Category: College Football

While LSU has the makings of a special class in 2025, the 2024 class still needs a little bit of work between now and signing day.

It currently ranks outside the top 10, but there have still been some major wins for the staff in this cycle. The biggest one came over a division rival as LSU flipped offensive tackle Weston Davis from Texas A&M.

Davis is a top-100 prospect nationally in On3’s industry rankings, and he’s a five-star in its own rankings. Considering On3 is higher on Weston than some other services, it’s not a surprise he was deemed one of the most impactful flips in this cycle.

As Texas A&M has struggled along through this season under Jimbo Fisher, much of the speculation has centered around whether the Aggies will bring him back for another season in 2024. On the recruiting trail, teams have taken advantage of that uncertainty, and one of the biggest beneficiaries has been LSU.

The Tigers are pushing for a number of A&M commits, and they’ve already flipped one, landing On3 five-star offensive tackle Weston Davis at the end of October. The Tigers used their proximity to his home in Beaumont, as well as their early development of young linemen to pull off the flip. Now they turn their attention to recent Aggies decommit Dre’lon Miller, as well as current pledges Gabriel Reliford and Terry Bussey.

As On3 points out, Davis may not be the last Texas A&M commit the Tigers flip following the firing of Jimbo Fisher. That would certainly help things along as Brian Kelly looks to close this class out with a top-10 ranking.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno

Story originally appeared on LSU Tigers Wire

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USC is turning to its crosstown rival to fill a key vacancy as the Trojans will hire UCLA defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to the same position, according to 247Sports. Lynn oversaw a Bruins defense that ranked atop the Pac-12 and finished 11th among all FBS teams during the 2023 regular season, holding opponents to 299 yards on average. 

Lynn, 34, was in his first season on coach Chip Kelly’s UCLA staff after spending much of the past decade as an NFL assistant for various franchises, most recently the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. He now fills a position on coach Lincoln Riley’s USC staff that opened midseason when the Trojans fired second-year defensive coordinator Alex Grinch amid ongoing issues with the defense letting them down in key games. 

USC ended the regular season outside top 100 nationally among FBS teams both overall and in scoring, allowing 438.8 yards and 34.92 points per game on average. It negated a potent offense that was headlined by quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams as the Trojans finished 7-5, a career-worst for Riley as a head coach. Grinch had served as Riley’s defensive coordinator since 2019 when Riley was still at Oklahoma. Riley brought Grinch with him to USC when he took the Trojans coaching job in November 2021.

Lynn’s crosstown change of scenery comes as USC and UCLA prepare to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024. The Trojans and Bruins will be joined by conference foes Oregon and Washington as they make that move,…

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Nov. 30—While it understandably may still linger in some players’ minds, no one in the Wyomissing locker room is talking about it.

A year ago, the Spartans fell to Neumann-Goretti 20-17 in heartbreaking fashion on a touchdown with eight seconds left in the PIAA Class 3A football semifinals, missing out on a third-straight appearance in the state championship game.

However, Wyomissing will get a shot at redemption Friday when it takes on Northwestern Lehigh at Kutztown University’s Andre Reed Stadium at 7 p.m. in its fourth straight state semifinal appearance.

“I think there definitely is (remembrance to last season) but we don’t talk about it,” Spartans coach Bob Wolfrum said. “Every year is a new year. We want to do better than we did last year and I know that, even though we don’t talk about it much, the kids didn’t feel good about how that game ended. They want to do better in the same round this year.”

Wyomissing has scored at least 42 points in each of its last three playoff games heading into Friday and has outscored its opponents 138-41 in that span.

The District 3 champion Spartans (12-1) defeated Danville 48-27 in the quarterfinal round, while the District 11 champion Tigers (13-0) defeated District 2 champ Scranton Prep 23-16.

Sophomore Chase Eisenhower scored a career-high four rushing touchdowns against the Ironmen and senior Ryker Jones ran for two touchdowns and had a game-high 156 rushing yards on nine carries.

“It’s a blessing,” Jones said after the quarterfinal victory. “It’s really fun and I really appreciate being a part of this. We’re going to work to get that state championship. I think we just have to keep on doing what we’re doing and stick to the process.”

The process that has been working for Wyomissing is the patented Wing-T offense that boasts several strong runners. The Spartans have recorded…

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The Liberty Flames and New Mexico State Aggies meet with sky-high stakes on Friday night. Both programs entered Conference USA in 2023, and the Flames will take on the Aggies with a conference title on the line. Williams Stadium hosts the 2023 Conference USA Championship Game in Lynchburg, Virginia. New Mexico State is 10-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play, dropping its only game to Liberty. The Flames are 12-0 overall and riding a school-record winning streak.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ET. For this game, SportsLine consensus lists the Flames as 11.5-point favorites, while the over/under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 56.5 in the latest New Mexico State vs. Liberty odds. Before making any Liberty vs. New Mexico State picks, check out the college football predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times. Since its inception, it has generated a strong profit of well over $2,000 for $100 players on its top-rated college football picks against the spread. It finished the 2023 regular season a profitable 13-9 on top-rated spread picks. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Liberty vs. New Mexico State and locked in its picks and CFB predictions. You can visit SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Here are the FBS college football odds and betting lines for New Mexico State vs. Liberty:

New Mexico State vs. Liberty spread: Liberty -11.5New Mexico State vs. Liberty over/under: 56.5 pointsNew Mexico State vs. Liberty money line: Liberty -451, NMSU +342NMSU: The Aggies are 10-2-1 against the spread this seasonLIB: The Flames are 8-4 against the spread this…..

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The college basketball experts over at CBS Sports have weighed in on this week’s ACC-SEC Challenge matchups, and the jury is split on how the Gators will fare against Wake Forest on Wednesday night.

David Cobb, Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish all picked the Demon Deacons straight-up and to cover the four-point spread in favor of the Gators. Jerry Palm and Cameron Salerno took the Gators, both straight-up and with the points.

Although the article reads in favor of Florida, the majority of the crew picked Wake Forest.

“Wake Forest will face its third SEC opponent of the season Wednesday when they host Florida. The Demon Deacons have already suffered losses to Georgia and LSU this season and this should be a golden opportunity to get a key win on their resume before conference play starts next month.

“Florida is coming off a close loss to Baylor in the NIT Season Tip-Off and this will mark its fourth ACC opponent they have faced this season after going 2-1 against Virginia, Florida State and Pitt.”

The Gators have impressed early on but have yet to secure that signature win necessary to jump into the top 25. Beating Wake Forest might not do the trick either, but losing wouldn’t be good for Florida’s playoff résumé.

The group also favored Virginia over Texas A&M, Duke over Arkansas, Auburn over Virginia Tech, Florida State over Georgia and Vanderbilt over Boston College, unanimously.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Story originally appeared on Gators Wire

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Oregon State is promoting defensive coordinator Trent Bray to head coach to replace Jonathan Smith, the program announced Tuesday. Bray, 41, has been with the Beavers since 2018, serving first as linebackers coach and as defensive coordinator for the past two and a half seasons.

“I’m excited to be able to announce Trent as our next head coach,” Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes said in a statement. “After interviewing several qualified candidates, we realized our top choice, Trent, has already been a mainstay at the Valley Football Center and Reser Stadium. He’s been a part of Beaver Nation for a long time and love for this place is real. The connection and trust he has built with our student athletes is unmatched. His energy and determination as head coach will be a catalyst for continued program success.”

Bray played linebacker for the Beavers from 2002-05. The Pullman, Washington native began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Arizona State in 2008. He previously worked on the Oregon State staff from 2012 to 2014, then made a stop at Nebraska from 2015-17 before landing back at his alma mater when Smith got the job in 2018. Smith left for Michigan State after leading the Beavers to an 8-4 regular season.

“I’d like to thank Scott Barnes and President Jayathi Murthy for this opportunity,” Bray said. “I’ve been a part of Oregon State for a long time, as a coach and a student-athlete, and know how special Beaver Nation is. I’m excited to lead an outstanding group of men our fans can be proud of.”

Under Bray’s guidance, Oregon State ranks No. 35 nationally in total defense and No. 14 in rushing defense following the 2023 regular season. During last season’s 10-3 campaign, the Beavers ranked No. 24 in total defense and No. 16 in…

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It’s a good time to appreciate where the Texas Longhorns football program is at compared to its in-state rival.

After Jimbo Fisher’s $77 million contract buyout, the Texas A&M Aggies began the search for a new head coach, which took less than a week.

Would Texas A&M have fired Fisher if Texas Longhorns weren’t 11-1, heading into the conference championship with College Football Playoff hopes on the line, and a third-year head coach in Steve Sarkisian? That’s unclear, but it certainly had to be in the back of their minds.

The Aggies could have kept Fisher in hopes of turning the program around, but it seems they are frightened of Texas and what they might do when the teams finally play again.

Mike Elko, former head coach of the Duke Blue Devils, was introduced on Monday as the new head coach of Texas A&M.

Elko didn’t receive a band or even a National Championship plaque with his name on it like Jimbo did in 2017. Perhaps they finally learning from their mistakes?

The new head coach was promptly greeted at the podium with Aggie yell leaders and some sort of swaying dance that Texas A&M does, and it has social media in a frenzy. Here are the best reactions that X (formerly Twitter) has to offer.

Texas A&M owes — at minimum — a combined $119 million to head football coaches before 2031.

• Jimbo Fisher: $77 million
• Mike Elko: $42 million pic.twitter.com/LLq7df8Wjj

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 28, 2023

You know Elko is thinkin…. “wtf did I get myself into”

— Andrew Hansen (@Andrew_Hansen13) November 27, 2023

Story originally appeared on Longhorns Wire

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USATSI

The Mike Elko era is underway in College Station after Texas A&M hired the now-former Duke coach and ex-Aggies defensive coordinator Monday as its replacement for Jimbo Fisher, who was fired earlier in November in his sixth season guiding the program. And after Texas A&M awarded Fisher a mammoth contract — 10 years at $75 million on the initial deal back in 2017 — that ended with the school owing Fisher more than $77 million in buyout money, the Aggies are taking a bit of a different approach to the terms of Elko’s deal.

Shortly after the introductory press conference got underway on Monday, the terms of Elko’s contract with Texas A&M were revealed. The deal is for six years at $42 million in total value, which boils down to Elko having an annual salary of $7 million. The buyout on his contract is set at flat percentage, which increases at the halfway point of the deal, and there are also plenty of incentives featured. The basic terms for the Aggies’ new headman are outlined below:

Six years, $42 million total value (runs through Jan. 31, 2030)A flat-rate buyout of 75% of the contract’s remaining value in Years 1-3A flat-rate buyout of 80% of the contract’s remaining value in Years 4-6$11,000,000 staff salary pool 

As far as incentives are concerned, Elko will be awarded $50,000 if named SEC Coach of the Year and $100,000 should he win a national coach of the year award. A $100,000 paycheck also comes his way for each SEC Championship Game appearance. Beyond that, Texas A&M also has included a list of…

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