TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 10 Alabama will be without starting outside linebacker Qua Russaw for “an extended period” with a broken foot, coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday.

The sophomore suffered the injury early in a 24-21 win at Georgia on Saturday and was scheduled for surgery this week. He played just eight snaps against the Bulldogs, according to Pro Football Focus.

“He won’t be out for the season, but it will be an extended period of time,” DeBoer said.

Compounding injury issues at the position, senior linebacker Jah-Marien Latham has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Latham, who was in his sixth and final year of college eligibility, suffered a neck injury in practice last week. It’s unclear if he will pursue a medical redshirt, DeBoer said.

“Jah-Marien will recover fully,” DeBoer said. “That’s the main thing in the big picture of everything. But unfortunately won’t be back this season.”

The expectation now is that sophomore Yhonzae Pierre will start at home against 16th-ranked Vanderbilt on Saturday. He has been a productive rotational player through four games, ranking second on the team in tackles for loss and recording four tackles against Georgia.

True freshman Justin Hill also is expected to have a bigger role moving forward.

“Yhonzae just keeps getting better and better,” defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. “His ability to affect the run game (and) pass rush for us has shown up so far this season. But we’re going to have to be creative in the way that we develop other people in certain packages to make sure that we have enough depth.

“Certainly when you lose two experienced guys, it’s a challenge.”

CJ Carr barely won the offseason competition to become Notre Dame‘s starting quarterback, but the second-year player has fully capitalized on his opportunity, and coach Marcus Freeman is taking notice.

“It’s rare to be a second-year college football player playing in your fifth [career] game and performing at a level he’s performing at,” Freeman said Monday. “It’s rare. But I think CJ Carr is rare.”

Carr recorded his first career 300-yard passing performance in Saturday’s 56-13 rout of Arkansas, finishing with 354 yards and four touchdowns, while completing 22 of 30 passes. His 294 passing yards in the first half marked the third-highest total in team history, and his four touchdowns were the second-highest total in team history. The four touchdowns also were tied for second most by a true freshman or redshirt freshman in Notre Dame history.

Through four games, Carr has 1,091 passing yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. He ranks second nationally in total QBR.

Carr, the grandson of longtime Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, competed with third-year sophomore Kenny Minchey in the spring and preseason camp. Minchey’s strong practice performances suggested he might get the first opportunity to start, but Freeman went with Carr, who saw action in only one game last fall and had no pass attempts.

“He has this unique trait that very few people have,” Freeman said. “He is … a competitive, selfless individual. It’s not about CJ Carr. He’s not so competitive that, ‘I want to be able to throw for this amount.’ It’s like, ‘Whatever we got to do to win, if I got to motivate, if I got to work, if I got to put my head down and run if I got to throw the ball,’ whatever it takes to win, like, he has that trait. He hates to lose, and then he’s mature in the way he prepares.”

Penn State coach James Franklin understands the continued focus on his big-game struggles, especially in the wake of Saturday’s overtime home loss to Oregon.

But Franklin can control how he views those games, and how he chooses to respond to the scrutiny. The Oregon loss dropped Franklin to 4-21 against AP top-10 opponents at Penn State, tied for the third-worst record by a head coach at a single school in the AP poll era.

“I try to answer the tough questions that you guys give,” Franklin told reporters Monday. “It’s not always easy to do. I wouldn’t say I enjoy this whatsoever, but I also understand you guys have got a job to do and these tough questions are going to come. I will also say that I’m not going to allow one loss to define our season. I’m not going to allow a few losses to define my career and what we have done here at Penn State, because although I don’t think a lot of people spend a ton of time on what we have done over our 12 years here.

“I get it. Nobody wants to hear this right now. There are a ton of positives.”

Franklin is 100-22 against non-top-10 foes at Penn State, and won 34 games in the previous three seasons. Last season, Penn State reached the Big Ten championship game for the first time since winning a title in 2016, and won its first two College Football Playoff games before falling to Notre Dame in the national semifinal.

Penn State dropped to No. 7 following the Oregon loss and visits winless UCLA on Saturday. The Nittany Lions could face consecutive top-10 opponents when they visit No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 1, and then host No. 8 Indiana on Nov. 8.

Franklin cited inconsistency as a problem throughout the offense and noted how often Penn State was in third-and-long against Oregon. The Lions converted 6 of 15 third-down chances in the loss.

“You saw how we were structured last year in terms of how we would like to manage the offense and be able to run the ball, be able to stay ahead of the sticks, create manageable third-down situations, and also use that with the ability to go play-action pass and take shots down the field,” Franklin said. “Until you’re able to establish the running game, which we were able to do late in the game, which opened everything up from that point on, we have not been able to do it consistently.”

Franklin said Penn State’s sports information staff often sends him clips of how other coaches address tough losses, and that he doesn’t think those responses “would go over very well here.”

“Screaming, yelling, pointing fingers, we’re not going to do,” Franklin said. “Also, there is a part of making sure that I represent this program, this university the right way, and do it with class and integrity. That probably shows up in times like that more than other times. It’s not fun and easy when you care as deeply as we care.”