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South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers Named Starter

South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers was named the starter after battling against transfer Robby Ashford.

Sellers had been presumed to be the leader of this battle for awhile, but to get confirmation is reaffirming after he was named the starter coming out of spring.

Sellers is a redshirt freshman who appeared in 3 games while backing up Spencer Rattler. Prior to getting to South Carolina, Sellers was a 4-star recruit from Florence, SC.

4-Star RB Akylin Dear Commits to Alabama

Consensus 4-star RB Akylin Dear committed to Alabama yesterday over Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and others after having previously committed to Ole Miss.

Dear described it “as a business decision,” citing Alabama’s history of running backs and Alabama’s history as a winning program.

Dear is ranked by 247Sports as the top ranked running back in the country, and ESPN ranks him highest nationally at 29th overall. On On3’s industry composite, he ranks 38th nationally and 2nd at the RB position.

This marks Alabama’s 16th Blue Chip commitment and 21st commitment overall as the Crimson Tide’s 2025 class inches closer to Ohio State’s top-ranked class nationally.

4-Star WR Andrew Marsh Commits to Michigan

Consensus 4-star WR Andrew Marsh committed yesterday to Michigan over Texas, USC, Washington, Colorado, and other offers.

Marsh has been on six separate visits to Michigan, and he described the university and program as “somewhere I feel really comfortable.” Marsh was also impressed by the history of winning and was interested in the opportunity to be developed by the coaching staff at Michigan.

Marsh ranks as high as 60th nationally (Rivals) and 9th at the WR position (ESPN). According to On3’s industry composite, Marsh ranks 87th nationally and 12th at his position.

This is Michigan’s 14th 4-star and 17th commitment overall for a 2025 class which jumps up into 13th place nationally and 3rd in the Big Ten.

Rutgers Captain Mo Toure Tears ACL, Out for 2024

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano recently shared with reporters that its star LB and captain of the defense, Mo Toure, has torn his ACL and will be out for the 2024 season.

Toure missed all of 2022 with an injury, as well, while having been a standout on the defense in 2020, 2021, and 2023. Given the lofty expectations Rutgers has for the 2024 season this is a massive blow as the Scarlet Knights try to figure out how to replace a leader on defense with the career production to match.

USA Today’s Top 10 Heisman Candidates

USA Today recently shared its Top 10 Heisman candidates going into the season. Of the list of 10 names provided, 8 are QBs with Oklahoma State RB Ollie Gordon and Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter the two non-QBs listed.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers, Georgia QB Carson Beck, Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel, Alabama QB Jalen Milroe, Ohio State QB Will Howard, Miami QB Cam Ward, Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava, and Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders are the quarterbacks listed.

With the exception of Sanders (T20th, +4000) and Ward, (10th, +2000), the quarterbacks are all in the Top 6 of the betting odds to win, with Gordon and Hunter similar levels of longshot to Sanders (27th & +7500; T24th & +6000, respectively).

SMU QB Preston Stone Named Starter

SMU coach Rhett Lashlee officially named QB Preston Stone the starter ahead of the Week 0 game against Nevada.

The decision does not come as much of a surprise as Stone battled with backup Kevin Jennings through the spring and summer. Stone was the starter last season as he led the Mustangs to a 10-2 record in the games he started in 2023, with Jennings starting in the AAC Championship game and the Fenway Bowl after Stone broke his leg in the regular season finale against Navy.

In 2023, Stone finished the season with 3,197 yards and 28 touchdowns on 59.9% passing, while Jennings threw for 618 yards and 5 touchdowns on 58.1% passing in his 2 starts and 8 total appearances.

Jennings was expected to potentially test out the portal, but SMU did a good job, evidently, in retaining him providing the Mustangs with a backup with experience and familiarity with the system in the event it needs to call on Jennings.

Colorado’s Special Teams Coordinator Steps Away Before 2024 Season Begins

Special Teams Coordinator Trevor Reilly has stepped away from Colorado’s program just before the 2024 season was set to begin.

Reilly has been with Coach Deion Sanders for the past three seasons, and Reilly’s leaving came with no explanation. Reilly originally got started as a student assistant at Utah before joining Coach Prime at Jackson State as a graduate assistant where he made some headlines by buying a car on Craigslist, driving to Jackson, MS during a snowstorm, and joining the Jackson State program ahead of its first game of the season.

Reilly went from grad assistant to special teams coordinator after making the jump with Coach Sanders, but he is now evidently moving on.

Sarkisian: Evaluating Unconventional Options for RB

Texas’ Steve Sarkisian recently shared that the injury plague ravaging his running back room has prompted the program to start getting creative in its plans to address the needs at RB.

Given where we’re at in the calendar, Sarkisian does not expect it to be some sort of traditional transfer, but he thinks its possible there could be some sort of graduate transfer to be added. For Sarkisian, he said that the program is assessing all of its options, but the Longhorns are not just going to add someone for the sake of adding someone – they have to have some role, regardless of if it’s a limited or bigger role.

Southern Miss QB Tate Rodemaker Expected to be Named Starter

Florida State transfer QB Tate Rodemaker is expected to be named the starting QB of Southern Miss in short order.

In 2023 with Florida State, Rodemaker appeared in 9 games and started 2 games for the Seminoles after Jordan Travis’ season-ending injury which many attribute to the Playoff Committee’s decision to hold the Seminoles out of the College Football Playoff.

Rodemaker did not start the ACC Championship Game, as true freshman Brock Glenn started in the place of Rodemaker after Rodemaker was ruled out following a big hit the previous week against Florida.

Rodemaker was battling with sophomore Ethan Crawford and freshman John White for the starting job at Southern Miss. Coach Will Hall said all three quarterbacks looked good, but ultimately it’s the transfer who Coach Hall is expected to name the starter.

2026 3-Star TE Damon Hall Commits to Maryland

Consensus 3-star TE in the 2026 class, Damon Hall, committed to Maryland yesterday over offers from Alabama, Michigan, Penn State, South Carolina, and others.

Hall is ranked as the 354th ranked prospect nationally and 17th ranked TE, thus far, for the class of 2026.

This is Maryland’s 3rd commitment in the 2026 class, but it’s Maryland’s first commitment to have an On3 composite grade. Hall joins high school teammate CB Khmari Bling and Floridian DE Brian Harris as class of 2026 commitments.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (82) QB Hezekiah Millender commits to Boise State

Unrated TE Grant Hollier commits to Georgia State

Unrated IOL Diego De La Cruz commits to UTEP

Unrated LS Braydyn Sage commits to New Mexico State