Five things to watch in college football

The off-field headlines continue to get worse for the Scarlet Knights. Coach Kyle Flood was given a three-game suspension and a $50,000 fine after an internal investigation concluded that he improperly contacted a faculty member regarding a player’s grades. Five players were arrested on varying charges and dismissed from the program during the first week of the season. And now star receiver Leonte Carroo is accused of slamming a woman to the ground outside the Rutgers football building following their loss to Washington State. Carroo has been suspended indefinitely. Hard to uphold any kind of standard when the coach himself doesn’t follow the rules.

There are four games this week between teams ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 18 Auburn at No. 13 LSU (12:30 p.m., CBS); No. 14 Georgia Tech at No. 8 Notre Dame (12:30 p.m., NBC); No. 15 Mississippi at No. 2 Alabama (6:15 p.m., ESPN); and No. 19 BYU at No. 10 UCLA (7:30 p.m., FOX Sports 1). Auburn has a lot to prove after two lackluster victories over cupcakes. Notre Dame is trying to move on without injured starting quarterback Malik Zaire. UCLA is trying to avoid a last-second Hail Mary against a feisty BYU team. Drama, all around.

Tanner Mangum is already a celebrity in Provo, Utah. The BYU backup quarterback relieved injured starter Taysom Hill in the season opener against Nebraska and threw a game-winning, Hail Mary touchdown pass on the final play. Then, last week against Boise State, Mangum completed a 35-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-7 to give the Cougars a four-point lead with 45 seconds remaining. BYU eventually sealed the victory with a pick-six. Mangum and the Cougars will try their luck against UCLA at the Rose Bowl this week.

From the feel-good file: Jake Olson, a blind long snapper who lost both of his eyes to retinoblastoma, joined USC as a walk-on and participated in his first practice on Tuesday. Olson grew close to the Trojans program and made several visits to USC as a child when Pete Carroll was the coach there. Steve Sarkisian said he hopes Olson, who was a long snapper for his high school team, will eventually be able to play in a game for USC.

According to a report by CSNNW.com, Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. has a broken index finger on his right hand, which is problematic, because that is the hand he uses to throw footballs. Adams apparently had trouble gripping the ball during Oregon’s 31-28 loss at Michigan State last week. The Ducks aren’t publicly commenting about the injury or their quarterback situation. Jeff Lockie, a fourth-year junior who sat the past three seasons behind Marcus Mariota, is the Ducks’ backup. They might need him now.

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Five things to watch in college football."