The biggest news from the first signing window is how Oregon closed.
Even though the Ducks lost five-star safety Peyton Bowen, who was signed to Notre Dame, then returned to Oregon on Wednesday morning, then returned to Oklahoma on Thursday, they still had a terrific week.
Where Oregon has impressed the most is the 32 engagements. And of those, two were five stars and 19 were four stars – so 66% of signers are prime prospects.
But all anyone wants to talk about is signing five-star rusher Matayo Uiagalelei.
*** Landing five-star receiver Jurrion Dickey a long time ago certainly helped, and losing five-star quarterback Dante Moore recently (to UCLA) certainly hurt. But the Ducks closed with a lot of force.
Behind the scenes, they knew Moore was disengaging and they prepared for it. Four-star quarterback Austin Novosad, a native of Dripping Springs, Texas, made an official visit last weekend.
What’s critical about Novosad is that he committed to Baylor but was offered scholarships by Ohio State, Notre Dame, LSU and Texas A&M. But the Ducks’ new offensive coordinator, Will Stein, used his connections in Texas to land in Novosad.
*** Anyone who was worried about Oregon coach Dan Lanning after losing two of his last three games and after losing Moore, I think they should worry no more.
There’s some saltiness on social media about how Oregon got to this point, but it really doesn’t matter. The Ducks outplayed everyone.
And the icing on the cake was turning over four-star halfback Jayden Limar (of Notre Dame) and then keeping the four-star advantage of Colorado’s best player Blake Purchase. When Purchase didn’t sign on Wednesday, there was a lot of talk that Deion Sanders may have reached him. But instead, he signed with the Ducks.
*** Let’s spend a moment on the two-time defending conference champions.
What Utah did this year is exactly what fans hoped for when the Utes entered the Pac-12 a decade ago.
The first goal was to compete for division titles, and they did.
Then it was to win conference championships, and they did.
Now it’s all about recruiting at the top-25 level, and they’ve done it with No. 22 in the 247 Sports composite rankings.
They’re recruiting, over-rating and over-elevating schools and were able to knock down a few commitments: four-star tight end Hunter Clegg from Stanford and four-star offensive tackle Spencer Fano from BYU.
It’s what fans had dreamed of – and what Pac-12 coaches had always feared:
What would happen if Kyle Whittingham started recruiting elite talent?
*** We thought the new Sanders would make a splash in Colorado, but not necessarily in recruiting – we thought it would be in the transfer portal.
And Wednesday night, after all the excitement had died down since signing day, Sanders added Jackson State cornerback Travis Hunter, the former No. 1 rookie in the country.
And he added his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, as everyone expected.
And he added Savion Washington, the gigantic offensive tackle who followed new offensive coordinator Sean Lewis from Kent State to Boulder. Washington will be a plug-and-play lineman.
The Buffaloes only have eight transfer portal commitments, but I anticipate a large number to come in the coming weeks. With so many Power Five teams playing in their bowls, there will be another wave. This is where Sanders will really capitalize, just like USC coach Lincoln Riley did last year.
Don’t be surprised to see Colorado’s tally go from eight transfers to 20 or more.
The Buffaloes have had success in the high school ranks — for example, knocking down four-star tailback Dylan Edwards (of Notre Dame) a few weeks ago. It was big. But this class will earn their money in the portal.
*** It was unusual to see UCLA shut down the way it did, with coach Chip Kelly getting the highest-rated rookie of his tenure in five-star quarterback Dante Moore.
So you’re thinking, “Maybe Kelly isn’t just relying on Portal” — except for the fact that the Bruins have six Portal commitments.
That group includes Kent State quarterback Collin Schlee. Does that mean Schlee is insurance in case Moore doesn’t win the job? We do not know.
*** Finally, it should be noted that if USC’s five-star signers (quarterback Malachi Nelson, wide receiver Zachariah Branch, and athlete Makai Lemon) had all announced their decisions in December ’22, instead from dec. ’21, there would have been a lot more buzz surrounding the Trojans on signing day.
It’s a top 15 class that didn’t get the top 15 buzz because there was so little drama.
But losing Uiagalelei was a blow – they would have loved to keep an elite defender in SoCal – and, honestly, I think this class left some meat on the bone.
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