10:44 AM ET Purdue senior quarterback Aidan O’Connell will skip the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl against LSU on Jan. 2, he announced Thursday on Instagram. Tight end Payne Durham, wide receiver Charlie Jones and cornerback Cory Trice have also opted out of the Citrus Bowl, the university said. “These last six years have been some of
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7:00 AM ET ESPN staff The most magical time of the year is finally here. It’s bowl season. The 2022 season of bowls, featuring 43 games, kicks off Friday with Miami (Ohio) facing UAB in the Home Lenders Bahamas Bowl on Friday and lasts all the way to Jan. 9 when college football will claim
9:35 PM ET Pete ThamelESPN Former UCF wide receiver Ryan O’Keefe, one of the most productive players in the NCAA transfer portal, told ESPN that he’s transferring to Boston College. O’Keefe has caught 184 passes for 2,002 yards and 15 touchdowns in four seasons at UCF. He said he had offers from TCU, Oregon and
6:54 PM ET Ohio State received a commitment from five-star recruit Jeremiah Smith on Wednesday, adding to an already talented receiver room. Smith is a 6-foot-3, 195-pound prospect from Chaminade-Madonna High School in Hollywood, Florida. He’s the No. 11 recruit overall in the 2024 class and the No. 2 receiver. He had offers from Florida,
4:24 PM ET Associated Press New Purdue coach Ryan Walters first flexed his muscle by giving walk-on running back Devin Mockobee a scholarship. Then he promised to keep the Boilermakers’ reputation intact — as the Cradle of Quarterbacks and the Den of Defensive Ends. The 36-year-old coach said Wednesday that he envisions putting together a
4:44 PM ET Mississippi State and defensive coordinator Zach Arnett have agreed to terms to make him the school’s next head football coach, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Wednesday. Arnett is expected to receive a four-year contract, which has not been signed yet. The decision comes in the wake of Mike Leach’s death earlier
2:15 PM ET Tennessee junior wide receiver Jalin Hyatt announced Wednesday he’s declaring for the 2023 NFL draft. Hyatt is ESPN’s 44th-overall (No. 7 WR) prospect available and he will skip the Capital One Orange Bowl against Clemson Dec. 30. “So thankful for my teammates, coaches and all of Vol Nation,” he wrote on Twitter.
12:58 PM ET Former Michigan tight end Erick All announced on Wednesday that he is transferring to Iowa. He’s joining former Wolverines quarterback Cade McNamara, who also transferred to play for the Hawkeyes this offseason All entered the transfer portal on Dec. 5 and released a statement regarding his departure that read, in part: “Not
11:00 AM ET Pete ThamelESPN Clemson junior linebacker Trenton Simpson is declaring for the NFL draft, he told ESPN on Wednesday. Simpson wasn’t slated to play in the Orange Bowl because of an ankle injury suffered during the ACC championship game. He is one of the top linebacker prospects in the upcoming NFL draft, as
7:48 PM ET Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson will undergo surgery on his left foot on Friday and won’t play in the upcoming College Football Playoff, he told The Columbus Dispatch on Tuesday. Henderson, the No. 4 Buckeyes’ second-leading rusher with 571 yards and six touchdowns, missed three of the past four games because
7:12 PM ET Sacramento State is set to promote defensive coordinator Andy Thompson to head coach, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Tuesday night. Thompson will replace Troy Taylor, who was hired by Stanford as head coach last week after leading the Hornets to a 12-1 season in the Football Championship Subdivision. Taylor, who graduated
2:37 PM ET Pete ThamelESPN North Texas has named Washington State offensive coordinator Eric Morris as the Mean Green’s new head coach, the school announced Tuesday afternoon. Morris has deep roots in the state, having been a star player for Mike Leach at Texas Tech, a successful head coach at the FCS’ Incarnate Word in
12:33 PM ET Before we knew Mike Leach was a first-ballot hall of fame interview, before the sideline dissertations about marriage or candy or anything in the world, really, there was Mike Leach, the football genius. Leach, who died Monday night at 61, likely would scoff at that notion, that anyone needed to be a
10:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2018. Few rivalries in sports fuel as much hostility and pressure to win like college football’s annual Red River Showdown between Oklahoma and Texas. And through the years, those monumental stakes have led to some serious skullduggery. The most notable example came in 1972,
4:54 PM ET Pete ThamelESPN Kent State is finalizing a five-year deal to make Minnesota associate head coach Kenni Burns the school’s next coach, sources told ESPN. A deal is expected to be formalized in the near future, according to sources. Burns has been a linchpin member of P.J. Fleck’s staff since taking the running
2:59 PM ET STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State will play in its Jan. 2 ReliaQuest Bowl game against Illinois, Bulldogs interim athletic director Bracky Brett told ESPN on Tuesday. Mississippi State coach Mike Leach died Monday night after complications related to a heart condition. He was 61. “The players are 100% behind playing this bowl
2:17 PM ET Pete ThamelESPN Clemson defensive end Myles Murphy, Mel Kiper’s No. 10 overall projected player in the upcoming draft, told ESPN on Tuesday that he’s skipping the Orange Bowl and will declare for the NFL draft. Murphy is one of the top prospects in the draft, as he’s Kiper’s No. 1-ranked defensive end.
9:30 AM ET Pete ThamelESPN Perhaps the highest compliment about the most improbable college coaching career of this generation is that as time marches on, and new eras of homogenized football coaches emerge, explaining the Mike Leach coaching experience will sound like fiction. A former rugby player with no college football playing experience? A Pepperdine