College Football Senior Writer for ESPN. Insider for @CollegeGameday. Tips to TipThamel@gmail.com
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NEW: Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker is the new QB1 in our mid-season NFL scout/executive poll. His 17 QB1 votes are a record in the three years we’ve done the QB1 poll. Results: espn.com/college-football/st…
The surgery was performed by Dr. Norman Waldrop in Birmingham, Ala. He’s a noted foot and ankle specialist.
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Duff, a true junior, projects as a first-round pick in the NFL Draft. Mel Kiper Jr. ranks him as the No. 18 overall prospect. He’ll be the first first-round draft pick from Rutgers since 2010. He had 1,084 receiving yards in 2025 and 774 this year. He’s got 17 career touchdowns.
Sources: Rutgers star wide receiver KJ Duff underwent season-ending high-ankle surgery this week. He’ll miss the remainder of the year. He’s expected to resume full football activities in January.
This deal is expected to be completed later today, per sources. It's significant for Jeff Lebby for portal/recruiting and roster building. “One of the thing we realized is the level of quality players who are intrigued by joining Kamario at Mississippi State,” a source told ESPN.
Taylor was one of the sport’s most dominant players early in the season and projects as a potential top pick in the 2028 NFL Draft. Through four games this year – he got hurt against Missouri in the fourth – Taylor tied for the lead nationally in passing touchdowns and was third in total yards.
The timing of the signing will allow coach Jeff Lebby to build a recruiting/portal class around Taylor, as the school pitched Taylor on an uptick in overall investment. Taylor attempted to play through a turf toe injury, but ultimately elected to have surgery on Oct. 29. He’s in line to return for spring practice.
Sources: Mississippi State star quarterback Kamario Taylor is finalizing a deal to return there in 2027. His return means one of the faces of college football next year will be in Starkville. Taylor led MSU to a 4-0 record to start this year before injury cut short his season.
Pete Thamel retweeted
I spent a Saturday with the finance bros, military vets, Manhattan attorneys, Navy fans and bachelor parties running the triple option aboard the West Point gameday ferry.
For Veterans Day, a story on the best
CFB tailgate you've probably never heard of: espn.com/college-football/st…
Utah highest CFP ranking in school history
Indiana drops 5 spots on a bye to No. 9
Miami drops 6 spots to No. 7 after losing to Notre Dame
Notre Dame jumps 6 spots to No. 5
Alabama jumps two spots to No. 3
17. South Carolina
16. Oregon
15. Iowa
14. Houston
13. Wake Forest
12. Texas Tech
IN
*No. 24 Boise State
11. Kentucky
10. BYU
9. Indiana
8. Tennessee
7. Miami
6. Texas
5. Notre Dame
4. UCLA
3. Alabama
2. Utah
1. Georgia
Pete Thamel retweeted
The Champions Classic is almost here 👀
@jeffborzello and @MedcalfByESPN break down what you need to know before the games tip off TONIGHT at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN 🏀 spr.ly/6010ByDkur
Pete Thamel retweeted
A Statement Saturday for @CollegeGameDay
🍀 2.9M viewers from @NotreDame
🏆 5th-most-watched show EVER
📈 Most-watched Week 10 EVER
🏈 7 of the top 10 regular-season episodes EVER are from this season
💪 Final hour: Up 257% vs the competition
From College Football Live today. Update on Michigan’s QB Derby. Expect both Tommy Carr and Bryce Underwood to play at Oregon, with Carr the expected starter, per sources.
Rich Clark on @PatMcAfeeShow.
"It was a long journey to get to the 24-team College Football Playoff..
We all really liked 12 but I think we've landed in a really good place..
I think the expanded playoff gives a lot of teams a real opportunity" ~ Rich Clark #PMSLive
Here's the ESPN story on Greg Schiano's return to Rutgers for the 2027 season. AD Keli Zinn says the results are “not acceptable” amid a 2-7 season. She's met with Schiano about what will change moving forward. “I do believe he has an opportunity in the off-season to really strengthen the roster and make changes to position us to a higher level of competitiveness for next season.” espn.com/college-football/st…
Wofford head coach Shawn Watson is retiring, the school announced. Per an ESPN source, this was completely Watson's decision. He initiated the conversations with administrators over the weekend. He's a longtime college assistant at places like Nebraska, Louisville and Texas.
The decision comes after recent meetings with athletic director Keli Zinn to lay out a plan for improvement next year. Schiano’s contract runs through the 2029 season, and he’d have been owed $18.6 million if he’d been fired this year.
Sources: Rutgers coach Greg Schiano will return to coach the Scarlet Knights in 2027. It will be his 19th season as head coach at the school, which have come over two stints. Rutgers is 2-7 and amid back-to-back losing seasons. Schiano has the most wins (101) in school history.
Here's the @espn story on the nation's leading passer, Braden Atkinson, joining the nation's leading receiver, Jesse Legree, in signing to return to Oregon State next year. Significant news for JaMarcus Shephard and GM Eron Hodges to build for 2027. espn.com/college-football/st…
