In the land of the G5, the transfer portal has been known to taketh away to a harsh and cruel level. But the reality is, it giveth as well.
It’s easy to see the list of players that leave their schools and search for the alleged greener pastures of the Power 4. But now that the playoffs have expanded to 12 teams and there is a seat at the table for the best G5 team, accumulating talent searching for a chance to win a Natty is more realistic than ever.
So here now is a primer on some of the teams who have reaped the most benefit and suffered the most significant attrition from the transfer portal. Bear in mind, there is more movement to take place before all is said and done, so consider this a “that’s where they ended up?” column if nothing else.
Winners
Boise St. – Among the more surprising transfers was former USC quarterback Malachi Nelson leaving LA and heading for the blue turf of Boise. On the surface, it may not make a lot of sense, but think about it. Nelson, a five-star recruit coming out of high school, was long considered the next in line to follow Caleb Williams and the long list of Lincoln Riley toys to be Heisman candidates and ultimately NFL quarterbacks. But Nelson decided that risking losing a QB competition to Miller Moss (or Jayden Maiava) in the Big 10 wasn’t worth waiting a year to put an NFL tape together. So he left for arguably a team more likely to make the college football playoff than USC where he will undoubtedly be the starter. Smart move says this observer.
The Broncos are considered one of the top teams in the Mountain West thanks to the return of all-conference running back Ashton Jeanty, four starters on the offensive line and a defense returning 8 starters. Nelson will be replacing Taylen Green, who left for Arkansas, and yes, receiver Eric McAlister left for TCU, but a familiar face to Boise fans – Dirk Koetter – is the new offensive coordinator. Assuming the game hasn’t passed him by, he will have this offense humming. If they can navigate the first two games of the year at Georgia Southern and at Oregon, they have a real chance to make the expanded playoff.
Eastern Michigan – The MAC this year looks to be pretty wide open. Toledo, Ohio and Miami should be good as per usual, but lost a lot of talent. That leaves room for other contenders to make some noise.
Enter Eastern Michigan.
The Eagles have been steady over the past few years under Chris Creighton and seem to do their best work when expectations are lowest. They went to a bowl last year (a 59-10 drubbing we won’t talk about) despite less than stellar quarterback play. They seemingly have upgraded the position, adding Buffalo transfer Cole Snyder to replace Austin Smith. Snyder is not a world beater, but has experience in the conference so should make a seamless transition. The Eagles do lose stud running back Samson Evans, but replaced him with former NC State running back Delbert Mimms. Mimms didn’t have the most sparking YPC average (2.9) but found the end zone 8 times. He could feast on MAC defenses.
The real jewel of the incoming portal class is Coastal Carolina LB JT Killen. An all-conference performer in 2022, he finished second on the Chanticleers last year in tackles with 68. If he can replicate what he has done the past two years, he will likely get drafted.
Jacksonville St. – They didn’t exactly make a James Madison-like impact moving from the FCS to FBS level, but Jacksonville St. acquitted themselves quite well last year. The Gamecocks finished last season with a 9-4 record, good for third in Conference USA and a thrilling New Orleans Bowl overtime win over Louisiana. Their success may have been overshadowed by Liberty running roughshod over the conference on their way to a Fiesta Bowl birth, but there is opportunity for this JSU team to pose a threat thanks to the influx of talent transferring in.
The names might not resonate with a lot of college football fans, but if you bring in a safety from Notre Dame (Antonio Carter), a running back from Georgia (Andrew Paul), a receiver from Clemson (Brannon Spector), a cornerback from Michigan St. (Malcolm Jones) and a defensive lineman from Ole Miss (Chris Hardie), you have upgraded your talent level regardless of the conference you play in. They also addressed their quarterback position by bringing Zion Turner in from UCONN, who will compete with incumbent Logan Smothers to start. Road games at Liberty and Western Kentucky may dictate where they fall in the CUSA pecking order, but this is a program that has staying power.
Texas St. – On the surface, losing a talent like TJ Finley would appear hard to handle. But when you consider that he is leaving due to the arrival of an all-conference quarterback FROM THE SAME CONFERENCE then the writing was on the wall. (Finley is headed to Western Kentucky.)
Jordan McCloud has come in as part of a mass JMU exodus (more on that later) to lead the high-powered Texas St. offense. And if that wasn’t enough, the Bobcats also brought in former Washington St. and Arizona QB Jayden de Laura. What?? Not only that, Texas St. returns 1,300-yard rusher Ismail Mahdi, but get this…he may not even be the best running back on the team. That’s because former UTEP battering ram Deion Hankins and his 2,500 career rushing yards are coming into town to provide a Thunder and Lighting combo that might be unfair. Losing receiver Ashtyn Hawkins to Baylor hurts, but with GJ Kinne’s offense, receivers will make plays. I’m not worried about it.
If the defense holds up – and there is no reason to think they will be a sieve – then this team can not only win the Sun Belt, but it can represent the G5 in the expanded CFP. They host non-conference opponents UTSA and Arizona St. and travel to Troy and South Alabama in a year that both teams are rebuilding. Assuming they get continuity with the influx of offensive talent, no game is impossible to win. They are going to be that good.
UNLV – For the most part, I have been focusing on the offense. But if you want a team that improved on D via the portal, look no further than UNLV.
Two years ago, Jalon Catalon and Tony Grimes were looked at as All-American candidates at Arkansas and North Carolina respectively. Both left their school and thought landing at Texas (Catalon) and Texas A&M) would be their ticket to the NFL. Yet here they both are at UNLV. Both still have the talent to play on Sundays. They also added corners Malik Chavis and LaDarrius Bishop from Arkansas (where they played with coach Barry Odom along with Catalon) and Jarvis Ware from UCF. Good luck throwing against this secondary.
Lest you think I forgot about the offense, they replaced Maiava with Holy Cross QB Matthew Sluka. That may not sound like the sexiest transfer you could have brought to Vegas, but the two-time Walter Payton Award finalist has thrown for almost 5,900 career passing yards while also rushing for over 3,500 yards. He has Ricky White to throw to and Jai’Den Thomas to hand the ball to. If Boise St. is not the team to beat in the Mountain West, it may just be this UNLV squad. (They host Boise in late October.)
Losers
Coastal Carolina – This isn’t the craziest take in the world, but it’s not a good thing when you lose the most successful player in the history of your program.
Gone is quarterback Grayson McCall, who decided to play his finally final year in college football for North Carolina St. The 3-time all-conference player has done everything he can do at Coastal, but he isn’t the only significant loss. I mentioned Killen, the heart and soul of the defense who is headed to EMU, but they also lose one of the unsung players for the Coastal offense was receiver Jared Brown, who left for South Carolina and running back CJ Beasley. They did a decent enough job getting former Michigan St. QB Noah Kim to transfer in, but without Brown and Sam Pinckney (Who graduated) to throw to, the offense may not be able to hang with the upper echelon of the wide-open East Division.
James Madison – Remember when I literally just said that the Sun Belt East would be wide open. Well you can thank Indiana University for that.
JMU coach Curt Cignetti left JMU for Bloomington and took with him a TON from a program that has taken the Sun Belt by storm since their arrival two years ago. Gone are (among others) leading receiver Elijah Surratt, the top 2 tacklers (Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker), the top 2 rushers (Kaelon Black and Ty Son Lawton), d-linemen James Carpenter and Mikail Kamara, starting TE Zach Horton and two offensive linemen who all followed Cignetti. That doesn’t even include McCloud, who will be at Texas St. That’s a ton of loss.
Sure, new coach Bob Chesney did a good job of trying to fill those holes with incoming talent. Running backs George Pettaway (North Carolina) and Ayo Adeyi (North Texas) will do some damage and quarterback Dylan Morris is best known as being “the guy before Michael Penix” at Washington. So there is certainly talent. But it may take some time for the chemistry to develop.
South Alabama – I know it looks like I am picking on the Sun Belt, but as the top G5 conference in a talent rich part of the country, it’s the most likely to see turnover. As it is, when you lose arguably your best offensive and defensive players to Louisville and Ole Miss (WR Caullin Lacy and Safety Yam Banks) in a year when your coach leaves to be an assistant in Alabama and you’re breaking in a new full-time starting quarterback, it’s gonna leave a mark. Kane Wommack left to be the Defensive Coordinator in Tuscaloosa, replaced by Major Applewhite, who has been running the offense. He should be able to get the most out of Gio Lopez at QB, but a good game in a home bowl against an Eastern Michigan squad just happy to be there does not make for a star.
New Mexico St. – One of the feel-good stories in the Group of 5 last year was the run New Mexico St. went on. But in the world of the portal, New Mexico’s loss is…*checks notes*… Vanderbilt’s gain.
Gone are playmakers QB Diego Pavia and TE Eli Stowers, who followed former coach Jerry Kill to Nashville. (Also leaving is backup QB Blaze Berlowitz.) Oh by the way, they also saw leading RB Star Thomas go to Duke to be their starter and WR Trent Hudson and his 10 TD catches will be at Mississippi St. Those are all significant losses, including Kill, who initially was planning on retiring but took an advisory role instead.
The likely starter at QB for new coach Tony Sanchez is Kentucky import Deuce Hogan. He may be good, but with key pieces needing to step up and a conference that has Liberty, Western Kentucky and Jacksonville St. all looking like threats, it may be tough to see the Aggies sustain their recent success.
Ohio – I don’t know who is going to be Ohio’s quarterback, but I can tell you who it isn’t going to be.
It isn’t going to be Kurtis Rourke, the all-conference player who left for Indiana. It isn’t going to be CJ Harris, who has stepped in after injuries to Rourke the past two seasons. He will be playing at Cal. And it won’t be Gunnar Gundy, the son of Oklahoma St. coach Mike, who was brought in to be the answer. Gundy had a change of heart and re-entered the portal.
Who is going to carry the ball? I’ll tell you who it isn’t going to be. It isn’t going to be all-conference running back Sieh Bangura, who is taking his nearly 2,000 career rushing yards to Minnesota. At least Parker Titsworth is back as the center of the offensive line, so that’s nice.
