Baylor QB Seth Russell to undergo season-ending surgery

By Kevin McGuireOct 26, 2015, 3:12 PM EDT

After getting banged up in Baylor’s latest victory en route to a possible Big 12 championship run, starting quarterback Seth Russell will see his season come to a premature end. Baylor announced this afternoon Russell will undergo season-ending surgery on his neck. The decision to move forward with the surgery was made after meeting with a specialist, leaving with the recommendation of going through with surgery for a more secure long-term future. According to a release from Baylor, the recovery period for the surgery typically takes about six months, meaning Russell will be out for the remainder of Baylor’s 2015 season and possibly at least some of the spring football practices.

“Seth exemplifies the spirit and will of our football team,” Baylor head coach Art Briles said, “and through this our team will keep that spirit alive and well for him.”

Russell injured his cervical vertebra during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against Iowa State. His season will end having thrown 2,104 yards and 29 touchdowns as well as 402 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. With Russell now on the shelf for the remainder of Baylor’s promising 2015 season, the fate of the Bears now falls in the hands of freshman Jarrett Stidham. Stidham, a four-star recruit in Baylor’s Class of 2015 and a former commit to Texas Tech, has appeared in all seven games in relief of Russell this season. In his relatively limited action, Stidham has thrown for 331 yards and six touchdowns without an interception, while completing 24 of 28 pass attempts.

Baylor made some roster adjustments in the offseason to help make room for Stidham as a possible starter this season by moving Chris Johnson to wide receiver. That allowed Baylor to bump Stidham to No. 2 ion the depth chart. Johnson will slide back to the quarterback position as the new backup behind Stidham, according to a Baylor statement.

Baylor is off this week. The Bears return to action on Thursday, November 5 at Kansas State. The Wildcats have struggled this season but will also be coming off a bye week to prepare for the game. There are not too many environments that could be more difficult of a setting to make a debut as a starting quarterback than Kansas State will be for Stidham, but Briles should feel confident in having enough pieces around his quarterback to help make for a moderately painless transition as Baylor looks to keep their Big 12 and College Football Playoff hopes alive.

Follow @KevinOnCFB

Alabama QB signee Bryce Young leaps to top of 247’s Class of 2020 player rankings

Getty Images

By John TaylorJan 28, 2020, 8:34 PM EST

Leave a comment

Not only does the Alabama Crimson Tide football team currently hold the nation’s top recruiting class, they now boast the nation’s top player. Well, at least according to one recruiting service they do.

During the Early Signing Period last month, Mater Dei quarterback Bryce Young signed with Alabama. At the time, Young was the No. 3 player in the country according to 247Sports.com.

Tuesday, ahead of National Signing Day next week, the recruiting website released its final player rankings for the Class of 2020. And, according to that service, Young is now the No. 1 recruit in this year’s class.

Quarterback and Clemson signee DJ Uiagalelei is the No. 2 prospect. Another Clemson signee, defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, is No. 3. The rest of the Top Five is rounded out by an Ohio State signee, wide receiver Julian Fleming, and another Alabama Crimson Tide football signee, weakside defensive end Will Anderson.

The recruiting website explained the process that went into making the decision on the top player in this class:

There were three worthy candidates but there’s a new No. 1. In almost any year, any one of DJ Uiagalelei, Bryce Young and Bryan Bresee would be a clear No. 1. This year, two had to settle for something less. We landed on Young as our top guy after extensive deliberation. Despite Bresee being one of the best defensive linemen we’ve scouted in years, he was up against two quarterbacks that finish with the same rating as Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, our highest grade ever given to a quarterback. When it’s close, and a true No. 1 candidate is there at quarterback, we felt that position had to get the nod. Here’s our roundtable discussion on how we sorted through these three elite talents.

Despite coming up short on some of the physical tools that Uiagalelei boasts, Young’s consistency, instincts, accuracy and body of work both during his career, senior season and all-star performances was just too much to pass up for us. As the game turns to the best player going No. 1, regardless of traits (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow), we felt like Young gives us our best shot at hitting on the No. 1 player.

As for the 247 composite, which takes into consideration other recruiting services such as Rivals and ESPN? Bresee is the No. 1 recruit in the country, followed by Young and Fleming. According to that same composite, Uiagalelei is the No. 10 prospect in the Class of 2020.

Ex-Duke WR Aaron Young lands at Florida Atlantic

Getty Images

By Zach BarnettJan 28, 2020, 6:46 PM EST

LSU now losing multiple support staffers to bigger jobs

Getty Images

By Zach BarnettJan 28, 2020, 5:16 PM EST

1 Comment

To the victor comes the spoils, they say. And the spoils are all leaving town.

LSU was already set to lose a lot on the field, with eight early entrants plus seniors like Joe Burrow, Kristian Fulton and both guards on their Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line. And though losing passing game coordinator Joe Brady to the Panthers and defensive coordinator Dave Aranda to Baylor — damn you, Matt Rhule — wasn’t unexpected, it was still a blow.

But LSU is now losing third-level assistants, the type of guys only the most purple and gold of LSU fans knew but the guys who made the machine hum the way it did.

Jorge Munoz, an analyst and former Louisiana-Lafayette offensive coordinator widely speculated to slide into Brady’s role, left to join Aranda at Baylor. Offensive graduate assistant John Decoster took a job as the tight ends coach at Old Dominion. Defensive analyst Dennis Johnson, who would’ve coached LSU’s defensive line had he not injured both knees playing basketball in the offseason, also followed Aranda to Baylor.

And now longtime defensive analyst Ronnie Wheat is leaving to become the safeties coach at Nevada, according to multiple reports Tuesday.

Wheat had more than earned his promotion, spending the past seven seasons on LSU’s support staff while working under coordinators John Chavis, Kevin Steele and Aranda. According to Geaux247, who broke the story, Wheat was instrumental in developing linebackers such as Devin White and Kendell Beckwith, and helped reel in a pair of 4-star linebackers in LSU’s 2020 recruiting class.

To be clear, change is the nature of college football. The roster turns over completely every five years, and losing assistants to bigger and better jobs is the price of victory. On a personal level, you want to lose your guys to bigger jobs, because it makes the jobs you have all the more attractive. Alabama’s staff has almost completely turned over from its 2017 national championship, to say nothing of the now-ancient 2009 title, and yet Nick Saban keeps the Crimson Tide humming.

Now it’s Ed Orgeron‘s turn.

Stanford transfer QB KJ Costello to visit Washington

Getty Images

By John TaylorJan 28, 2020, 3:45 PM EST

1 Comment

KJ Costello may have left the Stanford football program, but he could still end up playing in the Pac-12. Maybe.

In mid-December, it was confirmed that Costello had entered his name into the NCAA transfer database, the first step in a potential move from the Stanford football team. Tuesday, Mike Vorel of the Seattle Times has reported that the quarterback will visit Washington today.

This would be the first known visit made by Costello.

Regardless of where he ultimately lands, Costello would be leaving Stanford football as a graduate transfer. That would allow him to play immediately at another FBS school in 2020. The upcoming season will be his final year of eligibility.

The 6-5, 222-pound Costello started all 13 games for the Cardinal in 2018 after starting seven the year before. As a redshirt sophomore during that 2018 season, Costello was named second-team All-Pac-12.

This past season was an entirely different story. In very large part because of multiple injuries (thumb, head), Costello played in just five games in 2019. He last made an appearance Nov. 9, which turned out to likely be his last in a Stanford football uniform.

For his career thus far, Costello has completed 494 of his 790 passes (62.5 completion percentage) for 6,141 yards, 49 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He’s added another three touchdowns on the ground, although all of those came as a redshirt freshman in 2017.

This season, Costello threw for 1,028 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions as he completed just under 61 percent of his 166 pass attempts.

A four-star member of Stanford’s 2016 recruiting class, Costello was rated as the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the country; the No. 7 player at any position in the state of California; and the No. 47 recruit overall on 247Sports.com‘s composite board. Only one signee in the Cardinal’s class that year, tight end Kaden Smith, was rated higher than Costello.

For those wondering: Yes, Stanford plays Washington in 2020, with the Huskies hosting the Cardinal Nov. 7.