Some Southeastern Conference defenses are flexing their muscles after 2020 being a defensive coordinator’s nightmare.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has been activated from the COVID-19 reserve list.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has been absent from practice this week due to COVID-19 protocols.

History dictates that it’s likely at least a couple of the five first-round quarterbacks won’t fulfill the hopes of the teams that drafted them.

American Team quarterback Kellen Mond of Texas A&M (12) has his throw tipped by National Team offensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa of UCLA (92) during the first half of the NCAA Senior Bowl college football game in Mobile, Ala., Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)MOBILE, Ala. – Texas A&M's Kellen Mond was the Senior Bowl Most Valuable Player but two fellow Southeastern Conference Western Division products made the decisive big play. Fitzpatrick had six catches for 90 yards in the showcase game for senior and graduate NFL prospects, earning offensive player of the game honors. Obviously, kind of shaky at the beginning but it definitely shows a lot of poise to be able to bounce back.”North Carolina running back Michael Carter also had a big game. Jamie Newman completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Grimes with 49 seconds left for the American team after Franks and Yeboah made it a two-score game.

The next game he plays is for his NFL draft stock, provided the Alabama quarterback's gimpy left ankle is good to go. Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy said the plan is for Jones to dress out and see how his ankle feels. “Just being in that room, I already learned so much about NFL football,” he said. Mond started 44 games for the Aggies, Ehlinger logged 43 starts for the Longhorns,Mond led the Aggies into College Football Playoffs contention in his final season. I just wanted to come and kind of learn more about NFL football and learn a new playbook, which I thought I did a good job with.

Newman is hardly alone among the players trying to shake off the rust after long layoffs leading up to Saturday's Senior Bowl for senior NFL prospects. A number of the Senior Bowl players had shortened seasons or none at all because of the coronavirus pandemic. He was the lone quarterback at the Senior Bowl not made available for post-practice media interviews. But I think he’s done a really good job.”AdThere are number of players at the Senior Bowl returning after a long absences from the field. Darby trained in Las Vegas for the Senior Bowl and the now-canceled combine.

Texas A&M head coach Jumbo Fisher raises his hands during the trophy presentation at the Orange Bowl NCAA college football game, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Fla. Texas A&M defeated North Carolina 41-27. 14 North Carolina 41-27 on Saturday night — capping a winless bowl season for the Atlantic Coast Conference. He tied the Tar Heels' career TD passing record of 68 with his three scoring throws, all of which gave North Carolina leads. North Carolina: The Tar Heels gave up 24 points in the fourth quarter, after allowing just 17 points in the first 45 minutes. North Carolina still could finish ranked for only the fourth time in the last 27 seasons.

13 CFP) in the 87th edition of the Orange Bowl. “I always say this: The Orange Bowl is as good as it gets,” Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said Friday. Thing is, neither of those running backs — Michael Carter and Javonte Williams — chose to play in the Orange Bowl. “That’s 4,000 yards worth of offense and our leading tackler on defense and two captains,” North Carolina coach Mack Brown said. With them gone, it means even more pressure will be on North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell.

An Orange Bowl spot against North Carolina will be its consolation prize. It will be North Carolina’s first time in the Orange Bowl, and the first meeting between the schools. This will be just the seventh January bowl game for North Carolina. BOWL WINNERSThe Orange Bowl coaches certainly know how to end seasons with victories. WELCOME BACKFor Fisher, it’s a return to a stadium where he’s gone 6-0 — including a pair of Orange Bowl victories.

Notre Dame was picked Sunday over Texas A&M for the final spot, ending what little drama there had been. Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State have also held the first four spots in the AP Top 25 since Oct. 25. The Atlantic Coast Conference is the second league to have two teams in the playoff, joining the SEC in 2017. After sitting second in the CFP rankings for a month, Notre Dame was blown out 34-10 by Clemson in the ACC championship. Barta said the disparate number of games played by contenders — along with far fewer cross-conference games than usual —- was a challenge for the committee all season.

5 Texas A&M to close its case for a spot in the College Football Playoff with a 34-13 victory over Tennessee. 5 CFP) finished their regular season and hoped for an upset or two within the CFP’s top four. Texas A&M's advantage went to 17-7 when the Aggies turned a Bailey fumble into a 23-yard field goal by Seth Small. Tennessee: After the second game of the season, the Vols were tied with Notre Dame for the longest winning streak among FBS teams. A victory over winless Vanderbilt ended the skid, but the loss to Texas A&M ended the regular season on a sour note.

Kellen Mond passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third and the fifth-ranked Aggies scored 17 points in the fourth quarter of a come-from-behind 31-20 victory over Auburn on Saturday. Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher wasn't interested in speculating on how the win might affect his team's playoff chances. He completed 18 of 23 for 196 yards, highlighted by two TDs to Jalen Wydermyer, and ran for 60 yards. The Aggies ran for a season-high 313 yards and held a 16-minute advantage in time of possession. Auburn: Was outgained 168-21 in the fourth quarter.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields throws a pass against Indiana during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. 3 Ohio State is playing as much as who will be play playing for the Buckeyes this weekend. Ohio State seems to be on track to play at Michigan State on Saturday after a spike in COVID-19 cases in the program forced a cancellation of last week's road trip to Illinois. If Ohio State has one more game canceled it would be unable to meet the Big Ten's minimum game played to be eligible for the conference title game. UNDER THE RADARNebraska at PurdueNeither team is in the Big West race, but the interesting thing is the Boilermakers (2-3) have won two straight against the Cornhuskers (1-4).

The number of games across major college football scheduled for this weekend that have already been called off is up to six, after three went down Monday, including Mississippi at No. So we can complain about this and this and that but, listen, we’re still getting to play football,” Fisher said. Major college football conferences have been tweaking policies to provide their schools flexibility to schedule games on short notice. That probably won't work for LSU-Alabama, which was among four SEC games postponed last week. __Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

“Now I want to see what do you follow up with?”Isaiah Spiller rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 21 Texas A&M beat fourth-ranked Florida 41-38 on Seth Small’s 26-yard field goal as time expired Saturday. Spiller helped get the Aggies get into position for Small’s decisive kick, sending A&M to its first win over a top-five team since a 41-38 victory over No. Florida led 28-24 early in the fourth when Spiller struck again, running 19 yards for a touchdown on a fourth-and-2 play. Spiller bounced off several defenders before waltzing into the end zone and then hitting the Florida fan section with a Gator chomp.

Briefly threatened early, Jones and the Crimson Tide (2-0) flexed their considerable big-play muscle in the passing game to put away the Aggies (1-1). “Our guys stayed the course and kept competing in the game,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “We won, so it's a good game,” Jones said, when asked if it was his best performance. Smith, a converted receiver, emerged as another needed threat in the passing game. Alabama: Any questions about production of the Tide's passing game after Tua Tagovailoa, Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III have been answered.

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, left, talks with quarterback Kellen Mond (11) during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Vanderbilt Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

including the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, highlights the fifth week of the college football season. 4 Georgia on Saturday night as the second month of the season starts, but only the second week of SEC play. The first of three games that decide the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy might have sneaked up on college football fans. The Falcons will play six conference games to go along with Navy and Army. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

The Aggies will try to continue their winning ways and keep the offense moving when they come out of a bye and host South Carolina on Saturday. "Well, this is a results business," South Carolina coach Will Muschamp told reporters. "It's about winning games at the end of the day and we haven't won enough games. South Carolina WR Bryan Edwards (3,045 yards) broke Alshon Jeffery's school record for receiving yards last week. PREDICTION: Texas A&M 24, South Carolina 17

"Starts with practice," Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond told reporters. I thought that he managed the game extremely well, UTSA coach Frank Wilson told reporters of Narcisse. We give him a lot of freedom, Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher told reporters of Mond. The Roadrunners rank fourth in Conference USA with an average of 180.1 rushing yards. Mond is one of four FBS QBs with at least 6,000 career passing yards and 1,000 career rushing yards.

- Texas A&M has done what it could against a schedule filled with national powers and looks to begin piling up victories against unranked teams when it pays a visit to Ole Miss for an SEC contest on Saturday night. We got better (last) week than we were the week before, and we'll hopefully line up and get better this week. ," Ole Miss coach Matt Luke told reporters. Ole Miss DL Tariqious Tisdale and LB Jacquez Jones must sit out the first half Saturday after being called for targeting infractions last week. PREDICTION: Ole Miss 31, Texas A&M 28More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)ARLINGTON, Texas - Texas A&M cannot afford to wonder what might have been with a better offensive performance against Auburn last week, as the Aggies face Arkansas on Saturday in Arlington, Texas, knowing a difficult late-season schedule looms. LINE: Texas A&M -23"We don't have a bad football team," Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher told reporters after the game. ABOUT TEXAS A&M (2-2, 0-1)Junior quarterback Kellen Mond completed 31-of-49 passes for 335 yards and two touchdowns 146 yards and both scores coming in the fourth quarter. The Aggies have won the past seven meetings against Arkansas, recording seven-point victories in 2017 and 2018. PREDICTION: Texas A&M 44, Arkansas 27More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

The Aggies' run defense allows only 83.7 yards per game but faces its biggest challenge in stopping sophomore running back JaTarvious Whitlow (341 yards, three touchdowns). ABOUT TEXAS A&M (2-1)Mond has completed 64.9 percent of his passes with five touchdowns but has thrown an interception in each game. Texas A&M RB Isaiah Spiller (two touchdowns) leads FBS true freshmen with 246 rushing yards. Auburn is 3-0 at Kyle Field since Texas A&M joined the SEC in 2012, including a 42-27 victory in 2017. PREDICTION: Auburn 27, Texas A&M 20More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)COLLEGE STATION, Texas - After losing at top-ranked Clemson last week, No. 15 Texas A&M returns home to host an FCS opponent, Lamar of the Southland Conference, on Saturday night. LINE: None"It's the first time since we've been here, we've gone against the No. Lamar is 2-0 to start a season for the first time since 1985. PREDICTION: Texas A&M 59, Lamar 10More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

11 Texas A&M has plenty of reasons for optimism as it hosts Texas State in its 2019 season opener on Thursday. ABOUT TEXAS STATE (2018: 3-9)New Bobcats coach Jake Spavital is a former assistant for Texas A&M, serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2013-15. At Texas State, he inherits a team that only won 10 total games over the previous four seasons. The teams have met twice previously with Texas State giving Texas A&M a battle in a 44-31 setback in 2005. PREDICTION: Texas A&M 55, Texas State 13More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.