Category: College Football

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🏀 Good morning to everyone but especially to …

DAMIAN LILLARD AND THE MILWAUKEE BUCKS

With Giannis Antetokounmpo out with a strained calf, the buck stopped with Damian Lillard in Milwaukee as the 2024 NBA playoffs began. On Sunday, Lillard set the tone in the Bucks‘ 109-94 Game 1 win over the Pacers.

Upset-minded Indiana came into Fiserv Forum hoping to catch the host Bucks without their two-time MVP in the lineup. However, Lillard made sure those dreams were dashed rather quickly. Lillard exploded for 35 points in the first half and helped Milwaukee take a 17-point lead into the locker room at intermission.

After scoring 19 points in the first frame, Lillard walked off the court telling the crowd, “This is what y’all brought me here for.” Indeed. Lillard would end the first half with 35 points, setting a franchise playoff record, but he went scoreless in the…

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With the annual spring game now in the rear view, Michigan football can focus more fully on recruiting. And it appears to be making some headway.

The Wolverines have yet to get a commitment in the year 2024, but that could change in a hurry now that the maize and blue have the coaching staff set in stone and are fully in preparation for the upcoming season. One prospect that appears to be giving Michigan a strong look is 2025 Edwardsville (Ill.) four-star edge rusher Iose Epenesa, who is ranked No. 20 overall, regardless of position, according to the 247Sports’ proprietary rankings. And on Sunday, his top 10 was revealed, and the Wolverines are a contender for his services.

Of course Iowa made the cut, as his brother — former five-star EDGE AJ Epenesa — starred at the program, as did his father, Eppy. Miami, Kentucky, Missouri, Utah, Oregon, Penn State, Illinois, and Texas also made the cut.

The scouting report per 247Sports’ Allen Trieu:

Played both sides of the ball as a freshman, but future is most likely as a defensive lineman. Has a varied athletic background that includes throwing in track and field and basketball. Runs well and can chase down plays. Gets off the snap and can win with a speed rush. Looking at his genetics and early growth potential, he is likely to be a big college end but will have the athleticism to stay on the edge like his brother. Projects out as a high-major player.

247Sports lists Epenesa as the top-rated player in the state of Illinois and the third-best defensive lineman.

Story originally appeared on Wolverines Wire

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Spring games take center stage as the month of April trudges on. For many programs, the upcoming NFL Draft only emphasizes how different the 2024 season will look. Transitioning from projected No. 1 pick Caleb Williams was never going to be easy for USC, but Lincoln Riley’s signature position group looked lackluster in their first public action. 

All three quarterbacks who appeared threw at least one interception, while projected starter Miller Moss threw a pair. The headliner was a tipped ball returned for a 100-yard touchdown. 

After the game, Riley clarified that Moss would start for the Trojans if the season started today because of his experience in the program. In the Holiday Bowl against Louisville, Moss threw six touchdown passes and stole the show. He did not look like the same player on Saturday in Las Angeles. 

Granted, USC’s much-maligned defense also looked seriously improved under first-year defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn. The defensive backs were in the right position and seemed to understand the system much more consistently. The Trojans even played without defensive tackle Bear Alexander, who is working through a hamstring injury. 

Of course, if USC’s offense has taken such a step back, the defense has no choice but to improve if the Trojans have any plans of competing for a CFP slot. Here’s how some of the other top programs in the country fared during their spring games on Saturday. 

Arch Manning dazzles

Manning had barely thrown a pass in a Texas uniform coming into the spring game after working as the third-string quarterback in 2023. It only took one pass attempt to get the crowd on its feet. Manning stepped up in the pocket and found receiver DeAndre Moore for a 75-yard touchdown, throwing the ball 50…

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Michigan State football will reportedly host a running back transfer from one of the top programs in the country.

Georgia transfer running back Andrew Paul will reportedly visit Michigan State on Saturday for the Spartans’ spring showcase event. Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported the notable transfer portal news on Friday.

Paul is a former three-star running back from Dallas, Texas in the 2022 class. In his career at Georgia, he ran for 129 yards and one touchdown on 29 attempts. He also has two career receptions for 14 yards and a touchdown.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on Twitter @RobertBondy5.

Story originally appeared on Spartans Wire

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Getty Images

The NCAA on Friday approved several rule changes that will take effect during the 2024 season, including the implementation of coach-to-player helmet communications and a new two-minute rule that mirrors the current time system utilized by the NFL. These changes were proposed by the NCAA’s Rules Committee in March amid support from some of the nation’s most prominent conferences. 

The helmet communication rule applies only to schools at the FBS level, but it is not a requirement. Additionally, one team may employ helmet technology even if its opponent elect otherwise.

Coaches will be allowed to communicate with one player, identified by a green dot on the back of their helmet, on the field. That line of communication will be turned off with 15 seconds left on the play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever occurs first. 

On top of player-to-helmet communications, teams can now use tablets to review in-game video only. Schools will be allocated 18 tablets that can be utilized in the coaching booth, on the sideline and in locker rooms. 

Other changes approved by the NCAA Friday include: 

Penalizing horse collar tackles that occur within the tackle box as a 15-yard personal foul. Allowing conferences the option to use a collaborative video replay review system. Head coaches can now conduct interviews with broadcast partners after the first and third quarters conclude. 

The NCAA used the 2023 postseason as a trial run for its technological changes with several teams utilizing helmet communications in their bowl games. Several schools have incorporated the…

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Jyon Simon committed to Rutgers football on Thursday, making it two big Florida commitments for the Scarlet Knights this week.

A three-star recruit, from Raines High School (Jacksonville, Florida), Simon gives Rutgers a true threat in the interior of the defensive line. He picked the Big Ten program over eight offers.

The other teams in the mix for Simon were Texas, Tennessee, USC (University of Southern California), Pittsburgh, Jacksonville State. NC State and Colorado.

Simon took an unofficial visit to Rutgers, which led to a phone call to head coach Greg Schiano after he left campus.

“So actually after I went on my visit with Rutgers, it was just ‘Man, I got to be there.’ I just felt at home,” Simon told Rutgers Wire.

“So I was like, ‘Why not shut it down?’ So I called coach Schiano and asked him if I could commit but still go on visits to other schools. He told me how he felt about it. So that was it – it was just a done deal after that.”

Simon is committed fully, telling Rutgers Wire “Yes, sir. 100 percent.”

“With all 10 of my toes, I’m standing on them. I really like what coach Schiano is building over there with the coaches that he’s brought in, with the players that he’s brought in and just his knowledge of the game,” Simon said.

“Just the atmosphere…it was a lot of things that pulled me towards this. So first and foremost, the academics. The academic program is amazing – not only in the northeast but in the nation. The player and coaches’ relationship – I love how the coaches interact with their players. They teach the game fundamentally. Their weight room program is amazing. Coach Schiano is different from the rest of the head coaches – his knowledge of the game is amazing and that’s somebody I can trust.”

The team culture is another thing that stuck out to Simon on…

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You know that nagging feeling you’ve seen something before, like a new TV show you’re watching is just a retread of something you were excited about years ago? That’s the vibe with the 2024 spring transfer portal quarterback market. You know the names. They were former top recruits. But haven’t you seen them before? Yes, yes you have.

Jacolby Criswell (Arkansas), Nick Evers (Wisconsin) and Christian Veilleux (Pittsburgh) are all former blue-chip recruits. Now they’re each searching for a starting job at their third program.

UCF’s Timmy McClain? He showed some promise as a starter for USF back in 2021. But he’s trying to reset at school No. 3, too.

Those players might be good elsewhere. But they’re not on par with the barrage of interesting quarterback transfers we saw in the winter window.

That’s why Miami transfer Jacurri Brown — a four-star prospect in the 2022 class – is such a breath of fresh air for the quarterback market. Both the known and unknown quantities of his game are intriguing.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Georgia native is everything you’d want from a size perspective. He’s also a dynamic runner who posted a 4.6-second 40-yard dash in high school.

Throw in impressive arm strength with an ability to throw off-platform and it’s easy to understand why 247Sports ranked him as the No. 16 quarterback in the 2022 class despite his lack of development and polish. Those qualities remain enticing two years later now that he’s in the portal.

The known qualities are also intriguing. Brown played a decent amount in the last two seasons for an underclassman. He started two games as a true freshman and also started Miami’s bowl game this past year.

The numbers were encouraging, to a degree. He completed 61.8% of his passes…

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Two weeks ago, Jim Harbaugh stood behind a microphone, wearing a black hat with an arched lightning bolt across its face. His mouth was curled in the opposite direction, pointing upwards and projecting a smile.

“This is the best damn job I ever had to start out,” the Los Angeles Chargers’ coach told his audience.

It was the confession of a man who was free and clear after he made it out from under the NCAA cloud of suspicion that hovered over him and the Michigan football team he had ditched in late January. At his new NFL gig in sunny California, Harbaugh no longer had to fret about the potential ramifications of a pair of investigations that ensnared him and the Wolverines. He found an escapeway, racing out west like the Dust Bowl survivors on Route 66 looking to start a new chapter in their lives. In Harbaugh’s rearview mirror was a national championship program awaiting its eventual comeuppance. It started to arrive Tuesday, when the NCAA announced Michigan had agreed to a negotiated resolution that includes a three-year probation, a fine and unspecified recruiting restrictions stemming from a case centered on impermissible coaching and recruiting activities alleged to have been committed by Harbaugh’s staff.

SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? Michigan football gets punished by NCAA. What does it mean for this year, Sherrone Moore?

The news spawned another unpleasant headline for a program enduring a rough offseason and an inauspicious introduction to Sherrone Moore’s tenure as its new coach. Moore, who had been elevated from his role as offensive coordinator, took command of a team in transition during the turbulent wake of Harbaugh’s well-publicized departure. Soon thereafter, the entire defensive staff left, along with renowned strength and conditioning director Ben Herbert. Their departures came on the…

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