College football: Stanford sits Love, still sore from USC

In a potential blow to his Heisman Trophy chances, Stanford running back Bryce Love will miss Saturday’s game against UC Davis because of an undisclosed injury.

Coach David Shaw, who doesn’t reveal specific injury information, said Tuesday that Love and left tackle Walker Little should be back Sept. 29 against Oregon.

Last week’s win over USC “was a very, very physical football game and we had a lot of guys with bumps and bruises,” Shaw said.

Love, held to 29 yards in the opener against San Diego State, tallied 136 yards and a touchdown against USC. Love was met head-on by two Trojans on his final carry with 1:31 left and exited. The senior dealt with ankle injuries last season but missed only one game.

Senior Cameron Scarlett, a Pac-12 honorable mention last year, is expected to start.

Beavers’ freshman is off to a fast start

There’s a surprising development in the Pac-12: The top two backs aren’t Love and Myles Gaskin of Washington, but instead Jermar Jefferson and Artavis Pierce of Oregon State.

That’s notable considering the Beavers’ opening opponent was Ohio State.

Pierce, who ran for 168 yards and two touchdowns against the Buckeyes, injured his elbow Saturday. Jefferson, a freshman from Harbor City Narbonne, took over and ran for 238 yards and four scores against Southern Utah. He leads the Pac-12 with an average of 142.5 yards in two games.

The only Beavers in school history with more yards in a game were Bill Enyart, who holds the record with 299 in 1968, and Steven Jackson, with 239 in 2002.

“It’s crazy,” Jefferson said. “It’s a big experience.”

Etc.

Texas A&M passed Texas as America’s most valuable college football program, according to Forbes. Michigan, Alabama and Ohio State complete the top five.