College football roundup: Texas A&M suspends seven more
Texas A&M was without five defensive starters and two offensive starters when the Aggies kicked off the season Saturday against Rice -- a game Texas A&M won 52-31.
The school announced before the game that senior linebacker Steven Jenkins, junior defensive end Gavin Stansbury, sophomore cornerback De'Vante Harris and redshirt freshman wide receiver Edward Pope were suspended for two games for "violating athletics department rules and regulations."
The school previously suspended starting defensive backs Deshazor Everett and Floyd Raven, who were charged with criminal mischief stemming from an April incident. Everett was suspended for a half-game while Raven a full game.
They join starting quarterback Johnny Manziel, who was banned for the first half after Texas A&M struck a deal with the NCAA to settle allegations that he was paid to sign autographs during the offseason.
Matt Joeckel started in Manziel's place over freshman Kenny Hill. Joeckel is the twin brother of Luke Joeckel, an offensive tackle who was drafted in the first round by the Jacksonville Jaguars in April.
Joeckel completed 14 of 19 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown. Manziel complete 6 of 8 for 94 yards and three scores (23, 18 and 9 yards).
---No. 10 Florida suspended four players for the season opener against Toledo on Saturday.
Standout defensive back Loucheiz Purifoy, wide receiver Latroy Pittman, defensive back Darious Cummings and offensive lineman Quinteze Williams all sat out for violation of team rules.
Linebacker Antonio Morrison was also suspended from the first game earlier for offseason issues.
Along with injuries to starting offensive linemen Jon Halapio (torn pectoral), Chaz Green (torn labrum, out for the season) and Matt Jones (viral infection), the Gators start the season missing five of the 22 projected starters on offense and defense.
The Gators managed to beat Toledo 24-6 behind Mack Brown's 112 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
---Two Mississippi starters will miss a significant amount of time due to knee injuries, according to ESPN.
Linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche is expected to miss four to six weeks due to a torn meniscus in his knee and coach Hugh Freeze told ESPN that starting offensive lineman Aaron Morris is likely out for the rest of the season because of a torn ACL.
Morris will have surgery in two to three weeks. He started every game at left guard last year.
Both injuries occurred during Ole Miss' 39-35 win Thursday over Vanderbilt.
The Rebels hope that Nkemdiche will return for their Sept. 28 game against Alabama. He led the team with 82 tackles last year.
