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UTEP Officially Announces Mountain West News

The Mountain West officially announced UTEP has joined the conference and will begin competing in all sports for the 2026-27 academic year. This gives the Miners the rest of this season and then next season in the Conference USA.

UTEP alerted CUSA officials of its intent to leave prior to the announcement yesterday.

The Mountain West still needs one more member to officially be a conference, as Hawaii is a football-only member and therefore does not count to the eight needed.

UTEP VP and Director of Athletics Jim Senter said of the move: “I know the Miners will feel right at home with the other quality athletic programs in this great conference.”

UTEP has been in the Conference USA since 2005 when it made the jump over from the WAC.

Texas State Talks to Join Mountain West Have Stalled

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Mountain West’s conversations with Texas State have stalled out.

Texas State officials reportedly received a verbal offer from the conference last week, and it seemed like Texas State was going to give an answer shortly, but those conversations have evidently sputtered out and Texas State is not going anywhere new.

There has also been some minor interest between the Pac-12 and Texas State, so this timing is interesting that on the day that basketball powerhouse Gonzaga announces joining the Pac-12, Texas State’s conversations with the Mountain West have stalled.

Adding to that drama, the Pac-12 and Mountain West are currently embroiled in a legal battle as the Pac-12 sued the Mountain West over supposed “poaching penalties” in the two conference’s scheduling agreement separate from conference exit fees in the conference bylaws.

Consensus 4-Star WR Malik Clark Decommits from Florida State

Consensus 4-star WR Malik Clark decommitted from Florida State yesterday after originally committing to the Seminoles on July 25th.

Clark recently gave some quotes about Florida State’s poor start, saying that adversity comes with the game, and that he was still locked in with the Seminoles despite poor results, including at the game he visited.

He also said South Carolina and North Carolina stay in touch the most, but he had no visits planned at that point.

Clark is the 221st ranked recruit and 27th ranked WR in the 2025 class.

Florida State dropping another commitment brings it down to 9 Blue Chip commitments and just 11 total commitments for the 2025 class, a class which now falls to 18th nationally and 3rd in the ACC, just narrowly remaining ahead of Georgia Tech.

Vanderbilt Coach Clark Lea on Alabama’s Ryan Williams

17-year-old true freshman WR Ryan Williams took over the game at times for Alabama against then-#2 Georgia. Now with Alabama coming to town to face off against Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea talked some on how important it will be to contain Williams, as well as how he hopes to do that.

Lea said of Williams, “he’s got some of the best balance and body control that I’ve seen. When you watch him, there’s a few plays that stand out in my mind, where he’s making plays as his body is contorting and the ball is bouncing around.”

As for the gameplan, Lea said that Vanderbilt needs to try to limit Alabama’s ability to catch the deep ball: “We have to play to a level of fundamental, technical efficiency. In the situation where we have a post player and a man defender, we got to have two guys that can vice the ball down. There’s going to be times in this game where it takes two guys, and that’s okay. It’s just about how we train it this week in practice.”

4-Star ATH Antavious Richardson Flips from USF to Notre Dame

4-star ATH Antavious Richardson flipped from USF to Notre Dame yesterday after committing to USF back in June.

The Georgia native received his Notre Dame offer towards the end of August, and after taking an official visit to South Bend last month, Notre Dame became the front runner for the 4-star.

Richardson also was a one-time Georgia State commitment before he picked up offers from Memphis, Vandy, Mississippi State, and obviously, USF.

He ranks 352nd nationally and 10th for ATHs according to the On3 industry composite, with On3 being the only recruiting service which rates him as a 4-star.

Notre Dame’s 2025 class now has 13 4-stars and 23 commitments overall for a class which is ranked 10th nationally.

USF now has a 2025 class of 22 commitments – all 3-stars – which ranks 65th nationally and 1st in the AAC.

Ohio State’s Ryan Day: We’re All Coaching Aggressively This Season

Ohio State has gone for it an average of twice per game this season, up from 1.38 times per game in 2023 and 1.31 times per game in 2022. This is not the only evidence of Ohio State’s aggressiveness this season, but it is some of the most quantifiable evidence.

Speaking on the aggressiveness of Ohio State’s play this season, Ryan Day said about Ohio State’s staff, “yeah, I mean, we’re all coaching aggressively.”

Also in talking about the staff and their coaching, Day said, “every day when I wake up, I put two feet on the ground to try to do everything I can to help this team reach their dreams and goals. Because these kids are unbelievable, and they’re giving everything they possibly have. We got to keep pushing them as coaches, and that’s our job. It’s their job to take the coaching and continue with the great chemistry we have and great effort. So we got to put a great game plan together, give it to the player, and then have a great week of practice.”

Mike Norvell on Brock Glenn’s Practice Performance

Brock Glenn was informally announced as Florida State’s QB going forward as DJ Uiagalelei deals with a hand injury suffered late against SMU last week. The reason it’s “informal” is because Norvell listed Glenn and DJU as co-starters on Monday.

At least for this upcoming game, though, Glenn is the QB1. As for after that, it would appear as though it could be either DJU or Glenn based on that depth chart.

In evaluating Glenn’s practice performance as QB1 for the first time in 2024, Norvell had this to say:

“I thought it was good. Obviously there’s some things we’re looking at; different schemes, different elements that we might face. It’s about making sure that our eyes are in the right place so we can play fast, we can obviously execute quickly.”

Norvell continued, “I thought he made some good decisions. I thought he made some things that we’ll be able to go back and correct on film. Same with Luke [Kromenhoek]. … All in all, solid day and I thought those guys worked hard.”

Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed on Staying at Texas A&M Instead of Transferring: I Just Stuck To It

Marcel Reed recently opened up on his decision to stay at Texas A&M despite the coaching turnover and Conner Weigman seemingly being the starter over him coming into the season.

Reed decided not to transfer because he still had four years of eligibility after redshirting, plus Reed was incredibly optimistic after seeing Texas A&M hire Mike Elko and Collin Klein, both guys Reed has a high opinion of.

In his career with Texas A&M, Reed has 959 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, only one interceptions, 275 rushing yards, and 3 rushing touchdowns with a 55.7% completion percentage. Texas A&M is also 3-0 in his 3 starts, including two wins to open conference play.

Oklahoma State OL and Former Vandy Transfer Jason Brooks Re-Enters Transfer Portal

Oklahoma State OL and former Vanderbilt transfer Jason Brooks has re-entered the transfer portal so that he may go somewhere new for his sixth and (presumably) final season of college football.

Brooks started Oklahoma State’s first 7 games in 2023 and registered 4 starts in 2022 while appearing in 12 games for the Cowboys. Before that, Brooks spent 2 seasons with Vanderbilt where he appeared in 7 combined snaps. Brooks has not appeared in a game for the Cowboys yet this year according to PFF. With Oklahoma State, Brooks started as a right tackle but spent a bulk of his time at the guard position.

3-Star OT Jayden Clark commits to Kentucky

3-star OT Jayden Clark committed to Kentucky over several midwest P5s – Purdue, Pitt, Indiana, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and others.

Clark has been to Lexington on multiple visits over the last few months, and in that time he’s built a strong relationship with some of the coaches and players, describing it as “a really good community.”

According to the On3 industry composite, Clark ranks 1,147th nationally and 73rd at the OT position.

This is Kentucky’s 18th commitment for a 2025 class which ranks 23rd nationally and 12th in the SEC.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

4-star (90) JUCO DL Zavion Hardy commits to Mississippi State

3-star (87) WR Jack Foley commits to Wake Forest

3-star (87) S Braylen Wortham decommits from Louisiana Tech

3-star (84) CB Jahvion Jarmon commits to Bowling Green

Unrated DL Nissi Ogbebor commits to Syracuse