College football updates … There appears to be plenty going on up in Oregon other than the fact that the Ducks could be sporting unis that glow in the dark at some this fall. For starters, emerging OT Tyler Johnstone, a potential second day pick this coming spring, was carted off the field during the team’s practice session yesterday with an apparent lower leg problem. The good news for Johnstone is that the injury is not believed to be to the knee on which he suffered a season-ending ACL tear last fall. At the same time, junior RB Thomas Tyner will miss the season after undergoing surgery to repair a shoulder injury that was originally hurt late last fall. And the fact that Tyner was deleted from the Ducks’ published roster has led to some speculation that he might never return to the program. With Tyner out for the year, it is likely that star WR Byron Marshall, the team’s starting RB a couple of years back, will get some additional snaps in the backfield, behind emerging sophomore RB Royce Freeman. Perhaps most importantly for the Ducks, they are still waiting for QB Vernon Adams to be able to practice. Adams, an FCS All-American at Eastern Washington, is trying to transfer to Oregon where he will be eligible immediately once he enrols in a graduate program not offered at EWU. Small detail though in that before one gets into graduate school one actually has to be a graduate first and Adams is scrambling to finish some coursework to complete his EWU degree. Meanwhile, Tennessee OG Marcus Jackson, a fifth-year senior, will reportedly miss the entire 2015 season because of what is believed to be a torn biceps which will require surgery to repair. Jackson could petition the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility, but those usually are only granted when a player loses two seasons to injury and Jackson took a straight redshirt earlier in his career. The 6-2, 310-pound Jackson is considered to be a late-round or free-agent prospect for the upcoming draft.
