Category: College Football

Last November, five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood sent shockwaves through Baton Rouge when he decommitted from LSU and pledged to Michigan. Underwood, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 class, committed to LSU in January of 2024.

There were rumors of the Michigan native flipping to his home state school, but LSU thought it was in a good spot after Underwood visited LSU when the Tigers hosted Alabama. That wasn’t the case and less than two weeks later, Underwood had a new home.

Underwood was an early-enrollee in Ann Arbor and will compete for a starting job right away. That’s something he wasn’t going to do at LSU with the return of Garrett Nussmeier.

Michigan’s offense struggled in 2024. The Wolverines lost a significant amount after winning the national championship in 2023, including QB JJ McCarthy. It led to a revolving door at quarterback in 2024 as the Wolverines tried to figure something out.

The 2024 struggles made Underwood a top priority for Michigan and the Wolverines didn’t stop until Underwood was a member of Michigan’s 2025 recruiting class.

Will former LSU football commit Bryce Underwood start for Michigan in 2025?

It’s rare for a true freshman to walk right in and earn the starting job at quarterback, but Underwood is making a strong case. All reports out of the Michigan camp have been positive.

“The arm talent is as good as advertised,” a Michigan coach told the media this week.

Underwood is drawing praise for his leadership abilities too. It’s one thing to have the talent as a freshman, but the intangibles can be the difference between playing early and waiting your turn, especially at the QB position.

Michigan landed an experienced QB in the transfer portal, Mikey Keene, but he’s not practicing this spring. That could give Underwood the edge.

Fans should expect to see Underwood starting for Michigan…

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Thousands of photos and videos were seized by the Department of Justice as part of the investigation into former Michigan assistant football coach Matt Weiss, the Associated Press reports. The seizure was revealed in court filings part of a lawsuit against Weiss and UM released on Tuesday. 

Weiss, a former co-offensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, was indicted in March for allegedly hacking into the private accounts of students and athletes around the country to steal intimate photographs. The indictment alleges that he downloaded the information of more than 150,000 athletes and used it to hack into the social media, email and cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000, primarily female college athletes. His alleged crimes date back to at least 2015. 

“Thousands of candid, intimate photographs and videos have been seized from the defendant’s electronic devices and from his cloud storage accounts,” the Justice Department’s Mega Victim Case Assistance Program said, according to the AP. “Many show victimes naked. Some show victims engaged in explicit sexual acts.” 

Weiss faces 24 federal charges: 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft. He plead not guilty to all of them. At least a portion of the alleged crimes occurred from Dec. 21-23 within Michigan’s football facility as the Wolverines prepared to play TCU in the 2022 College Football Playoff. Weiss was suspended from Michigan in January 2023 when campus police launched their initial investigation, citing only “computer crimes.” 

Weiss spent 18 years…

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Notre Dame football is one of two finalists for 2026 Texas running back Javian Osborne, and on Monday he had some very kind words for the Irish.

When speaking with On3’s Josh Newberg, the 5-foot, 10-inch and 195-pound star compared Notre Dame to a historic NFL franchise. Osborne said “Notre Dame is like the Dallas Cowboys of college football.”

The nation’s No. 83 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings has the Irish and Michigan as his two finalists, and while there isn’t a commitment date set, he’ll visit both of the schools in mid-June.

Osborne will take a few other official visits as well, as he has one scheduled to see Georgia along with Miami. Those two aren’t really seen as competitors for his commitment, but they will surely try and sway him to change his mind about their programs.

You have to expect that Osborne will make a decision shortly after he concludes his official visits, so we will know fairly soon is he’s joining the Dallas Cowboys of college football.

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Bowling Green landed a commitment from Missouri transfer quarterback Drew Pyne, according to ESPN, giving first-year Falcons coach Eddie George a veteran hand to potentially lead his offense in 2025. This will be Pyne’s fourth school in his sixth year of college football after signing with Notre Dame in 2020. 

Though he was in the same recruiting class as now-NFL standouts like Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud, Pyne still has two years of eligibility remaining. The COVID-shortened 2020 season did not count against his eligibility, he took a redshirt season after playing in just two games in 2021 and he was limited to just two games in 2023 due to various injuries, allowing him to utilize a medical redshirt. 

Pyne played in just six games in his first two seasons at Notre Dame but took over as the starter in 2022 after Tyler Buchner suffered a season-ending injury just two games into the year. Pyne led the Fighting Irish to a 9-4 record in its first year under coach Marcus Freeman, capped by a win against No. 19 South Carolina in the Gator Bowl, while throwing for 2,021 yards and 22 touchdowns. 

Bowling Green AD sees late hire as ‘unique advantage’ for coach Eddie George in transfer portal era

Richard Johnson

Pyne transferred to Arizona State in 2023, where he made one start before injuries cut his year short, and Missouri in 2024, where he served as the…

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Chad Bowden continues to be the man of the hour at USC

USC recruiting has been red hot of late under new general manager Chad Bowden. On Saturday, the Trojans added yet another blue-chip commitment to their top ranked 2026 recruiting class, this one from four-star running back Deshonne Redeaux.

Much of USC’s success on the recruiting trail under Bowden can be attributed to his Southern California ties. Bowden grew up watching the Trojans during their heyday under Pete Carroll in the 2000s, and has seen what the program looks like when it is operating at its peak.

On a recent episode of his show, “The Hard Count”, On3 Sports college football analyst J.D. Pickell discussed the impact of Bowden’s Southern California roots on the Trojans’ recruiting surge.

“He gets USC,” Pickell said of Bowden. “Chad Bowden talks about how he grew up a USC fan. How he grew up watching Matt Leinart ball. He understands what USC can be when it’s firing on all cylinders.

“He understands where the bar is set at USC, and he’s able to speak the language. It’s one thing to, you know, speak highly of a place that you’re not actually from . . . [but] it’s fake to a certain degree.

“It’s not fake with Chad Bowden. He gets it, he lives it, he breathes it.”

With Bowden at the helm, the Trojans currently have the top-ranked recruiting class in the country for the 2026 cycle. USC fans are hoping that a successful season on the field in 2025 will allow the program to keep the class intact and build towards being a national championship contender in the future.

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Top-five running back recruit Deshonne Redeaux is “staying home,” announcing Saturday on CBS Sports HQ that he will commit to the Trojans for the Class of 2026. In a video, Redeaux sought the help of Los Angeles rap icon Snoop Dogg to make the commitment to USC. 

“Bringing the biggest people in my biggest moment,” Redeaux told CBS Sports HQ. 

Georgia, Michigan, Oregon, UCLA and Washington were are all in consideration going into Saturday’s ceremony for the No. 5 RB in the Class of 2026, per 247Sports.

The two-sport athlete from Westlake Village, California, has drawn comparisons to Detroit Lions star Jahmyr Gibbs, who exploded on the scene at Alabama after transferring from Georgia Tech. He runs track in high school, blazing his way through the 100-meter dash in 10.42 seconds.

“Decisive runner, doesn’t dance around or try to be too cute, hits the hole and isn’t afraid to initiate contact,” writes 247Sports recruiting analyst Greg Biggins. “Catches the ball well out of the backfield, not just screens but wheel routes and deep balls down the slot.”

The collaboration with Snoop reflects that Redeaux is focused on landing somewhere he can develop into a superstar both on and off the field, facilitating opportunities also to build his brand in this age of NIL. He wore an Oregon Ducks backpack in middle school and grew up with USC basketball star JuJu Watkins. His father, Russell, said that his family has paid for recruiting trips to Georgia three times.

“In the current environment, another thing we look for is what the surrounding cities and fan base…

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The Georgia Bulldogs are among the top schools for elite class of 2026 dual-threat quarterback recruit Legend Bey. Bey, who is ranked as a three-star recruit, is considered an athlete, so it isn’t necessarily known what position he’ll play at the next level, but we suspect he’ll play a skill position based on his size and speed.

Bey’s top 10 schools are the Georgia Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies, West Virginia Mountaineers, Oklahoma Sooners, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oregon Ducks, Boston College Eagles, Ohio State Buckeyes, Duke Blue Devils and Texas Tech Red Raiders. 247Sports projects that the speedy quarterback will commit to Texas A&M.

Bey is more of a rusher than a passer based on his excellent 2024 high school statistics. As a junior, Bey ran for 1,912 yards and posted 1,444 passing yards. He finished with 41 total touchdowns.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound quarterback has great speed and has a good deep ball. He could be Georgia’s first true dual-threat starting quarterback in the Kirby Smart era.

Bey plays high school football for North Forney High School in Forney, Texas. He runs track for his high school and has posted a 10.7 second time in the 100-meter event. His explosiveness is evident on tape.

Bey is ranked as a three-star athlete and the No. 771 recruit in the country. He is the No. 109 recruit in Texas, per 247Sports and the No. 46 athlete nationally.

Georgia does not have a quarterback commit in the class of 2026. The Bulldogs are notably targeting five-star passer Jared Curtis. UGA has made Curtis’ top two schools.

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Two of Cal’s largest athletics benefactors will no longer contribute to the California Legends Collective, the program’s large third-party NIL establishment, until new general manager Ron Rivera is given full control of the football program, according to SFGATE. As things stand, Cal coach Justin Wilcox still answers directly to athletic director Jim Knowlton, while Rivera’s role is focused more on helping Cal adjust to the modern landscape of college football. 

The belief among Cal’s donors is that Rivera, given his experience as a head coach at the NFL level, would be better suited in a quasi-executive role, similar to Stanford’s Andrew Luck. 

“You don’t hire Mario Andretti and ask him to sit in the passenger seat, right?” Kevin Kennedy, the president of California Legends Collective, told SFGATE. “There’s a reason that you bring someone like that on staff: In order to give him control.”

Kennedy is one of the major donors that has withdrawn his financial support, for the time being. On the surface, handing Rivera more power does make some sense. There’s no doubting his football acumen. A former linebacker at Cal, he led the Carolina Panthers from 2011-19, where he was a two-time NFL Coach of the Year, and the Washington Commanders from 2020-23. He had continued interest from NFL teams as a defensive assistant before he assumed his current role at Cal. 

With more than a decade of NFL head coaching experience under his belt, he understands the financial side of football, a boon for a college program as it navigates NIL reform and pending revenue-sharing legislation that simultaneously increase the bargaining power of a collegiate athlete. 

But handing Rivera complete dominion over the football program would be a largely radical move,…

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