1. The hiring of Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman by Houston reminds us that Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer has a solid record as a coachmaker, too. Herman is the 12th Meyer assistant to get his own gig. The list includes Dan Mullen of Mississippi State and Doc Holliday of Marshall, who will coach on Jan. 1., and Gary Andersen, who led Wisconsin to a Jan. 1 bowl before leaving for Oregon State. Not all 12 coaches went directly from Meyer's staff to a head coaching position. But the list proves Meyer can spot coaching talent as well as he does playing talent.

2. Making a Freshman All-America team has a lot to do with talent and a little to do with luck. Is there a hole that a freshman can fill? There are more holes on struggling teams, but those are the teams avoided by freshmen talented enough to become All-Americans. Four of ESPN's top-10 recruits from the Class of 2014 became freshmen A-As, and 16 of the 22 came from the ESPN Top 300. The lowest-rated recruit to become a Freshman All-American? BYU center Tejan Koroma, a Texan who added 25 pounds when he got to Provo and, at 6-1, 280, started every game. Bet he gets bigger -- and better.

3. We've got a CSU Saturday coming up. The Colorado State Rams play No. 22 Utah in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl at 3:30 p.m. ET. A half-hour later, the CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves play Minnesota State for the NCAA Division II title. Hey, even nostalgic Colorado fans may root for CSU-Pueblo. Several former members of Gary Barnett's Buff staff coach the Thunderwolves, including John Wristen, the head coach since the program restarted in 2008. Barnett keeps a hand in as advisor and booster. When the team stayed in a hotel the night before one playoff game, Barnett footed the bill.