Monday's big news stemmed from the announcement that Oklahoma had issued a one-year suspension to linebacker Frank Shannon, who was found guilty of violating the school's sexual-misconduct policy.
However, Shannon has appealed the decision to district court and, according to The Oklahoman, received a summary order allowing Shannon to continue practicing with the football team. The school has appealed that order to the state supreme court, per The Oklahoman.
While the legal battle over the suspension remains unresolved, Shannon, the team's leading tackler from last season, has indeed been back on the field for the Sooners. Sophomore Jordan Evans -- in line to start if Shannon is unavailable -- said Shannon has even been getting all of the first-team reps in practice.
"He's been taking all of them," Evans told reporters on Tuesday. "But we're doing a whole bunch of things ... I shouldn't say all of them. But he's taking a lot of reps. So is Caleb. So am I. They are really rotating in everybody some (so) they can get an amount of reps and see where you are at.
"Frank is doing really good. Obviously he missed a little bit of that spring and he came back with a different mentality. Making plays, got his fits. He's looking like a great linebacker."
Defensive coordinator Mike Stoops also spoke to reporters on Tuesday and seemed to avoid directly addressing the Shannon situation by saying only that he would coach the players out on the field.
Yesterday, it appeared as if the linebacker would be out for the 2014 season. On Tuesday, Shannon's future seemed much less certain.
Here are nine other things you need to know from Tuesday's training camps:
- It was quite the day for pass-catchers in the SEC. The Internet lit up upon seeing this excellent grab from Ole Miss' Laquon Treadwell. Well, that might not even be the best catch in his own division after seeing what Auburn's Duke Williams did at practice.
- BYU backup WR Devon Blackmon will miss the Aug. 29 opener against Connecticut, apparently because he was caught wearing earrings. He tweeted that he violated the school honor code for wearing earrings, then later deleted the tweet. Wearing earrings is a no-no for males at BYU. Blackmon signed with Oregon out of high school, detoured to a junior college, then signed with BYU in February. (Interestingly, his signing-day bio features a picture of Blackmon wearing earrings.) He is expected back for the second game of the season (at Texas) and should be a key reserve this fall.
- Former Texas A&M linebacker Darian Claiborne, who was expected to be a starter for the Aggies this season until he was dismissed from the school in June, has resurfaced at FCS member Texas Southern. Claiborne led A&M with 89 tackles last season. His dismissal followed two arrests and another incident that involved a citation.
To make matters worse for the Aggies' defense heading into the season, potential starting strong-side linebacker Shaan Washington broke his collarbone and is out four-to-six weeks. An already young and inexperienced A&M defense certainly has a tough task ahead.
- Florida State's defensive line is stacked, to say the least, this season and one player that could be added to the rotation is true freshman defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi. Coach Jimbo Fisher has already mentioned his name a few times during camp, but defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. heaped even more praise on the newcomer by comparing him to Timmy Jernigan. That's high praise considering where Jernigan was drafted (48th overall to the Baltimore Ravens). Edwards was on the receiving end of quite a compliment, too.
- North Carolina State's defense was already a concern, and the concern intensified a bit when coach Dave Doeren confirmed that starting middle linebacker M.J. Salahuddin, a junior, needs knee surgery. Doeren wouldn't rule out Salahuddin returning at some point this season but also noted that the player has a redshirt year available. NCSU plays a 4-2-5 set, and redshirt freshman Jerod Fernandez seems likely to move into Salahuddin's vacated spot. The Wolfpack ranked 13th in the 14-team ACC against the run last season.
- Georgia coach Mark Richt gives his players a day off each year in fall camp to go swimming at the school's Ramsey Student Center. Players might know the day is coming at some point, but they don't get word until it's time to put on the swim trunks. Naturally, their reaction was one of great excitement when they learned Tuesday would be pool day. Georgia posted this photo from the aquatic center on Tuesday. However, there was some bad news coming out of Athens, as injured fullback Merritt Hall might not be back in time for the opener. Freshman Detric Bing-Dukes told the Macon Telegraph that he was switched from linebacker to fullback as a result.
- Utah held its first scrimmage of fall camp and quarterback Travis Wilson seemed to look sharp, throwing a pair of touchdown passes. However, the star of the show was safety Tevin Carter, who returned a fumble 99 yards for a score.
- In quarterback news today, Michigan's Brady Hoke confirmed that there was not really any kind of battle at the position in announcing that he expects Devin Gardner to start the Wolverines' opener. Further west, new Wyoming coach Craig Bohl also seems set on his quarterback situation with Colby Kirkegaard and Tom Thornton going 1-2 on the depth chart. Down at Tulane, redshirt freshman Tanner Lee won the signal-caller job over Nick Montana (yes, Joe's youngest kid).
- Former NFL receiver Ed McCaffrey's son seems to be doing well at Stanford. Head coach David Shaw has mentioned Christian McCaffrey's name a few times after practice and recently said the freshman running back could be in the mix for playing time on special teams and in the backfield. One can only expect for him to help form a nice one-two punch with Barry Sanders' son, who is also a Cardinal running back. Those two, along with Kelsey Young, appear in the Vine of tailback drills that the team posted on Tuesday:
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
