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Submit your first-round College Football Playoff picks here, and we’ll go over the favorites on Thursday. For now, let’s get an update on the transfer portal and take a look at this year’s Heisman Trophy highlights.
Transfer Portal Things to Know
Playoff backup QB makes a move
Here are the top five things to know from the ongoing winter transfer portal window.
1. Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula has entered the portal and will depart from the Nittany Lions for their Playoff run. In a post on X on Sunday, Pribula wrote, “The current NCAA post-season model creates a challenge for student-athletes,” alluding to the overlap between the portal window and expanded Playoff (so don’t blame Pribula for the broken system). The day after Pribula’s announcement, Penn State got some good QB news as Penn State starter Drew Allar informed school officials of his plan to return in 2025.
2. Six of The Athletic’s top 10 transfer QBs have committed to new schools. The most intriguing among them is former Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold to Auburn, where he’ll likely start as the Tigers develop Class of 2025 recruit Deuce Knight, and former Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos to Florida State, where he will reunite with his former UCF coach Gus Malzahn, now the Seminoles’ offensive coordinator.
3. Washington State QB John Mateer entered the portal yesterday. Mateer’s dual-threat abilities make him an attractive prospect. Be on the lookout for a potential reunion with Ben Arbuckle, Mateer’s OC at Washington State whom Oklahoma recently hired.
4. Louisville looks like one of the early winners of the portal. The Cardinals landed former USC starting QB Miller Moss and a flurry of other Power 4 commitments. Jeff Brohm is likely not finished yet — he signed 32 transfers in 2024 and 35 in 2023.
5. A new name to watch is Alabama RB Justice Haynes. The former five-star recruit started the first six games for the Crimson Tide and ran for 448 yards and seven touchdowns on 79 attempts, including this memorable one against Missouri.
Read more about the transfer portal winners and losers here.
Hunter’s Heisman Highlights
Top 3 plays
Colorado wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday. As The Athletic’s Ralph Russo detailed from New York, Hunter is Colorado coach Deion Sanders’ proof of concept.
Fulfilling the promise of his five-star potential, Hunter pulled off the rare double of playing full-time on offense and defense. He finished the season with 92 catches for 1,152 and 15 touchdowns while recording 32 tackles.
Here’s a look at Hunter’s top three plays from this year.
No. 3: Hunter tallied four interceptions in 2024. After this one against UCF, he struck the Heisman pose.
No. 2: Hunter made a ton of great catches, but this highly contested one against Utah stands out.
No. 1: Hunter’s best play of the season came in overtime against Baylor. The Buffs scored on their first possession of the extra period. As the Bears rallied to first-and-goal from Colorado’s 2-yard line, Hunter knocked the ball out of running back Dominic Richardson’s arms to force a fumble that Colorado recovered to secure the win.
Hunter was at the top of my Heisman ballot, followed by Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty in second place and Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel in third.
Quick Snaps
Navy beat No. 22 Army 31-13 in the 125th edition of their rivalry on Saturday. Midshipman QB Blake Horvath led his team to the win with four touchdowns — two in the air and two on the ground.
The last time Indiana was this good was in 1967 when the Hoosiers last won a Big Ten championship. On the cusp of their first game of the 12-team Playoff, Joe Rexrode takes a look at the Hoosiers’ greatness of the past.
On the other side of Friday night’s CFP opener is Notre Dame, which recovered from one of the worst losses of the college football season to end up here.
James Franklin is 1-14 against AP top-five teams as Penn State’s coach. Can the Nittany Lions finally get over their big-game woes in the CFP?
Chris Vannini writes today about how SMU’s big bet got it to the CFP.
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(Top photo of Beau Pribula: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
