Transfer portal notebook: Two starting QBs already are in the portal

Two quarterbacks who opened the season as starters already are in the transfer portal: Boise State’s Hank Bachmeier and Colorado’s Brendon Lewis.

The circumstances of their portal entrances are different. Student-athletes are able to enter the portal only during specific windows pertaining to their sport’s seasons, but there are exceptions for those who have graduated and for those whose coaches have been fired. Bachmeier graduated earlier this year, and Lewis was allowed to enter because his coach (in his case, Karl Dorrell) was fired.

Bachmeier and Lewis are the first of what should be a large number of quarterbacks in the portal. Expect a relative flood of quarterbacks when the portal window opens December 5, for all sorts of reasons – fired coaches, lost the starting job, buried on the bench, touted incoming freshman at the position.

Bachmeier, from the L.A. suburbs, was a four-year starter who still has two seasons of eligibility remaining because of the NCAA’s so-called “COVID year” waiver; he saved one year of eligibility by not playing in more than four games this season.

Lewis, meanwhile, has three years of eligibility. He played in one game as a true freshman, in the Alamo Bowl, in 2020, then started all 12 games last season. Lewis, from the Dallas Metroplex, has played in two games this season. He opened the season as the starter, didn’t play at all in the second game, played as a backup in the third game and hasn’t played since.

Other than avoiding turnovers – Lewis finishes his CU career with 156 consecutive passes without an interception, the second-longest streak in school history – Lewis’ tenure is not memorable. The Buffs were 4-8 last season and averaged only 18.8 points per game; they scored more than 20 just three times in 11 games against FBS opponents. The offense is worse this season: 14.5 points per game and zero games above 20.

To be fair, the offense’s poor performance certainly isn’t all on Lewis. Last season, the scheme and play-calling was lacking, and coordinator Darrin Chiaverini was fired. Not much has changed this season; the coordinator (and now interim coach) is Mike Sanford, who was fired from that role at Minnesota after last season.

Lewis doesn’t figure to be as hot a transfer commodity as Bachmeier and seemingly would fit best at the Group of 5 level. Regardless, given the number of transfer quarterbacks who have started games this season (almost 47 percent of Game 1 starting quarterbacks in the FBS ranks were transfers), both will get an opportunity elsewhere.

Position change pays off

Two of the better transfer tight ends nationally – East Carolina’s Ryan Jones and Hawaii’s Caleb Phillips – are guys who played linebacker at their previous schools.

Phillips, a fifth-year senior, played in 21 career games over three seasons (2018-20) at Stanford, finishing his Cardinal career with four tackles. He played linebacker and tight end in high school in the San Diego area, and has focused on tight end at Hawaii. Phillips won the starting job last season and has kept it this season; he has 13 receptions for 174 yards for the struggling Rainbow Warriors.

Jones’ story is a bit more interesting, as he actually started three games at linebacker for Oklahoma in 2018. He is a sixth-year senior: He redshirted as a true freshman in 2017, then played in 18 games the next two seasons for the Sooners, finishing his OU career with 29 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and an interception.

Jones started both ways in high school in Charlotte and was a consensus four-star recruit. He transferred after the 2019 season wanting to give offense a shot. He sat out the 2020 season under NCAA transfer rules, then became a productive backup tight end last season (37 receptions, five TDs). Jones has started three of the Pirates’ first seven games this season and has 29 receptions for 304 yards and four TDs in ECU’s prolific passing attack.

NFL scouts have noticed his production and physical skills. He projects as a fullback/H-back at the next level.

“I’ve really challenged Ryan to continue to improve his blocking on the perimeter and his blocking in the run game and in the box,” ECU coach Mike Houston said in his weekly teleconference Tuesday. “He’s a hybrid tight end. His future is going to be that. He’s got to continue to improve on that and build on that.”

Jones can make some national noise – and ECU will determine the course of its season – in the next four games: vs. UCF on Saturday, followed by at BYU on October 28, at Cincinnati on November 11 and vs. Houston on November 19.

Transfers in the spotlight

There are numerous interesting portal stories with this week’s schedule. Here are five.

+ Cal LB Jackson Sirmon vs. Washington: Sirmon was Washington’s leading tackler last season after finishing second in that category in 2020. But he transferred to Cal following last season after a new staff was hired at Washington – and to play for his dad, Peter, who is Cal’s defensive coordinator. Sirmon leads the Golden Bears and is third in the Pac-12 in tackles this season. Sirmon is especially good against the run, but Washington is a pass-first team this season (57 percent of its plays from scrimmage have been pass attempts).

+ Kansas C Mike Novitsky vs. Baylor NT Siaki Ika: Both began their careers elsewhere – Nowitzky at Buffalo and Ika at LSU. Ika is one of the best at his position in the nation, while Novitsky is one of the best transfer centers in the nation (a surprisingly deep group). KU’s rushing attack has been consistently good this season, even without injured QB Jalon Daniels. But Ika’s strength and sheer size (6-4, 358) makes it difficult to run between the tackles against Baylor.

+ Texas QB Quinn Ewers vs. Oklahoma State’s secondary: Ewers was steady last week in a win over Iowa State (just 172 yards, but three TDs) one week after shredding Oklahoma’s secondary. Oklahoma State’s secondary has given up a ton of yards (301.0 per game, 126^th nationally), but that’s a bit misleading. Cowboys opponents have thrown it a lot (42.8 attempts per game, second-most nationally, behind Tennessee) for two reasons. One is that opponents often are trying to come from behind; the second is that Oklahoma State’s run defense has been solid. Can the Cowboys slow Bijan Robinson (and Roschon Johnson)? Regardless, Ewers, who transferred from Ohio State in the offseason, needs to be sharp.

+ The transfer QBs in Cincinnati-SMU: This is Cincinnati’s Ben Bryant (Eastern Michigan transfer) vs. SMU’s Tanner Mordecai (Oklahoma transfer). Bryant plays for the team with the better defense, while Mordecai plays for the team with the better receivers. Both have thrown 15 TD passes and six picks; Mordecai averages 336.0 yards per game, while Bryant is at 260.2. SMU already has one AAC loss, and it will be difficult to win the league with two conference losses. Cincinnati is 2-0 in the league. Worth noting: Mordecai had the least-productive game of his SMU career in last season’s loss to the Bearcats, throwing for just 66 yards (on 26 attempts). But that Cincy secondary was one of the best in the nation. It’s not as good this season.

+ The transfer QBs in LSU-Ole Miss: This one matches two former Pac-12 quarterbacks – LSU’s Jayden Daniels transferred from Arizona State and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart from USC. Daniels is coming off a great game (he accounted for six TDs and 393 yards of total offense), but that came against Florida’s awful defense. Ole Miss’ defense has been relatively stingy; then again, other than a game against Kentucky, the Rebels’ schedule has been mighty soft. Dart has a lot more help offensively than Daniels – Ole Miss’ running backs and line are much better than their LSU counterparts – who needs another big game if the Tigers is to upset the seventh-ranked Rebels.