Signing day storylines
It’s a tight race for No. 1 with the usual contenders: Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State. There is one surprise. Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M are No. 1 for the time being in 247Sports.com’s rankings. The Aggies (four) trail only Georgia (five) for the most five-star recruits, led by second-overall prospect and defensive lineman Walter Nolen and secondranked quarterback Conner Weigman. Texas A&M is also firmly in the mix for a pair of five-star linebackers, Harold Perkins and Shemar Stewart. Texas A&M has never finished with the No. 1 class in the country — its best was No. 4 in 2019, Fisher’s first full class there.
Michigan State had the kindest gesture of the day, by announcing Tate Myre as an honorary Spartan accompanied by a video from coach Mel Tucker recognizing the teenager’s heroism. Myre, a 16-year-old junior linebacker/running back, tragically lost his life in the recent Oxford High School (Mich.) shooting. Myre was a Michigan State fan who has been described as a “standout” player. He died trying to protect his classmates, according to a petition launched to rename the Oxford football stadium in his name.
Year 2 of Greg Schiano’s second stint in Piscataway was a slight disappointment in that Rutgers fell one win short of qualifying for a bowl game after closing out the season with lopsided losses to Penn State and Maryland. But the program remains pointed in the right direction. Recruiting — the lifeblood of any college team
— has never been better. The Scarlet Knights class is ranked 27th nationally, which would be their second-best ever, after the 2013 group that was ranked 23rd and sixth in the Big Ten. It features eight in-state recruits, led by four-star offensive lineman Jacob Allen and fourstar Brooklyn linebacker Moses Walker of Erasmus Hall, the No. 1 prospect in New York. Also, keep in mind this class was supposed to include quarterback of the future Gavin Wimsatt, who ended up enrolling a year early. Greg Schiano