Travis Dye pens farewell to Oregon, USC as college football career ends

His college career might have ended sooner than expected, but Travis Dye left his mark on two college football programs during his five-year career. He made sure to thank both in a Friday night tweet.

Dye started his career at Oregon, where he rushed for 3,111 yards and 21 touchdowns over four years. He then entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer after the 2021 season and landed at USC, where he played a key role as Lincoln Riley installed his offense. He ran for 844 yards and nine touchdowns before a leg injury cut his season short.

Now that he’s out of eligibility, Dye is preparing to enter the 2023 NFL Draft — and he won’t forget his time as a college running back.

“These past 5 years have been nothing but a blessing!” Dye tweeted. “Thank you to the University of Oregon and The University of Southern California for EVERYTHING! Onto the next.”

After Dye suffered the injury against Colorado, Riley immediately predicted he’d have a great NFL career. But he also discussed the impact Dye had during his short stay in Los Angeles after Riley arrived from Oklahoma. He changed the offensive scheme, and Dye was a big part of that.

Considering the early conversations the two had after Dye entered the portal, Riley wasn’t surprised.

“You never know until you get in the fire with somebody, but even our initial conversations with the kid, you could tell he was wired to want to come win,” Riley said. “His motivation for coming here, he didn’t have to. He was an established player, he was at a good program. This wasn’t like some deal where it’s like, ‘I’m leaving a program that hasn’t won in a year. I haven’t had much success.’

“He, kind of like a lot of these guys, saw, ‘Man, I can kind of go back home and this program I grew up watching and supporting, was so close right here. I can come be a part of this in my last deal. What a chance for me to go out and what a chance for me to make an impact.’ He had that from day one. He was team first, all-in. He’s like Shane and a bunch of these other guys that have led the charge that way. I can easily say we wouldn’t be sitting where we are without him. His impact has been that strong.”