracuse has won the last 13 meetings between the schools and is eager to remove the bitter taste from the Stanford defeat.

"We're excited to play against these guys," Orange first-year coach Fran Brown said of Holy Cross. "I think they all do a good job and are a good football team. Those guys are coming off a tough loss, just like us, so it will be a good game."

Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord has energized the Orange offense at quarterback. He's thrown for more than 300 yards in each of Syracuse's first three games, and he ranks third in the nation with an average of 358 passing yards per game.

Three Orange wide receivers have 12 or more catches, led by Trebor Pena with 22. LeQuint Allen leads the rushing attack with 206 yards on 38 carries.

McCord has been sacked six times, and Brown said his team needs to be better balanced.

"We just have to run the football better," Brown said. "We have some things to work on in practice, some things to help out our offensive line, and help Kyle so we don't put as much pressure on him."

Holy Cross is coming off a season in which it won a share of the Patriot League title. Curran took over for Bob Chesney after 11 years at Merrimack. Chesney left Holy Cross after last season to become James Madison's head coach.

The Crusaders' offense took a big hit when All-America senior running back Jordan Fuller was lost for the season to an injury in a win over Bryant on Sept. 14.

Joe Pesansky has thrown for 875 yards and four scores. All-Patriot League linebacker Frankie Monte had 17 tackles in the loss to Yale.

"They believe in each other," Curran said of his team. "Every week is a new opportunity."