As the college football season hits its halfway mark, many playoff hopefuls are now facing serious injuries to key players.
Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison, Tennessee linebacker Keenan Pili, and Texas defensive back Derrick Williams will all miss the rest of the season, as their coaches announced on Monday.
Additionally, Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons has an injury that raises doubts about his availability for the remainder of the season.
This unfortunate weekend also saw Florida quarterback Graham Mertz and Colorado State wide receiver Tory Horton suffer season-ending injuries, while Utah quarterback Cam Rising hurt his lower leg badly enough to be sidelined for the rest of the year.
Mertz and Pili both got hurt during No. 11 Tennessee’s 23-17 overtime win against Florida. Pili’s ACL injury leaves the Volunteers without one of their captains as they prepare to face No. 7 Alabama on Saturday.
Pili’s college career is now over. At 26, he transferred to Tennessee from BYU.
He had already faced a season-ending triceps injury at the start of the 2023 season and has used two medical redshirts. Injuries have limited him to just seven games in two seasons with the Vols.
“There’s nobody that represents Tennessee better than him,” said coach Josh Heupel on Monday. “He’s a great leader and will continue to be that inside of our building. Just heartbroken for him and his family. A guy that does absolutely everything right. Special player, but special person. He’s got a great future.”
Heupel mentioned that either Arion Carter or Jeremiah Telander will take over for Pili, wearing the communication device on defense.
Morrison, who is dealing with a hip injury, was arguably the biggest loss from the weekend. The second-team preseason Associated Press All-America selection had nine career interceptions and was seen as a potential first-round draft pick.
“Obviously it’s a blow to our team,” said Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. “You lose a captain, a great football player. You feel terrible for the kid because he gives football, he gives preparation everything he has.
It’s just tough. But he’s a tough kid. He’s been through this before, he’ll have surgery and get back to work to become the best version of Benjamin.”
Morrison is the latest key defensive player for Notre Dame to be out for the season. No. 12 Notre Dame is ranked eighth in points allowed per game (11.7), 11th in yards allowed per game (270), and fourth in yards allowed per play (4.25). However, the Fighting Irish have already lost defensive linemen Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore to season-ending injuries.
Now, with Morrison’s injury, they lose him just three weeks after cornerback Jaden Mickey decided to redshirt four games into the season to keep a year of eligibility as he plans to transfer.
Morrison’s injury likely means freshman cornerback Leonard Moore will move into a starting position alongside Christian Gray as Notre Dame gets ready to face Georgia Tech at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian announced on Monday that Williams will also miss the rest of the season, but Texas officials have not shared details about his injury.
Williams had made an interception in a win against No. 24 Michigan last month and forced and recovered a fumble in the top-ranked Longhorns’ 34-3 victory over Oklahoma on Saturday. His injury comes as Texas prepares to host No. 5 Georgia.
Fans of No. 4 Ohio State are still waiting for information about the severity of Simmons’ injury, as he was carted off the field during the Buckeyes’ 32-31 loss at No. 2 Oregon. Coach Ryan Day sounded doubtful during his postgame news conference on Saturday.
“I’ll have to get the update on Simmons, but it doesn’t look great in terms of him being able to come back this season,” Day said. “That’s a big hit for us.” The injuries affecting teams weren’t limited to the top squads.
Mertz tore the ACL in his left knee after throwing a touchdown pass in Florida’s loss to Tennessee. Mertz, who transferred from Wisconsin, has faced a season-ending injury in both of his years at Florida. He broke his collarbone in a game against Missouri last November.
His latest injury now makes freshman DJ Lagway the starting quarterback for the Gators.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham announced on Monday that Rising will miss the rest of the season after suffering a lower leg injury in a 27-19 loss to Arizona State on Friday.
Rising, who is in his seventh season, had already missed three games this season due to an injury to his throwing hand. He also sat out the entire 2023 season because of a knee injury.
Freshman Isaac Wilson, the younger brother of Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson, will take Rising’s spot. Utah went 2-1 in the three games Wilson started while Rising was out with the hand injury.
Colorado State coach Jay Norvell shared on social media that Horton will also miss the rest of the season after getting hurt in a 31-24 win over San Jose State. Norvell did not provide details about Horton’s injury.
This season, Horton had 26 catches for 353 yards and one touchdown, following two seasons where he had at least 1,100 yards receiving in 2022 and 2023. Horton, who played at Nevada from 2020 to 2021 before transferring to Colorado State, was close to breaking the Mountain West Conference record for career receiving yardage.
Horton has a total of 265 career catches for 3,615 yards. The MWC career record is held by Rashard Higgins, who had 3,649 yards receiving for Colorado State from 2013 to 2015.
