Oklahoma announces Baker Mayfield’s punishment for Feb. arrest

By John TaylorJun 15, 2017, 1:18 PM EDT
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Not surprisingly, an off-field incident this offseason will have no on-field impact for Oklahoma this coming season.

In late February, Baker Mayfield was arrested in Arkansas and charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and fleeing the scene, the latter offense being caught on tape.  Nearly four months later, the football program announced the internal sanctions for one of the Heisman Trophy favorites entering the 2017 season — participation in a university alcohol education program as well as 35 hours of community service, some of which will include working with law enforcement.

Mayfield will be compelled to complete the requirements before the start of the fall semester.  If he does, it would have no impact on his availability for the start of the 2017 season, which includes a Week 2 road trip to Columbus to face Ohio State in what’s expected to be a battle of Top 10 teams.

“As I stated earlier, I could not be more disappointed in my actions and the embarrassment they caused for my university and team,” the quarterback, who had previously issued a public apology, said in a new statement. “I am anxious to fulfill the responsibilities that have been set and am continuing to dedicate myself to the high standard that everyone rightfully expects from someone in my position.”

“Baker has expressed regret for his actions and backed up his apology by being a model leader in our program,” first-year head coach Lincoln Riley said in his statement. “He has learned from his mistake and will continue to grow from it.

“The coaching staff and team has every confidence in him going forward.”

With Mayfield under center, the Sooners have claimed back-to-back Big 12 titles.  He was a finalist for the 2016 Heisman and earned a trip to New York City after finishing fourth in the voting the year before.

Div. II’s No. 2 team used ineligible player who was a transfer from Kent State, ex-Michigan wrestler

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By John TaylorOct 19, 2018, 11:44 AM EDT
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On the field, Ferris State finds itself unbeaten and in line for a shot at a national championship. Something off the field, however, could potentially derail those dreams.

Ferris State acknowledged in a statement Wednesday night that it had used a football player this season who had been certified as eligible by the university but was, in fact, ineligible. That player had played in the first four games of the 2018 season before the issue came to the university’s attention.

“By design, the eligibility of every student-athlete is certified by the University, independent of the Athletics Department,” Vice President for Student Affairs Jeanine Ward-Roof said in a statement. “The student-athlete’s transfer history was complex, and the error by the department that certifies student-athlete eligibility was the result of a misinterpretation of a transfer rule.”

While the Div. II school did not name the player involved, mlive.com subsequently confirmed that it is defensive lineman Dan Perry. Perry was originally a true freshman wrestler at Michigan during the 2016-17 academic year, then transferred after wrestling season and was on the football roster at Kent State during the 2017 football season. After redshirting at Kent, he then transferred to Ferris State after the 2017 football season to play football for the Bulldogs.

Because of the two transfers in 2017, Perry should’ve been required to sit out the 2018 season despite dropping from the FBS to Div. II level of football.

Ferris State reported the violation to the NCAA, which will determine whether or not they will face sanctions for playing an ineligible player. The punishment for such a violation could include, among other things, forfeiting wins in the four games in which Perry played.

After seven games, Ferris State is 7-0 and ranked second in the latest Div. II Top 25 behind fellow 7-0 Minnesota State. In those most recent rankings, Ferris State, with five, was the only other Div. II team to garner first-place votes outside of Minnesota State’s 25.

Utah (tersely) addresses departure of four-star 2018 QB signee

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By John TaylorOct 19, 2018, 9:11 AM EDT
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It’s officially official that Utah has lost its highest-rated quarterback signee ever.

Wednesday, multiple reports began flowing in that Jack Tuttle had decided to transfer from the Utes. Thursday night, the university acknowledged in a press release that “Tuttle is no longer participating in team activities for reasons unrelated to academics or discipline.”

In the very brief release, the football program’s head coach also offered up an equally terse statement.

“We wish Jack the best and have no further information to add at this time,” Kyle Whittingham stated.

The California product was a four-star member of the Utes’ 2018 recruiting class, rated as the No. 8 pro-style quarterback in the country. Tuttle enrolled early and was a part of Utah’s quarterback competition beginning in the spring and continuing on into summer camp, although he entered the season as the team’s No. 3 signal-caller.

Tuttle didn’t play in any of the Utes’ first six games, even as the Deseret News noted that “he was the only freshman elected to the team’s leadership council.”

As for Tuttle’s future, 247Sports.com had previously reported that possible destinations may very well include, among others, Ohio State, Duke, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and West Virginia. Prior to signing with Utah, Tuttle held offers from Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, LSU, Nebraska, USC and Wisconsin as well as others from both Power Five and Group of Five schools.

Stanford grinds out win on the road over Arizona State to remain in the Pac-12 hunt

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By Bryan FischerOct 19, 2018, 12:29 AM EDT
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Stanford’s offense was stuck in quicksand out in the desert early against Arizona State.

Eventually though, the Cardinal found their way out of a tricky situation on the road to embark on a string of scoring drives that helped them capture a 20-13 win over the Sun Devils in Tempe on Thursday night and keep their Pac-12 title hopes alive in the process.

With an ailing Bryce Love (21 yards on 11 carries) re-injuring his ankle early in the second half and the team unable to mount much consistency running the ball either way, Stanford put the game in the hands of their budding quarterback K.J. Costello by utilizing a ball-control version of the Air Raid. The young signal-caller went 22-of-29 for 231 yards and a touchdown while helping spark a run of four straight scoring drives surrounding halftime that essentially won them the game on a lackluster night when it came to offense.

Lengthy wideout JJ Arcega-Whiteside managed to find the end zone for a ninth time this season (on a non-jump ball, no less) and record 91 yards while Trent Irwin was not far behind with seven catches for 79 yards. Cameron Scarlett was the primary guy after Love in the backfield with 54 yards and a touchdown with Stanford winning the time of possession battle by nearly nine minutes.

Though the final score wound up close for the home team, the Sun Devils were doomed throughout the night by something extremely uncharacteristic: turnovers. ASU game into the game with just two giveaways all season but wound up with three total and could have had one more if not for a kind replay review operator for the Pac-12. QB Manny Wilkins was responsible for two of those turnovers, fumbling in the first half on a designed run and then throwing an awful arm punt-esque interception that Sean Barton easily picked off. The signal-caller finished with 353 yards passing all told but it was quite the up-and-down performance for the offense overall with only 13 points to show for it.

Sophomore tailback Eno Benjamin had one of his least productive games of the season at the wrong time with just 81 total yards just a few weeks removed from rushing for over 300 in another conference game. While his numbers (63 yards on seven catches) managed to look okay, star receiver N'Keal Harry had a fairly quiet game and didn’t do much as a punt returner either.

The loss, while far from the worst one suffered by a team in the valley of the sun on Thursday, was the fourth this season for Herm Edwards by one score or less and dropped the team to 1-3 in conference play. With trips to USC and Oregon upcoming and a home date with Utah still on the docket, rallying to make a bowl game will be no easy task going forward as the momentum from that big win over Michigan State has all but evaporated in Tempe.

As for David Shaw’s side, Stanford remains in the hunt in the Pac-12 North with just one loss and that key tie-breaker over the Ducks. If they truly want to contend in the conference though, the offense will need to step up in terms of rushing the football with Washington State and Washington posing serious challenges in the weeks ahead.

Those are concerns for another time however as the team will certainly celebrate a win that, while ugly at times, still counts all the same in the standings.

Bryce Love, N’Keal Harry bottled up in lackluster first half between Stanford and Arizona State

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By Bryan FischerOct 18, 2018, 10:30 PM EDT
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If you asked any fan on the West Coast prior to the 2018 season who two of the most explosive playmakers were in the Pac-12, they would nearly all say it was a combination of Stanford’s Bryce Love and Arizona State’s N'Keal Harry.

Naturally when those two super exciting players got together in an actual football game, neither of their respective teams managed to do much at all offensively in a rather lackluster first half in Tempe on Thursday night. The Cardinal did manage to take a 6-3 lead going into the locker room after two quarters in a pivotal conference game for both teams but it wasn’t pretty — at all — in a game that was much more bad offense than it was good defense.

Love seemed to be hit in the backfield on just about every snap as Stanford once again struggled to run the ball consistently (2.7 yds/carry), with the one-time Heisman favorite recording just 13 yards on nine carries. That put a little extra pressure on quarterback K.J. Costello, who finished 13-of-19 for 123 yards in the first half while also dealing with a hand injury that was bleeding for most of the night.

Manny Wilkins did throw for 137 yards but fumbled on a designed run that was the team’s third turnover of the season. His running mate Eno Benjamin couldn’t get much going either with 19 yards on seven carries while Harry had three catches for only 16 yards and also threw an interception on a trick play.

Hopefully the halftime break is just what both sides need to breakout of their offensive slumps and get a little #Pac12AfterDark action going. Because as it stands, neither of these two teams have much to write home about after the first half.