Author: nfltalk

Apr. 14—MOSCOW, Idaho — Ah, the good old days of 2023, when Idaho romped to a 9-4 record and the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

The Vandals were ably led then by redshirt sophomore quarterback Gevani McCoy, the 2022 Jerry Rice Award winner as the nation’s top freshman, backed up by promising redshirt freshman Jack Layne.

At the time, it seemed Idaho was good but awfully young at quarterback. Now, you could wager any amount that the four QBs going through spring ball with the Vandals could not come up with a gray hair among them.

McCoy is gone, transferring to Oregon State. Layne, a redshirt sophomore with all of two starts on his resume, is the heir apparent. Behind him are three redshirt freshmen: Jack Wagner, from Tualatin (Oregon) High; Nick Josifek, College Place High in Walla Walla; and Hogan Carmichael, Summit High in Bend, Oregon.

Layne has appeared in 11 games in the past two seasons, completing 49 of 69 passes for 693 yards and nine touchdowns and rushing for 68 yards. He also has two wins against Idaho State when he started in place of an injured McCoy, including last year when he went 20-of-26 for 275 yards and six TDs.

Wagner got into the ISU game last year and completed 4 of 5 passes for 41 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 42 yards.

Barring an injury to one of them, according to Vandals coach Jason Eck, this is a pat hand.

Eck said he is not looking in the transfer portal as long as at least one of the two is healthy.

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Luke Schleusner offers an even stronger endorsement. Taking the measure of all four quarterbacks, he said, Idaho coaches decided they are set at quarterback.

“They are doing a great job every day,” Schleusner said.

Eck and Schleusner point out Idaho’s offense is in a veritable youth movement with no senior…

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Not only are the Alabama Crimson Tide replacing a legend following Nick Saban’s retirement, but they are also replacing nearly half their roster. Kalen DeBoer is taking over a team that lost nearly 50 players from last year’s squad that was the SEC champion, went to the College Football Playoff and finished No. 5 in the final AP Poll. But since this is Alabama football, it simply reloaded and landed No. 2 in the Class of 2024 recruit rankings, per 247Sports. Fans of Alabama football will get their first taste of many of these newcomers at the Alabama football spring game on Saturday.

A-Day is what the event is known as, and the 2024 A-Day Game will take place at 4 p.m. ET from Bryant-Denny Stadium. Five-star CB recruits Jaylen Mbakwe and Zabien Brown should see reps considering the lack of depth at the position for Bama, but which other new faces should Alabama football fans get to know? If you want to see the latest Alabama football news, you should join Bama247, the 247Sports affiliate that covers the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The team of insiders at Bama247 are providing on-the-ground updates on every development in the football coaching search, including insights from Matt Zenitz, John Talty and Mike Rodak, who have more than 25 years of experience covering the Crimson Tide. The trio has deep-rooted ties inside and around the Alabama community, and Talty wrote The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban, a Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestseller. It’s all available at your fingertips on any device here.

The team at Bama247 has extensive coverage heading into Alabama’s spring game, including injury information and potential depth chart changes. You can also get the low-down from fellow fans on the Bama247 message board. Head to Bama247…

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Ring the bell, it’s time for Round 2.

The second window of the college football transfer portal opens Monday, and will remain open for players to enter until the end of the month of April.

Missouri football did plenty of its required work in the first window, which opened Dec. 4 and closed Jan. 2, by securing 12 commitments.

Three MU players — tight end Ryan Hoerstkamp; running back Michael Cox; and defensive tackle Ky Montgomery — have either announced their intention or reportedly intend to enter the portal.

Altogether, that leaves Missouri with an estimated four open scholarship spots for the 2024 season.

Here are the positions Mizzou might target over the course of the next couple of weeks to fill out its roster:

Right guard looks to be top priority for Missouri football

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz looks on before a college football game against South Carolina at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 21, 2023, in Columbia, Mo.

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz hinted at it when the Tigers wrapped up spring camp: Missouri is keeping an eye on a potential addition at right guard.

Mizzou running backs coach Curtis Luper reaffirmed the potential for an addition at the position during the athletic department’s opening stop of its 2024 Come Home Tour.

“We’ve got Cayden Green, a (Oklahoma) transfer out there. You know, as a running backs coach, we look up front, right, so Cayden Green will be up front,” Luper said Thursday evening in Sedalia. “And there may be another addition at some point.”

The Tigers’ 2023 starter at right guard Cam’Ron Johnson appears to have moved over to his more natural position at left guard, which is where he played at Houston.

Internal options Mitchell Walters, Logan Reichert, Tristan Wilson and Curtis Peagler are among the group currently are competing for the starting role, but it looks very…

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One of the brightest stars in women’s college basketball, Raegan Beers, has hit the transfer portal. Beers is the latest big-name Beaver to be part of an Oregon State exodus that is impacting all of the university’s sports. 

Beers announced that she would be entering the transfer portal on Thursday in a post to X. “My journey as a Beav was a special one and I am grateful for my teammates, coaches, fans, and friends who have changed my life throughout my time here,” Beers said.

The Oregon State’s women’s basketball team is not the only Beavers program reeling from the loss of players. The football program has taken several major losses, and other sports across the board have felt the affects of conference realignment and the death of the Pac-12 Conference.

RELATED: Highlighting the next wave of women’s CBB stars to take the torch from Caitlin Clark

Beers, a 6-foot-4 sophomore forward, averaged 17.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and shot over 66% from the field for an Oregon State team that secured a No. 3-seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Her efforts were enough to earn her a second consecutive All-Pac-12 honor in addition to being named a Third-Team AP All-American. 

Beers will undoubtedly be a big fish in the transfer portal and is likely to crack 247Sports’ updated top-10 rankings next week. And she’s not alone in leaving Corvallis. 

Beers is the fourth Beavers women’s basketball starter and seventh player to hit the portal. This comes as Oregon State prepares to fall from high-major contention and join the West Coast Conference — the Pac-12 crumbled recently, had you heard? High-level players like Beers, Timea Gardiner, Talia von Oelhoffen, Donovyn Hunter and other key contributors to Oregon State’s Elite 8 team are not going to be…

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