Ex-Florida QB Kitna is headed to UAB after serving probation
Former Florida QB Jalen Kitna is heading to UAB in an attempt to resurrect his football career.
Kitna has been admitted to UAB after serving six months of probation as part of a plea deal that included dismissal of five felony child pornography charges. Kitna received six months of probation in July after pleading guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct, seconddegree misdemeanors.
Kitna, the son of retired NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, is set to play for former NFL quarterback and current Blazers coach Trent Dilfer.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to enroll at UAB and be a part of Coach Dilfer's football program,” Kitna said in a statement. “Moreover, I am deeply appreciative of my parents' unwavering support and guidance. Rest assured, I am fully committed to exemplifying the qualities of a model citizen and student athlete.”
Dilfer said UAB and the athletic department “have performed extensive due diligence” on Kitna. Florida dismissed Kitna after his arrest on Nov. 30, 2022, on five felony child pornography charges — two counts of distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography.
Police in Gainesville, Florida, said Kitna shared two images of young girls being sexually abused via a social media platform. Officers later searched his phone and found three more images of two nude young girls in a shower — photos that had been saved to Kitna's phone a year earlier. The report did not estimate the ages of the girls.
“Initial headlines can be hard to get past, even if they don't hold up to the scrutiny of the legal process over time,” Dilfer said.
Kitna said he is in “good standing” with Florida and received offers to play for other schools as well, describing UAB as “a perfect fit for me.”
“While the initial headlines surrounding my arrest painted an inaccurate picture of my actions, it is important to note that the felony charges against me were ultimately dropped,”
Kitna said. “I acknowledge that I made naive decisions that I deeply regret and have since learned from. As a result, I took responsibility by pleading no-contest to second-degree misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges related to those decisions.”
UAB athletic director Mark Ingram said that Kitna “has committed to continued engagement with a robust support system at home and on campus.” QB Morris, in portal, still with Washington
The backup quarterbacks for Washington and Texas both entered the transfer portal in the leadup to the College Football Playoff.
Maalik Murphy has left Texas, with the blessing of his coaches, for a new opportunity at Duke, leaving freshman Arch Manning as the backup to Quinn Ewers in Sugar Bowl on Monday night.
Dylan Morris remains QB2 for the Huskies.
“I was very hesitant with doing this,” Morris said. “The last thing I want to do is be a distraction to the team.”
That hasn't been the case.
Morris said he spoke to Washington coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb about what he wanted to do and they were supportive.
“It was very mutual between me staying, like, I wanted to stay and they wanted me to stay as well,” Morris said.
Morris said Grubb excused him from some early December practices to visit another school.
“It's a definitely unique experience,” he said.
Morris is a fifth-year player who still has another year of eligibility, thanks to the NCAA providing a bonus year to those who were in school during the 2020 pandemic season.
He was a highly touted in-state recruit for the Huskies in 2019 and became the starter in 2021, when Washington struggled to a 4-8 record. He passed for 2,458 yards with 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
When DeBoer took over in 2022, he brought in former Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. as a transfer and Morris
has been relegated to backup the last two seasons to the Heisman Trophy finalist.
“I talked to the team a little bit when this kind of was going down and every single guy on the team was nodding their head when I was sharing how we were going to approach this deal and it's because we all love him. We know he loves us,” DeBoer said of Morris. “And, you know, he's still one of the first guys in the building each and every day, even right now, just like it's always been, and he's ready to step on the field, do what he needs to do to help us win a football game.” Coach has new gig, not let leaving Texas
Texas linebackers coach Jeff Choate is pulling double-duty these days.
Choate, 53, was named head coach at Nevada on Dec. 4, but he's staying with the Longhorns until their playoff run is over.
“Well, we're such control people. I've got to trust people there to do the things I'm asking them to do. And it's hard sometimes to not have that control,” he said.
Choate said the key is putting his phone away when he is doing his current job of trying to prepare the Longhorns to play Washington in the CFP semifinal on Monday night.
“And then I pick that dadgum phone up and I get to get to work, (for Nevada),” he said.
Choate was a longtime assistant, including stints at Boise State, Florida and Washington, before getting his first head coaching job at FCS Montana State.
He spent four seasons in Bozeman, building the Bobcats into an FCS playoff team before becoming an assistant again at Texas.
Choate said he made a calculated move back to get FBS, even if it meant a step back.
“I felt like athletic directors and administrators were having a hard time making that stretch from an FCS to an FBS guy.” Choate said. “And so you know at some point you got to start playing chess, not checkers.”
Nevada is coming off consecutive 2-10 seasons, which led to Ken Wilson being fired after just two years as head coach.
AP TOP 25
No. 2 Kansas 86, Wichita St. 67
No. 3 Houston 81, Penn 42
Florida Gulf Coast 72, No. 7 FAU 68 No. 10 Marquette 72, No. 22 Creighton 67 No. 14 BYU 94, Wyoming 68
No. 16 Duke 106, Queens 69
No. 19 Memphis 81, Austin Peay 70 No. 20 James Madison 82, Texas St. 65
Oregon 64, UCLA 59
Oregon St. 86, USC 70
CS Northridge 84, Long Beach St. 68 E. Washington 87, Sacramento St. 61 Grand Canyon 73, Louisiana Tech 70 Montana 76, Idaho St. 68
N. Colorado 92, N. Arizona 77 New Mexico St. 66, Cal Baptist 61 Pacific 80, Cal Maritime 66 Portland St. 77, Idaho 72
S. Utah 95, Antelope Valley 78
San Francisco 92, MVSU 42
UC Davis 71, Cal Poly 46
UC Irvine 75, Cal St. Bakersfield 56 UC Riverside 79, UC Santa Barbara 77 Utah Tech 96, FIU 92, OT
Weber St. 86, Montana St. 64 Yale 66, Santa Clara 58
Boston U. 74, Merrimack 63 Cornell 77, Colgate 64
Iona 69, Harvard 60
Lehigh 65, Marist 58
Navy 77, William & Mary 65 Princeton 84, Delaware 82 Rhode Island 82, Northeastern 71 Rutgers 59, Stonehill 58
St. John's 84, Hofstra 79
St. Peter's 67, Bucknell 58 Syracuse 81, Pittsburgh 73 Towson 97, Arcadia 46 UMass 79, Siena 66 Wagner 68, Manhattan 56
Alabama 101, Liberty 56
Auburn 101, Chattanooga 66 Florida 97, Quinnipiac 72
George Mason 94, NC A&T 69 Georgia 93, Alabama A&M 73 Georgia Southern 88, Southern Miss. 67 Lipscomb 78, Florida St. 75 Richmond 59, Lafayette 38
SE Louisiana 87, Loyola (NO) 64 South Alabama 61, Old Dominion 59 South Carolina 94, Florida A&M 62 Tennessee St. 90, UALR 82
Troy 72, Coastal Carolina 65
VCU 87, Gardner-Webb 73 Vanderbilt 69, Dartmouth 53
W. Carolina 90, King (Tenn.) 62 Wake Forest 86, Virginia Tech 63
Davidson 72, Ohio 69
Dayton 78, Longwood 69 DePaul 70, Chicago St. 58 Loyola Chicago 73, Cent. Michigan 35 Michigan St. 87, Indiana St. 75 Missouri 92, Cent. Arkansas 59 21 —
Arkansas 106, UNC-Wilmington 90 Seattle 73, UTEP 61
Texas A&M 79, Prairie View 54
AP TOP 25
No. 1 South Carolina 73, East Carolina 36 No. 2 UCLA 71, No. 6 USC 64
No. 4 Iowa 94, Minnesota 71
No. 7 LSU 110, Jacksonville 68
No. 8 Colorado 76, No. 12 Utah 65
No. 10 Baylor 85, No. 5 Texas 79
No. 11 Kansas St. 66, Cincinnati 41 Michigan 69, No. 17 Ohio St. 60
No. 21 Creighton 67, St. John's 56
No. 23 TCU 81, BYU 67
No. 25 West Virginia 85, Kansas 60
Cal Poly 57, UC Davis 54 Colorado 76, Utah 65
Fresno St. 59, Air Force 49 Hawaii 59, CS Fullerton 49
Idaho 61, Portland St. 55
Long Beach St. 76, CS Northridge 58 N. Arizona 76, N. Colorado 72 New Mexico 69, Nevada 59
San Diego St. 74, Colorado St. 71, OT Santa Clara 65, Arizona St. 55 UC Irvine 71, CS Bakersfield 48 UC Santa Barbara 64, UC Riverside 56 UNLV 107, Utah St. 68 Wyoming 61, Boise St. 47
Saturday's results Peach Bowl 22 — 6 Furlongs. Maiden Claiming. 3 to 5 year olds. Claiming Price $20,000. Purse $23,000.
Horse, Jockey Wt P St 1⁄4 1⁄2 Str Fin Odds Grand Tiger, T Baze 124 4 4 2-21⁄2 1-hd 1-1⁄2 1-1⁄2 1.2 The Giants Candy, Vrenzuela 124 6 2 1-hd 2-1 2-1 2-1⁄2 1.5 Mongolian Gold, Aguilar 122 5 6 6 5-2 4-hd 3-3⁄4 19.4 King Zog, Gutierrez 122 2 1 3-1 3-41⁄2 3-3 4-11⁄2 3.8 Bluegrass Ryder, Alsagoor 122 1 5 5-31⁄2 4-2 5-10 5-23 14.7 Venom, Frey 122 3 3 4-3 6 6 6 34.4
Time — :21.66 :44.45 :56.79 1:09.96 Cloudy. Good.
4 Grand Tiger 4.40 2.40 2.20
6 The Giants Candy 2.60 2.60 5 Mongolian Gold 4.20
Daily Double (4-4) paid $28.40; Daily Double Pool $69,334. Exacta (4-6) paid $6.70. Superfecta (4-6-5-2) paid $9.31. Trifecta (4-6-5) paid $40.90.
Winner — Grand Tiger Ch.g.4 by Smiling Tiger out of Grand Yodeler, by Swiss Yodeler. Bred by Premier Thoroughbreds LLC (CA). Trainer: Brian J. Koriner. Owner: Jay Em Ess Stable.
Favorite
Rams at Denver at Baltimore at Houston at Indianapolis at Jacksonville at Tampa Bay San Fran. at Buffalo at Chicago at Philadelphia at Seattle at Kansas City at Minnesota
Line (O/U)
Underdog
6 (431⁄2) at NY Giants 31⁄2 (361⁄2) Chargers 3 (461⁄2) Miami 31⁄2 (431⁄2) Tennessee 31⁄2 (421⁄2) Las Vegas 41⁄2 (361⁄2) Carolina 21⁄2 (421⁄2) New Orleans 14 (491⁄2) at Washington 14 (401⁄2) New England 21⁄2 (371⁄2) Atlanta 111⁄2 (48) Arizona 41⁄2 (411⁄2) Pittsburgh 61⁄2 (431⁄2) Cincinnati 11⁄2 (431⁄2) Green Bay
Underdog