Alabama, USC, South Carolina, and More!

CFB Roundup – August 20, 2024

Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

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Alabama GM Courtney Morgan Re-Signs for 3 years, ~2.475M

Per Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, Alabama and its GM, Courtney Morgan, have agreed to a three-year extension worth roughly $825k per year, or roughly $2.475M over the life of the extension.

Morgan has been a big piece of Kalen DeBoer’s short time with Alabama, and this raise comes after USC and Lincoln Riley heavily pursued Morgan already for a job as USC’s President of Football. Morgan has been with DeBoer for the two seasons at Washington prior, and he also spent 2021 with Michigan, an impressive resume when considering which programs have been recruiting well enough to compete in College Football Playoff games.

Since coming to Alabama, Morgan and the rest of the Alabama staff have hit the ground running, and currently have the 2nd best class for the 2025 class.

USC Names QB Miller Moss Starter

USC has named QB Miller Moss the starting QB, where he beat out UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava for the job.

Moss redshirted in 2021 and then sat behind Heisman QB and #1 NFL Draft Pick Caleb Williams for two seasons. Now, as a redshirt junior, Miller Moss is ready to take the reins of the USC offense.

In USC’s bowl game last season, Moss completed 23 of 33 passes for 372 yards and six touchdowns en route to a commanding 42-28 win over Louisville.

Jayden Maiava had a great freshman season at UNLV, where he threw for over 3,000 yards – no small feat for a true freshman. After spring camp, however, coach Lincoln Riley shared that Miller Moss was clearly in the lead in the QB room. Now, Riley has named Moss the starter ahead of the Trojans’ first contest against LSU on September 1st.

Shane Beamer: Hope to Name QB Soon

South Carolina’s Shane Beamer has shared that he hopes to name a starting QB soon, with the competition presumably being between quarterbacks LaNorris Sellers and Robby Ashford.

The expectation, according to common and prevailing sentiment is for Sellers to win the job, but Beamer has yet to make that call officially.

Beamer shared that both guys have been working in with the first group, and both have shown plenty of talent. Beamer did, however, ultimately share that he hopes to name a QB fairly soon after the off day for players on Monday so that way the team can rally around one guy.

Duke Names QB Maalik Murphy Starter

Duke has named former Texas QB Maalik Murphy it’s starting quarterback after fall camp.

Murphy transferred in from Texas after he made a pair of starts for Texas against BYU and Kansas State, helping lead the Longhorns to wins in both games en route to a Big 12 championship win and College Football Playoff appearance.

When Murphy hit the portal, he considered Baylor, South Carolina, and Oregon State, as well, but ultimately settled on Duke. Now he will be starting for the Blue Devils in its first game of the season on Friday, August 30th against FCS opponent Elon.

Super Agent Drew Rosenhaus: Unionization and Salary Cap Would Be Good for Schools and Athletes

In the ever-evolving landscape of college football, super agent Drew Rosenhaus believes the best thing for the sport and all involved is some sort of unionization and salary cap.

Rosenhaus is all for guys getting paid, and he has roughly 70 NIL clients who he is happy to help get paid, but Rosenhaus also believes that the best way forward for the sake of parity is allowing for some sort of level playing field with a salary cap. Naturally, the only way for any sort of artificial salary cap without running afoul of antitrust concerns is likely going to be collective bargaining (and therefore, unionization).

This consistency in structure, he believes, will provide a level of stability for the universities, coaches, and players.

On3’s Preseason True Freshman All-Americans

On3 has released it’s Preseason True Freshman All-American team in an effort to determine this season’s Caleb Downs or KC Concepcion, two guys who wasted no time to burst on to the college football scene.

Fans of recruiting will know many (or all) of the names, like Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola, Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith, Auburn WR Cam Coleman, and Colorado OL Jordan Seaton. Texas A&M ATH Terry Bussey was also included with a note that it’s possible he plays both sides of the ball, one of the only true freshmen who this is projected as possibly happening and at such a high level.

Of the 22 players listed, 10 are from SEC schools, 6 are from Big Ten schools, 5 are from the ACC + Notre Dame, and 1 (Seaton) is from the Big 12.

Baylor Names QB Dequan Finn Starter

Baylor has named quarterback and Toledo transfer Dequan Finn the starting QB for the Bears.

Finn beat out redshirt junior and former Mississippi State transfer Sawyer Robertson for the job, which coach Dave Aranda said it was a tightly contested battle. During camp, one aspect Coach Aranda touched on was Finn’s composure compared to Robertson not necessarily being as steady under pressure.

After contributing over 3,000 yards to Toledo’s offense last year, Finn has the opportunity to lead a Baylor team who only won 3 games last season. And for Aranda, this was an incredibly important decision which may ultimately determine how much more time he has with Baylor.

2026 3-Star CB Zyntreas Otey Commits to Purdue

2026 3-Star CB Zyntreas Otey committed to Purdue yesterday over offers from Ole Miss, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Arkansas, among others.

Otey is rated as high as a 4-star by Rivals, where he ranks as the 188th ranked prospect and 11th ranked CB in the 2026 class thus far. According to On3’s industry composite, Otey is ranked 392nd nationally and 31st for his position.

Otey joins composite 4-star QB Oscar Rios as Purdue’s 2nd commitment for the 2026 class.

3-Star ATH/WR/CB Gerritt Kemp Flips from Duke to NC State

3-Star ATH/WR/CB Gerritt Kemp has flipped his commitment from Duke to NC State after originally committing to Duke over Ole Miss and Michigan State, among others.

Kemp said that one of his first offers was from NC State, and when he told them he was going to commit to Duke, NC State’s coaching staff told him they were not going to stop recruiting him.

Perhaps the biggest change is now Kemp is planning on switching from playing WR in college to playing cornerback. Getting ready for fall camp this season, Kemp had started playing cornerback, and fell in love with playing defense. Now, he wants to make the switch once he gets to college.

According to On3’s industry composite, Kemp ranks 886th nationally and 46th for his position for the 2025 class.

Kemp is NC State’s 17th commitment for the 2025 class, a class whcih ranks 46th nationally and 10th in the ACC.

Arizona State Names QB Sam Leavitt Starter

Arizona State’s quarterback battle has come to a close, for now, as Michigan State transfer Sam Leavitt beat out quarterback Jeff Sims after having spent the previous four seasons at Georgia Tech and Nebraska.

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham raved about Leavitt’s intangibles at Big 12 Media Days, comparing him to Bo Nix, who Dillingham coached for one season at Oregon.

Leavitt played in four games last season as a true freshman for Michigan State, and now with 4 years of eligibility remaining, he is officially the starter for Dillingham and Arizona State.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

Unrated ATH Nick Blevins commits to Army

Unrated OT Sam Browder commits to Memphis

Unrated RB Ravian Larry commits to Utah State