Tag: Kansas Football

Mountain West Football: 2023 Bowl Season Opt-Out And Transfer Tracker

The transfer portal is open. NFL Draft prep looms. Business decisions are made. Which players will sit out the Mountain West’s bowl games?

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Mountain West Football: 2023 Bowl Season Opt-Out and Transfer Tracker

The transfer portal is open. NFL Draft prep looms. Business decisions are made. Which players will sit out the Mountain West’s bowl games?

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

Not all the stars will be out in December.

December marks perhaps the busiest time of college football season. Between the upcoming slate of bowl games, the official opening of the transfer portal, and buzz surrounding the game’s brightest stars and their standing in next year’s NFL Draft, players have plenty on their minds when deciding how to finish their season.

Not everyone will choose to stay on the field, though. Check back here throughout the month as we watch which athletes opt out of bowl season, both among the Mountain West’s seven bowl teams and their opponents.

Note: Significant contributors among opponents will be noted in italics.

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

Air Force

  • Aidan Behymer, TE
  • Caden Blum, DL
  • Mason Carlan, OL
  • John Lee Eldridge III, RB
  • Jonah Jensen, QB
  • Brady Phillips, DL
  • Caleb Rillos, TE
  • Jarius Stewart, QB
  • Anthony Wenson, WR

James Madison

  • Brent Austin, DB
  • Kaelon Black, RB — team-high 594 rushing yards, 23 catches, 220 receiving yards in 2023
  • James Carpenter, DL — FCS Freshman All-American in 2021; two-time all-Sun Belt
  • Aiden Fisher, LB — third-team all-Sun Belt, 91 tackles, seven passes defended, six tackles for loss in 2023
  • Desmond Green, WR
  • Zach Horton, TE — first-team all-Sun Belt, 26 catches, 266 yards, six touchdowns in 2023
  • Taurus Jones, LB — first-team all-Sun Belt, 82 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss in 2022
  • Mikail Kamara, DL — second-team all-Sun Belt, 18.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks in 2023
  • Wayne Knight, RB
  • Ty Son Lawton, RB — 742 all-purpose yards, six total touchdowns in 2023
  • Chauncey Logan, DB — 42 tackles, four tackles for loss, six passes defended in 2023
  • Carter Miller, OL — redshirt freshman, nine starts, 639 snaps at left guard in 2023
  • Abi Nwabuoku-Okonji, DL
  • Tyler Stephens, OL — 30 career starts; four starts each at left guard, right tackle, left tackle in 2023
  • Jailin Walker, LB — 30 career starts; 55 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, four passes defended in 2023
  • Tyshawn Wyatt, OL

Starco Brands LA Bowl, Hosted By Gronk

Boise State 

  • Taylen Green, QB
  • Eric McAlister, WR
  • Keenan McCaddy, DB
  • Kivon Wright, DL

UCLA

  • Kam Brown, WR
  • Keegan Jones, WR
  • Laiatu Latu, DL — Ted Hendricks Award winner, Lombardi Award winner, Pac-12 defensive player of the year in 2023
  • Dante Moore, QB — five-star true freshman, five starts in 2023
  • William Nimmo Jr., DB
  • Kamari Ramsey, DB — redshirt freshman safety, 11 starts in 2023
  • Carsen Ryan, TE
  • Jake Wiley, OL

Isleta New Mexico Bowl

Fresno State

  • Tanner Blount, LB
  • Logan Fife, QB
  • Chrishawn Gordon, DB
  • Abraham Montaño, K
  • Hayden Pulis, OL
  • Raymond Scott, LB

New Mexico State

  • Reggie Akles, WR
  • Ta’ir Brooks, WR
  • Jamari Buddin, LB
  • Tyler Devera, TE
  • Trent Hudson, WR — 36 catches, 571 yards, team-high ten touchdowns in 2023
  • PJ Johnson, WR
  • Malachi McLean, DB
  • Jordin Parker, WR
  • Tyriece Thomas, DL

EasyPost Hawaii Bowl

San Jose State

  • Branden Alvarez, WR
  • Fernando Carmona Jr., OL
  • Blake Davis, DB
  • Charlie Leota, DL
  • Anthony Madrigal, OL
  • Dominick Mazotti, TE
  • Elijah Wood, LB

Coastal Carolina

  • CJ Beasley, RB — team-high 717 rushing yards in 2022; 262 rushing yards, two touchdowns in 2023
  • Mason Bowers, OL
  • Jahmar Brown, DB
  • Jared Brown, WR — 2022 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year; 108 career receptions, 1,534 career receiving yards, 11 career touchdowns
  • Bailey Carraway, LB
  • Evan Crenshaw, P — sophomore; 83 career punts, 39.7 career yards per punt
  • Aaron Diggs, DB
  • Jarrett Guest, QB — two starts in 2023 following injury to Grayson McCall
  • Eli Hillman, DB
  • Kaleb Hutchinson, DB
  • Tavyn Jackson, DB
  • JT Killen, LB — 25 career starts; 65 tackles, three tackles for loss in 2023
  • Derrick Maxey, DB
  • Grayson McCall, QB — three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year
  • Tyson Mobley, WR
  • Tre Pinkney, LB
  • Jacob Proche, DB
  • Chris Rhone, WR
  • Braylon Ryan, DL — 38 career games, 21 career starts; 24 tackles, two tackles for loss in 2023
  • Laurence Sullivan, DB
  • Bryson Summers, OL
  • Dami’on Thompson, WR
  • Donnell Wilson, OL

Guaranteed Rate Bowl

UNLV

  • Jordan Jakes, WR
  • Jordyn Morgan, DB

Kansas

  • Will Huggins, TE
  • Reece Thomas, WR

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Utah State

  • William Testa, K
  • Josh Williams, LB

Georgia State

  • KZ Adams, RB
  • Rico Arnold, WR
  • Bryquice Brown, DB — 42 career games; 35 tackles, six passes defended in nine games
  • Marcus Carroll, RB — first-team all-Sun Belt, 1,350 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns
  • Montavious Cunningham, OL — redshirt sophomore, 15 career starts, 737 snaps at right tackle in 2023
  • Jaquon Dixon, RB
  • Cameron Dye, OL
  • Evan Graham, LB
  • JayT Jackson, DB
  • Jordan Jones, LB
  • Robert Lewis, WR — led team with 70 catches, 877 yards, five receiving touchdowns
  • Tony McCray, DB
  • Jalen Tate, DB

Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl

Wyoming

  • DQ James, RB
  • Kolbey Taylor, DB

Toledo

  • Dequan Finn, QB — three-time all-MAC, 2023 MAC Vern Smith Leadership Award winner (conference MVP)
  • Jaret Frantz, WR
  • Micah Kelly, RB
  • Brad Ling, K
  • Vinny Sciury, OL — first-team all-MAC in 2023, 836 snaps at left guard
  • Ty Thomas, DL

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UNLV Football: Rebels To Face Kansas In Guaranteed Rate Bowl

The Rebels fell short in their quest for a conference title, but they can end one of their best years ever with a win against the Jayhawks.

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UNLV Football: Rebels To Face Kansas In Guaranteed Rate Bowl

The Rebels came up short in their quest for a conference title, but they can still end one of their best seasons ever with a win against the Jayhawks.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

The Rebels are bowling for the first time in a while.

Generally speaking, not much was expected of the UNLV Rebels this fall, but the program defied expectations and will head to their first bowl since 2013 when they square off with the Big 12’s Kansas Jayhawks in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.

UNLV had high internal expectations for itself, however, dismissing former head coach Marcus Arroyo last off-season and bringing in Barry Odom to replace him. In Odom’s first year at the helm, the Rebels posted a 9-4 record, the first time the program had won that many games since winning 11 in 1984, and reached the Mountain West championship game for the first time. Though they fell short on Saturday against Boise State, UNLV still has a chance to reach double-digit wins for the first time in 40 years.

Kansas, meanwhile, continued their renaissance under head coach Lance Leipold and won eight games for the first time since 2008. The highwater mark came in defeating Oklahoma at home back in late October, though they’ll have the rare opportunity to defeat both teams from the Silver State having beaten Nevada on the road in non-conference play.

This year’s Guaranteed Rate Bowl is set for Tuesday, December 26. It will be broadcast on ESPN, kicking off at 6:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Mountain.

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Social media reacts to Oklahoma’s elimination from Big 12 title race

Oklahoma misses the Big 12 title game for a third straight season.

The Texas Longhorns (11-1) will not face the Oklahoma Sooners (10-2) in the Big 12 title game. Oklahoma won’t be there.

The Sooners loudly celebrated a midseason win over the Longhorns in October. Some even mocked a possible reunion between Texas and Oklahoma in Arlington for the conference championship. It turns out, they were right. Texas won’t be seeing Oklahoma in the title game.

After beating Texas in October, Oklahoma promptly lost to the Kansas Jayhawks and Oklahoma State Cowboys before finishing 10-2 and losing control of its destiny.

Heading into the final Saturday of the season, Sooner faithful needed the Cowboys to lose to make it into the title game. Oklahoma State defeated BYU in double overtime to knock Oklahoma from the Big 12 championship race.

Here’s a look at how social media took in Oklahoma’s Big 12 title elimination.

Week 10 picks including Texas and Kansas State

Texas better be prepared to tackle.

The path to the College Football Playoff narrows this week. Several teams are set to clash in big time matchups while others look to avoid upsets for another week.

The headliner of the week takes place between SEC West rivals LSU and Alabama. Texas has an interest in the game given its resume-defining win over the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Elsewhere, the Big 12 title race could be all but decided this week. Four one-loss conference teams face another team of the same conference pedigree on the day.

Texas and Kansas State meet for Big Noon Kickoff. Afterward Oklahoma and Oklahoma State play what could be the final Bedlam rivalry matchup. A loss could end a title bid for any of the four teams.

Let’s predict some of the best games from Week 10.

College Football Week 9 Winners and Losers: Oklahoma unbeaten no more, Oregon sends a clear message

If we’re truly going to get a chaotic conclusion to the 2023 college football season, Week 9 felt like the calm before the storm.

If we’re truly going to get the chaotic conclusion to the 2023 college football season that has been teased, Week 9 felt like the calm before the storm.

It was far from the most loaded weekend slate we’ve seen since the season really kicked into gear, and most of the nation’s top teams survived relatively unscathed.

That is unless you’re Oklahoma.

The list of unbeaten teams shrunk from nine to eight as the Sooners were stunned in Lawrence by Kansas, which claimed its first victory over its border state rival since 1997 in what was the final conference matchup between the two programs.

The most high-profile matchup of the day proved to be a relative snooze as Oregon had no problems dispatching Utah, making a clear statement to the rest of the Pac-12 in the process.

October is in the books, and the season is now on its home stretch. The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday night, and Week 10 features some games that are sure to carry massive postseason implications.

In the meantime, here were the winners and losers from Week 9.

Texas fans cheered on Kansas as Oklahoma’s title odds plummeted after upset loss

Oklahoma’s loss is Texas’ gain.

The Kansas Jayhawks have avenged the Texas Longhorns after the latter fell to Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry game … or something like that.

As Kansas shocked No. 6 Oklahoma in a 38-33 home victory, Texas showed the game’s final seconds on the jumbotron at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.

Longhorns fans cheered on the Jayhawks as they toppled the Sooners, a game that looks to already have had national title implications for betting.

DraftKings punted Oklahoma’s national championship odds from +1400 all the way down to +4000 after losing to Kansas, while Texas got a nice bump from +2500 to +1600.

Indeed, oddsmakers seemed to penalize Oklahoma losing to an unranked Kansas much more than Texas losing to a ranked Oklahoma.

It was Oklahoma’s first loss of the year, and it’s already proved to be a costly one with the sportsbooks.

Texas fans will now hope the Longhorns can take advantage of Oklahoma losing and keep the wins coming for a College Football Playoff berth.

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6 views of rowdy Kansas fans ripping down the goalpost after Jayhawks stunned No. 6 Oklahoma

Down goes Oklahoma, down goes the goalpost.

The game took a bit longer than expected thanks to a lightning delay, but when it was all over and Kansas was victorious, it took only a couple minutes for the goalpost at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium to come down.

The Jayhawks showed up big time Saturday and knocked off previously undefeated No. 6 Oklahoma, winning 38-33. They retook the lead with a touchdown with 55 seconds left on the clock, leading fans to wonder if they scored too soon and left Oklahoma a chance.

Unfortunately for the Sooners, they couldn’t find the end zone in the final seconds of the game.

And unfortunately for the Kansas goalpost, it didn’t stand a chance against the crowd rushing the field, as is tradition in Lawrence after a monumental win. And it was surely headed for Potter Lake, also tradition for the Jayhawks.

Not only was it Kansas’ first win over Oklahoma since 1997, but it was its first victory against an AP top-10 team since the 2008 Orange Bowl, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Five takeaways from No. 3 Texas’ 40-14 win over No. 24 Kansas

Texas found new ways to win against Kansas ahead of its biggest conference game of the season.

The No. 3 Texas Longhorns dominated much of their game against the No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks. The score wouldn’t show it, but the total yards comparison reveals how lopsided was the game.

Texas out-gained Kansas 661 to 260 in total yards. Save for a 58-yard Kansas deep-shot and a fumble recovery turned touchdown from Kansas running back Daniel Hishaw, the Jayhawks didn’t get much going in the game. It was a welcomed strong performance ahead of what will be a tougher matchup than we anticipated this week.

The Longhorns looked like many among Texas faithful would want it to look ahead of its annual Red River Rivalry clash this week. Here are a few thoughts on how the game unfolded against Kansas in Austin on Saturday.

LOOK: Best photos from Texas’ dominant win over Kansas

A look at the best moments captured from Texas’ 40-14 win over Kansas in Week 5.

No. 3 Texas defeated No. 24 Kansas 40-14 on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading “LOOK: Best photos from Texas’ dominant win over Kansas”

No. 3 Texas hands No. 24 Kansas its first loss, 40-14

Jonathon Brooks ran for 218 yards as Texas outgained Kansas 661 yards to 260.

Two teams entered Austin undefeated on Saturday. Kansas is no longer undefeated.

The Texas Longhorns (5-0) thoroughly defeated the Kansas Jayhawks (4-1) on Saturday. The score doesn’t tell the story.

Texas more than doubled Kansas’ total yards on the day, but luck helped the Jayhawks back into the game. Save for two explosive plays the Texas defense minimized the damage.

Kansas went 0-for-8 on third down for the game. It wasn’t for lack of opportunities. Jason Bean and Kansas receivers failed to connect on several completable plays. Even so, the Longhorns defense played a winning game despite some of the warts.

Offensively, Texas had its fair share of struggles in the passing game. There weren’t many struggles on the run. Running back Jonathon Brooks ran for 218 yards on 21 carries. The Longhorns totaled 308 rushing yards including two scores for Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.

The Longhorns did sustain an injury in the game. Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders suffered an apparent ankle injury early in the game. Sanders did not return to action.

In Sanders’ absence, Ewers and wide receiver AD Mitchell connected on 10 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. Fellow receiver Xavier Worthy added seven catches for 93 yards. Ewers finished the game 25-for-35 for 325 yards with three total touchdowns and an interception.

The Longhorns will take on the No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners next Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ABC.