McCord picks Orange to continue his career
Quarterback Kyle McCord, who started every game this season for Ohio State, announced Sunday he is transferring to Syracuse.
McCord passed for 3,170 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions in his third season at Ohio State but first as a starter for the seventh-ranked Buckeyes (11-1). He was a four-star recruit out of Philadelphia and a high school teammate of Ohio State All-America receiver and Heisman Trophy finalist Marvin Harrison Jr.
McCord is the latest transfer addition for new Syracuse coach Fran Brown. The former Georgia assistant coach has also received transfer commitments from former Bulldogs receivers Zeed Haynes and Jackson Meeks to join the Orange next year.
Brown is a New Jersey native who previously worked at Temple and Rutgers before spending two seasons with Georgia.
The Bulldogs, who won the past two national championships but fell short of reaching the College Football Playoff this year after losing to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference title game this month, had a total of 15 scholarship players enter the transfer portal during the December window, including linebacker Jamon DumasJohnson, a finalist for the Butkus Award in 2022, and freshman cornerback A.J. Harris, a former five-star recruit.
Dumas-Johnson’s 2023 season was cut short by a forearm injury he sustained during a Nov. 4 victory over Missouri. He finished with 34 tackles, including 5.5 for loss and 3.5 sacks.
CJ Allen stepped into the lineup in place of Dumas-Johnson, recording 24 tackles and earning a pair of SEC freshman of the week awards over the final four games.
Harris was one of the top prospects in the 2023 recruiting class, but he decided to move on after seeing action in just seven games.
Ole Miss also had a busy weekend in the transfer portal, adding former Florida defensive end Princely Umanmielen and two former Tennessee players, defensive end Tyler Baron and defensive back Tamarion McDonald.
Other notable transfer commitments announced by the players Sunday included:
› Former Toledo quarterback Dequan Finn, who was the MidAmerican Conference player of the year after throwing for 2,657 yards and 22 touchdowns and running for 563 yards and seven scores, committed to Baylor.
› Former Utah quarterback Nate Johnson, who played in eight games as a freshman this season, committed to Vanderbilt. Johnson threw for 499 yards and three scores and ran 235 and four.
› All-Ivy League defensive lineman Joey Slackman from Penn said he is heading to Florida.
› Football Championship Subdivision AllAmerica receiver Dymere Miller from Monmouth committed to Rutgers.
› Former Illinois running back Reggie Love III committed to Purdue. Love led Illinois in rushing with 567 yards in eight games.