CFB DeptHITS: Wednesday, December 18
Plenty to get you caught up on with transfer portal news galore, some coaching movement and some names opting out of bowls to pursue their NFL dreams.
Let’s jump right in…
|||||| PLAYER AVAILABILITY / STATUS UPDATES
Mississippi State ::: QB Blake Shapen has earned a medical redshirt and will return to Mississippi State for the 2025 season. Michael Van Buren and Chris Parson must have seen this coming as they both were already in the portal. Newly acquired Luke Kromenhoek from Florida State likely sits a season behind Shapen and is groomed to take over Jeff Lebby's offense in 2026.
Virginia Tech ::: The top two wide receivers Jaylin Lane and Da'Quan Felton have announced their plans to enter the 2025 NFL Draft. They will not play in the upcoming bowl game.
LSU ::: TE Mason Taylor has developed into an NFL-caliber tight end and will take his talents to the league next year. He will also opt out of the Tigers' bowl game and allow others to get some playing time. That includes both Trey'Dez Green and Ka'Morreun Pimpton. Both are four-star recruits who played behind Taylor this year. The Tigers have a commitment from OU transfer Bauer Sharp to join the squad next year.
Other notable NFL Draft declarations:
Louisville WR Ahmari Huggins-Bruce
USC RB Woody Marks
Arkansas WR Andrew Armstrong
Pittsburgh WR Konata Mumpfield
Fresno State WR Mac Dalena
San Jose State WR Nick Nash
UTSA RB Robert Henry
|||||| PORTAL NAMES TO KNOW
Ole Miss ::: More portal news for the "Come to the 'Sip" campaign as Auburn transfer CB Antonio Kite is heading to Oxford as well. Again, the Ole Miss camp is just hoarding talent and will sort it out on the other side.
Baylor ::: Two more pickups for the Bears on the defensive side as former Fresno State LB Phoenix Jackson and DB Devin Turner (Northwestern) both choose to play next year in Waco for Baylor.
Indiana ::: One of the challenges with making the CFP for the Hoosiers is ensuring they are keeping up with the early portal opportunities. They nabbed one big one with DT Dominique Ratcliff announcing his intention to join Indiana next season. He was really good at Texas State working primarily in the interior of the defensive line, a most important area of strength to continue to compete in the Big Ten.
Texas Tech ::: Yet antoher impressive defensive line pickup for the Red Raiders as former UCF Knight, Lee Hunter is headed to Texas Tech for 2025. He joins Skyler Gill-Howard, who signed on earlier last week and now Joey McGuire and company are cooking in the portal.
Alabama ::: DT Kelby Collins is heading to Alabama. The first portal addition of the cycle for the Tide is the former Florida Gator and it's a solid pickup. He should work his way in the rotation in 2025 and has two years left.
Florida State ::: Tony White brings another big defensive player with him from Lincoln as DT James Williams joins the Seminoles via the Portal. He racked up five sacks working primarily on the interior of the defensive line and has two full years of eligibility remaining. Mike Norvell's hiring of White has brought a lot more than just an experienced play caller, but it's netting some really talented players to work with as well.
Appalachian State ::: Good news for the new regime in Boone as Dowell Loggains convinces key defensive lineman Shawn Collins to remove his name from the portal and return to the Mountaineers in 2025.
Ole Miss ::: The portal news isn't all great out of Mississippi as OL Micah Pettus is leaving the Rebels. He was the primary right tackle all season and has developed into one of the better players at the position. He'll spend his final season of eligibility elsewhere.
Kansas ::: Tyler Mercer is heading to Lawrence from North Texas. He played primarily center for the Mean Green and while Bryce Foster has one year of eligibility remaining, this is a solid longer term play with Mercer, who could play other positions. He showed well and has three years of eligibility remaining.
Texas Tech ::: Another pickup for the Red Raiders early in the portal cycle with Louisiana TE Terrance Carter heading to Lubbock. He put up big numbers receiveing in 2024 with 48 for 691 yards and four touchdowns. He joins Jaylin Conyers as threats in the passing game from the tight end position and has two years of eligibility remaining (one more than Conyers).
Baylor ::: Former Alabama wide receiver Kobe Prentice is headed to Baylor. He racked up 60 catches for 780 yards and five touchdowns in three seasons in Tuscaloosa. He operates primarily out of the slot and looks to open things up joining the Bears for 2025.
Texas A&M ::: Mike Elko lands another big-time wide receiver from the 2024 class as Mario Craver (Mississippi State) joins Micah Hudson (Texas Tech) joining the Aggies. They are building quite the talent pool in that receiver room.
USC ::: WR Zachariah Branch is a big name that had entered the portal. He has shown flashes of his dynamic playmaking ability at USC and has announced he is looking to play elsewhere in 2025. He finished this season with 47 catches for 503 yards and one touchdown. He also returns kicks and punts.
Ole Miss ::: The Rebels nab another dynamic wide receiver, getting a commitment from De'Zhaun Stribling coming in from Oklahoma State (via Washington State). He has 161 career catches for 2,153 and 17 scores at both schools and now joins an even more explosive passing attack.
Wisconsin ::: The Badgers are loading up on defense early in the portal going, but did lose two offensive pieces as both WR C.J. Williams and Will Pauling have entered the portal. Pauling led the team with 42 catches for 407 yards and three touchdowns. The pair joins Trech Kekahuna in the portal to test the waters elsewhere. Bryson Green appears to be out of eligibility and that leaves just Vinny Anthony II as returning with double-digit targets this past season.
Ole Miss ::: Mizzou RB transfer Kewan Lacy joins the backfield in Oxford with Ole Miss. Not sure that's the right place to go in order to find more playing time, but that's what Lacy decided to do. He showed signs of being a dynamic back in his limited opportunities behind both Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll. The Rebels likely have five backs eligible to return in 2025 with two coming back from injury including Logan Diggs and Rashad Amos.
TCU ::: RB Cam Cook was expected to be the star of the Horned Frogs backfield in 2024 with a lot of buzz coming out of camp. While he did lead the backfield, the results weren't exactly what was hoped, gaining just 494 yards on 454 yards and nine touchdowns. He will look elsewhere in 2025.
Arkansas ::: RB Rashod Dubinon is hitting the portal. This could be an indication that Ja'Quinden Jackson plans to return for his final season of eligibility in Fayetteville. That would make sense for Dubinon, who was his backup most of the season when healthy.
Ball State ::: Big news out of Muncie as new head coach Mike Uremovich and his staff have convinced QB/athlete Kiael Kelly to return instead of testing the portal. It's possible Coach U let him know that he'll be in the running to be the starting quarterback. He moved to defensive back after an impressive showing in 2023.
Mississippi State ::: Jeff Lebby gets his future quarterback in the portal nabbing former FSU quarterback Luke Kromenhoek.
Florida International ::: New head coach Willie Simmons has convinced star QB Keyone Jenkins to return to FIU and remove his name from the portal.
|||||| COACHING MOVEMENT OF NOTE
UCF ::: Scott Frost brings back a familiar name as his defensive coordinator. Alex Grinch was widely blamed for the struggles on defense at USC before being fired there. He spend last season as safeties coach at Wisconsin and now gets the play-calling duties back with Frost at UCF.
Rice ::: The new Rice staff is impressed enough to retain legendary high school coach Jon Kay and now he is being promoted to defensive coordinator on Scott Abell's first staff.
Appalachian State ::: Zach Arnett, the interim turned head coach for one season following Mike Leach at Mississippi State, has resurfaced as Dowell Loggains' defensive coordinator hire at Appalachian State. Arnett was the Bulldogs DC before getting the interim job upon Leach's illness. He spent 2024 as an analyst on Lane Kiffin's Ole Miss staff.
Massachusetts ::: Mike Bajakian is heading to UMass to become Joe Harasymiak's offensive coordinator. Bajakian was most recently on staff at Utah as an offensive analyst and prior to was the OC at Northwestern in 2023.
|||||| FOOTBALL CONTINUES TONIGHT
Get caught up on the two games that are previewed over at the site tonight, with one early start. Click the image below to see the previews as they go up over at the site:
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