USC lands three on AP All-America team
Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams was one of three USC players selected to The Associated Press All-America team released Monday.
Offensive lineman Andrew Vorhees and defensive end Tuli Tuipulotu joined their quarterback to give USC more players on the first team than any other school. The AP All-America team is presented by Regions Bank.
Williams, named last week the AP player of the year, became the eighth USC player to win the Heisman over the weekend after accounting for 47 touchdowns this season and leadking USC to the Pac-12 title game.
The Trojans also had center Brett Neilon and cornerback Mekhi Blackmon selected to the third team.
UCLA running back Zach Charbonnet was named to the secondteam offense.
Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. was selected to the first team for the second straight season, along with Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn, who made it as an all-purpose player for the second year in a row.
Joining Williams in the AllAmerica first-team backfield is Texas running back Bijan Robinson and Michigan’s Blake Corum.
Michigan also had center Olusegun Oluwatimi and kicker Jake Moody picked for the second team.
The second-ranked Wolverines face No. 3 TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31. The Horned Frogs’ lone first-team All-American
was defensive back Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson. TCU quarterback Max Duggan and guard Steve Avila made the second team.
Top-ranked Georgia placed two players on the first-team defense with tackle Jalen Carter and safety Christopher Smith. Tight end Brock Bowers and linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson were second-team selections.
The Bulldogs face No. 4 Ohio State in the CFP’s Peach Bowl semifinal on New Year’s Eve. Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. was Ohio State’s only first-team AllAmerican, but the Buckeyes added four players on the second team: Offensive tackles Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones, linebacker Tommy Eichenberg and safety Ronnie Hickman.
Mississippi State coach Leach in critical condition
Mississippi State coach Mike Leach was hospitalized in critical condition Monday, the day after what the university called “a personal health issue” at his home in Starkville forced him to be airlifted to a medical facility in Jackson.
Leach was admitted Sunday to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from the Mississippi State campus.
UMMC spokesman Marc Rolph said Monday in a text message to AP that Leach was listed in critical condition. The 61-year-old Leach was initially treated at Oktibbeha County Hospital in Starkville, the university said.
“Mike’s family is with him and appreciates the overwhelming expressions of love and support for the coach, but also requests that their family’s privacy be respected at this time,” the school said Monday.
Leach is in his third season at Mississippi State, with a 19-17 record. He acknowledged have a bout with pneumonia late in the season that was causing a persistent cough, but it was unclear whether his recent illness was related to his hospitalization.
Stanford taps Taylor as new head coach
The last time Stanford’s football program was searching for a coach to get it out of a rut, tapping the FCS ranks proved to be the right path.
Sixteen years after Jim Harbaugh arrived and helped build the Cardinal from a one-win team into a national power, Troy Taylor will try to do the same.
Stanford officially introduced Taylor as the replacement for David Shaw on Monday, hoping an innovative offensive coach with infectious energy can revive a program coming off back-to-back nine-loss seasons for the first time in school history.
“The potential here at Stanford is huge,” Taylor said. “They’ve done it. They’ve had great success here. I think you got to adapt and adjust.”
The job for Taylor is perhaps more challenging than the one Harbaugh faced when he took over for the 2007 season.
After a six-year run under Harbaugh and Shaw from 2010-15 that included three Rose Bowl trips and two other major bowl bids, the Cardinal have fallen off dramatically.
Stanford went 4-8 in 2019 and then had back-to-back 3-9 records the last two years after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
The recent downfall coincides with the loosening of transfer rules across major college football. The elite academic school has not been able to add to its roster through transfers as easily as most of its competition in the Pac-12 and nationally.
Taylor said he’s been given assurances that Stanford will loosen its restrictions on transfers and he will be able to supplement his roster with a handful of transfers each season as long as they are academically qualified.
“There’s players out there that fit that bill,” Taylor said. “You just got to reach out a little bit further and travel a little bit more miles and all those things. I’ve been assured that they’re open to bringing players in through the transfer portal as long as they fit the identity of Stanford.”
Taylor spent the last four seasons as head coach at Sacramento State, leading the Hornets to the FCS playoffs three times. Sacramento State did not field a team during 2020 because of the pandemic.
Sacramento State went 30-8 with a 23-1 record in a tough Big Sky Conference under Taylor. The Hornets lost a wild quarterfinal playoff game Friday night, 66-63 against Incarnate Word.
Athletic director Bernard Muir referenced the success of Harbaugh
and Bill Walsh as past great Stanford coaches without a pedigree of high-level head coaching success when they took over.
He believes Taylor has the attributes to forge a similar path.
“His name kept coming up,” Muir said. “The more research you did and then when you actually got the chance to get in front of them, you realize his passion and his energy is exactly what we needed in order to take the program, hopefully back to where we once were and hopefully even beyond.”
Taylor was offered the job late last week but didn’t want it announced until after Sacramento State’s FCS playoff game on Friday night.
Coastal Carolina QB enters transfer portal
Three-time Sun Belt Conference player of the year Grayson McCall said he’s entering the NCAA transfer portal to “explore other opportunities.”
McCall, the Chanticleers’ threeyear starter at quarterback, said in his social media post Monday he’ll play in the the Birmingham Bowl against East Carolina on Dec. 27 and “finish what I started.”
McCall set the NCAA mark for pass efficiency with a mark of 207.6 in 2021. He’s thrown for 8,019 yards, 78 touchdowns and eight interceptions over 33 games at Coastal Carolina.
He made 10 starts this season in leading the Chants to 9-3 mark and a Sun Belt East Division title. Coastal Carolina fell to Troy in the league title game, 45-26, on Dec. 3.