Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord, who started throughout the season for the Buckeyes, entered his name into the transfer portal Monday morning.
McCord, in his third year with the Buckeyes, won the starting job early in the season after competing with Devin Brown. Recruited by coach Ryan Day, he had waited two years behind C.J. Stroud, now the Houston Texans’ starting quarterback, after coming to Ohio State as ESPN’s No. 31 prospect in the 2021 class.
EDITOR’S PICKS
Best available quarterbacks in the transfer portal: Ranking the top 23
4hTom VanHaaren
College football transfer portal tracker: Who’s in and who’s out
1dESPN staff
The Philadelphia-area native had 3,170 passing yards with 24 touchdown passes and six interceptions, while completing 65.8% of his passes. McCord eclipsed 300 passing yards three times but also twice threw two interceptions, including in the regular-season finale, a 30-24 loss to Michigan that ultimately cost Ohio State a College Football Playoff spot for the second time in three years.
“As time went on, Kyle got better as the season went on,” Day said Sunday. “Had a little bit of those ankle injuries that he worked through; he showed toughness there. Certainly the Notre Dame game, he played really well down the stretch. So I think there was growth there, for sure, and I think he’s a good quarterback, I do. After every year, you evaluate everything, and try to figure out what to do next. But I think there was a lot of progress made this year.”
“When you come up short, the bottom line is you got to look at everything, because you didn’t get it done, and that’s the thing that is just sobering here,” Day said. “At 11-1, you come up short on the last possession, it’s just not good enough. So you got to look at everything, and we will look at everything.”
Wide receiver Julian Fleming, ESPN’s No. 1 recruit in the 2020 class, also announced he would be entering the portal on Monday. Fleming had 79 receptions for 963 yards and seven touchdowns in his career, including 26 catches this season.
He had his most productive season in 2022, when he finished third on the team with 533 yards and six touchdowns. Fleming has one year of eligibility left.
“Playing in Columbus has truly been one of the greatest times of my life and I want to take the time to thank the entire Buckeye nation for all the support!” Fleming wrote on X.
The transfer window opened Monday for most college football players, and Ohio State had several other portal entries, including running back Evan Pryor, ESPN’s No. 128 recruit in 2021.
Terms of UsePrivacy PolicyInterest-Based Ads
© ESPN Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
LSU’s Daniels, Washington’s Penix win top college football awards
play
Jayden Daniels discusses what winning the Davey O’Brien Award means to him. (1:53)
ESPN News Services
Dec 8, 2023, 08:20 PM ET
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels continued to collect postseason awards when the honors were handed out Friday night.
Daniels, named The Associated Press player of the year on Thursday, won the Walter Camp national player of the year award as well as the Davey O’Brien Award as the top quarterback in college football.
Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. won the Maxwell Award, given to the nation’s best all-around player, while Payton Wilson of North Carolina State won the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player as well as the Dick Butkus Award as top linebacker.
Daniels, a San Bernardino, California, native who transferred to LSU from Arizona State in 2022, led the nation in total offense this season with 4,946 yards in 12 games (412.2 yards per game). He passed for 3,812 yards, third nationally, and his 40 touchdown passes tied him for first with Oregon QB Bo Nix, who played in one more game than Daniels.
EDITOR’S PICKS
2023 Heisman Tracker: Final votes from our writers
2dRyan McGee
Kiper: How Heisman favorite Jayden Daniels projects to the NFL
2dMel Kiper Jr.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Daniels also rushed for 1,134 yards and 10 TDs. His 50 touchdowns rushing and passing combined, along with a 2-point conversion on a passing play, made him responsible for a nation-high 302 points.
Daniels is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy alongside Nix, Penix and Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., who won the Biletnikoff Award as the top receiver.
Penix led the Huskies into the College Football Playoff after passing for 4,218 yards with 33 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Wilson was involved in 138 tackles for the Wolfpack, with 6 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries and 3 interceptions.
In other awards, Air Force’s Trey Taylor won the Jim Thorpe Trophy for nation’s best defensive back, Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II won the Doak Walker Award for outstanding running back, Texas’ T’Vondre Sweat won the Outland Trophy for outstanding collegiate interior lineman and Miami (OH)’s Graham Nicholson won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s top placekicker.
Earlier this month, Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the top defender in college football.
