Previously: B1G East, B1G West Part 2

Today is part three, the final piece, of our offseason series looking at the B1G football teams and how they handled the transfer portal and NFL Draft declarations. The final teams we have to check off are Nebraska and Minnesota, plus the four new teams. Since I am not as intimately familiar with the new teams, I won't go into as much detail as I have with the other teams, but will introduce these squads with a quick overview of their spring rosters and feel of the programs. 

 

Nebraska 

EXITS 

Nebraska's often-cluttered QB room got some clarity this offseason, as the Huskers saw both Jeff Sims and Chubba Purdy hit the transfer portal. Sims has yet to find a landing spot, but Purdy has signed on to Nevada. Elsewhere on the offense the Huskers saw eligibility expire for RB Anthony Grant and guards Nouredin Nouili and Ethan Piper, as well as WRs Billy Kemp IV and Marcus Washington. But that's mostly it, as Big Red will be able to roll over most of the rest of their production, including three RBs (two of which, Rahmir Johnson and Gabe Ervin, missed most of the season with injury), QB Heinrich Haarberg, both TEs, three tackles, and several pieces on the OL. 

Defensively they lost some pieces in the LB room and the secondary, but again come out in relatively solid position, which should allow for Matt Rhule to have a stronger second season. Starting safety Omar Brown and corner Quinton Newsome, both solid college players, have exhausted their eligibility and are moving on to further endeavors, but two separate corners (Tommi Hill/Malcolm Hartzog) and safeties (Singleton/Gifford) who gained experience this season return. Starting LB Luke Reimer moves on and LB Nick Henrich has chosen to retire after a litany of injuries, but the DL returns intact outside of reserve tackle Blaise Gunnerson, who is also retiring. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: lots of names]

from our Hello of Mazzcua some five years ago

ACQUISITIONS 

Nebraska didn't go crazy in the portal, but added solid players at a number of positions that plug holes on the roster. Perhaps the biggest story is the position they didn't add, though, as Nebraska has yet to bring in a QB, leaving 5* true freshman Dylan Raiola to fight with Haarberg for the job, unless the Huskers hit the portal in the spring window (quite possible). For some time it seemed that Kyle McCord would be headed to Nebraska, but he eventually backed off and chose Syracuse (unclear if that was related to Nebraska's late flip of Raiola from Georgia). The QB situation is something to watch in spring ball. 

As for the players they did add, they picked up four on offense who figure to play roles. Nebraska was badly in need of help at WR after the players they lost from a position that was already subpar and they picked up two players to provide that help. Jahmal Banks has been a good receiver at Wake Forest and he transfers in to instantly be the #1 option for the Huskers. Isaiah Neyor follows him from Texas, where he mostly sat on the bench after arriving last offseason from Wyoming, where he graded out very favorable in PFF's metrics. Also in skill position talent, Nebraska picks up RB Dante Dowdell from Oregon, a top 200 recruit in the 2023 class who didn't see a path to playing time in Eugene and now should have much more of one in Lincoln. 

Their final offensive pickup is a name that should be vaguely familiar if you are a hardcore recruiting follower, G Micah Mazzcua. Once a part of Michigan's 2020 class, Mazzcua flipped late in the process to Baylor, where he played before transferring to Florida. Mazzcua has been a multi-year starter for the Gators in the talented SEC, posting solid PFF grades in the process, so he would appear to be a decent plug-and-play option for Nebraska on the OL. Pivoting to the defense, Nebraska adds S Blye Hill from FCS St. Francis, where he played just one season and thus profiles more as a depth/developmental piece for Nebraska. EDGE/OLB Stephen Thompson arrives from Syracuse after being a multi-year contributor and will add to Nebraska's cadre of DL talent on what should be a good defense in 2024. 

 

[Patrick Barron]

Minnesota 

EXITS

The Gophers will look different on offense next season because QB Athan Kaliakmanis transferred to Rutgers, covered in a previous article in this series. Kaliakmanis was a bad quarterback so it's not the biggest loss, but it does mean things will look different. The passcatchers will also be different for the new QB, with longtime TE Brevyn Spann-Ford and even longer-time WR Chris Autman-Bell departing, plus transfer WR Corey Crooms from WMU. The other offensive WMU transfer they got last offseason, RB Sean Tyler, is out of eligibility as well, but he faded from the RB rotation as the season went along and Darius Taylor emerged. Taylor, 4/5ths of the OL (only C Nathan Boe departs), and lead WR Daniel Jackson do come back, which is still a decent starting spot for the 2024 Gopher offense. 

On defense, the losses were also pretty minimal. There was one big one, star S Tyler Nubin, who is off to the NFL like everyone expected. Big, but it shouldn't have blindsided anyone. LB Ryan Selig, also a one-time WMU transfer, also heads on to future endeavors as do two more starters on the defense, CB Tre'Von Jones and DT Kyler Baugh. Some attrition, but a lot of pieces on the defense come back, 8/11 starters and many contributors at all three positional groups. A new defensive coordinator will be coaching them in 2024, since DC Joe Rossi bolted for MSU and new head coach Jonathan Smith. 

The new QB in the twin cities [Will Fudge/UNH Athletics]

ACQUISITIONS 

The new QB in Minneapolis is Max Brosmer, who was a top notch FCS QB at University of New Hampshire. Probably the most interesting new QB in the B1G, I'm curious to see how Brosmer's abilities translate to a much higher level of football. He'll be given a strong RB room to work with, as the returning Darius Taylor gets help in the form of Marcus Major, a rotational back at Oklahoma, and Sieh Bangura, who was a good MAC RB at Ohio. Two new WRs arrive as well to help shore up the depth chart, starting with Cristian Driver from Penn State, a former 4* in 2022 who hasn't seen the field much in his time with the Nittanys. The other is Jaylen Varner, who started his career at Mizzou in 2019 but has since been playing at D2 Emporia State. Outside of Brosmer, these portal pickups were mostly about building up depth beneath the starters on offense. 

On defense, we ought to start with the new defensive coordinator. That would be Corey Heatherman, who spent the last two seasons as the linebackers coach for Rutgers. This hiring continues the two year tradition of Minnesota and Rutgers having a strange relationship stealing players and coaches from each other in the offseason. Heatherman has DC experience, having called plays for James Madison back when JMU was an FCS school, before being hired to Schiano's staff. Given that the Dukes have been a very successful program in the last 5 years and given that Schiano is a good defensive coach with well coached linebackers, Heatherman's on-paper credentials seem very solid. 

What he'll have to work with is mostly the same defense plus a couple depth pieces. Ethan Robinson is a corner who was good at the FCS level with Bucknell and now joins Minnesota's secondary room. Jai'Onte' McMillan spent a few seasons at TCU as a safety/corner, a background character at best, and presumably will reprise the role in Minneapolis. Not a whole lot in the way of flash or splash but that's because the defensive roster was pretty solid left intact. 

 

[Denis Poroy/AP]

Introducing... the PAC-4 

Now we move on to the four new B1G teams, USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington. As I mentioned at the top I will be doing shorter summaries quickly introducing each team and what their rosters are looking like heading into spring: 

USC: The big story for the Trojans is the QB battle and a re-made defense. Miller Moss, who dazzled in USC's bowl game, heads into spring ready to battle with UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava, who stole the job from Doug Brumfield and performed quite well for the Rebels during their dream season. Whoever wins will get the reins to a talented and well-designed USC offense. The OL looks rather iffy after it was very iffy last season, but the skill position talent is good, from RB transfer Jo'Quavious Marks (Mississippi State) to the electric WR Zachariah Branch. 

As many know, the biggest story of USC Football is their disastrous defense, two years of ineptitude under Alex Grinch that submarined Caleb Williams' career (OL didn't help him either). Lincoln Riley finally admitted it was time to make changes and boy have changes come. The only defensive coach left standing is Old Friend Shaun Nua, still coaching the defensive ends. A new DC was brought in from arch-rival UCLA, D'Antony Lynn, who brings with him lots of NFL experience (including with the Ravens!) and one year of coordinating an excellent defense last year for the Bruins. He's handed a defensive roster with tons of new pieces, including a remodeled secondary with a projected four new transfer starters, plus a new projected starter at LB (from Oregon State). The defensive line room is more similar to last season, but the big story in spring ball will be about how quickly this new-look defense, both roster and staff, can come together and gel. 

 

Oregon's new QB [Oklahoma Athletics]

Oregon: The Ducks figure to be the best of the new B1G schools, coming off a strong 2023 season that saw them narrowly miss out on a College Football Playoff berth. Any losses to the pros that Dan Lanning's team suffered have been offset by reeling in top tier portal pickups, plug-and-play projected starters. That begins at QB, where Bo Nix is replaced by Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel, who should be a perfectly fine college starter in the B1G. Last year's offense was one of the very best in CFB and while Bucky Irving (RB) and Troy Franklin (WR) head to the draft, the positional groups at those two spots are still pretty deep, especially after adding WR Evan Stewart from Texas A&M. Both TEs are back and a lot of production on the OL return as well, plus picking up Indiana G Matthew Bedford. 

It was the defense that lagged behind the offense last year for Oregon and they will have to build it up while stomaching a fair bit of attrition. This is where the portal comes into play, as the Nike money was able to nicely reshape the roster and plug a lot of holes. They added two legit corners, including Jabbar Muhammad from rival Washington, picked up a nickel from Duke, and a safety from Kansas State, four new starters out of the portal to pair with their one returner in the secondary. Oregon also added a DT from Houston, while returning more production on the DL and a couple LBs to tie this defense together. Like USC it may take time for all the new pieces to fit, but these two schools reeled in seemingly quality players to plug all the holes they had, giving them (on-paper) the talent to have a good defense to pair with what should be a strong offense. 

 

Remember this? Yeah, that entire UW roster is obliterated

Washington: The other two new schools both underwent coaching changes and no coaching change was more dramatic in all of college football than Washington. Just days after losing the national championship to Michigan, Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer bolted for Alabama, detonating the roster that had just gone 14-1 in astonishing fashion. A lot of players were already going to head to the draft already, your Mike Penix and Rome Odunze types, but gobs of talent flowed out through the portal as well, leaving this roster nearly unrecognizable from the one that competed in Houston. New HC and Old Friend Jedd Fisch takes over after making the jump from Arizona, and Jedd's got his work cut out for him in year one. One note on the coordinators: Fisch is bringing his OC with him from Arizona but is hiring Stephen Belichick from New England to be DC. 

Fisch did do nicely to keep QB Will Rogers, the Mississippi State transfer that DeBoer had recruited to be next year's QB, which should give them a decent floor. He also brought a talented RB with him from Tucson, Jonah Coleman. The issue is that Washington currently looks very thin on the OL, adding one transfer from SDSU but otherwise promoting backups from the depth chart, several of whom are redshirt freshmen who ideally you'd like to wait another year or two. A similar thing is true at the moment at WR, where it's a lot of internal promotion (plus adding one Cal transfer), as UW is forced to dip deeper into the depth chart. 

The defense may have made it out a little bit better than the offense in terms of losses, but still got gutted in the secondary and along the DL. Fisch is bringing a pair of EDGEs with him and for now, those players plus what was left over at tackle seem like the depth chart. A similar situation happened with the DBs, transfers from Indiana and Arizona being added to the remaining pieces. There's more continuity at LB but with a new defensive coaching staff, this will all look different. I don't think Washington could've done any better considering the circumstances but there will likely be growing pains in year one as a new staff handles a patchwork roster in the wake of the nuclear blast destruction in Seattle. 

[Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times]

UCLA: The Bruins lost their head coach, Chip Kelly, to Ohio State, but there had been rumors about Kelly's firing for a few months. I assume he would've stayed on another season but maybe not the end of the world to cut to the chase and get it over with. The new head coach is DeShaun Foster, oddly being elevated from running backs coach to the head coaching role, though at age 44 you figure he will be an upbeat and energetic face for the program. Fixing the offense, which was subpar last season, will be his first task and he's hired former Kansas City and Washington OC Eric Bienemy to run the show. There's significant continuity, including QB Ethan Garbers, RB TJ Harden, the top three WRs, and 4/5ths of the OL. Improvement will be needed across the board from the individual pieces (Garbers especially) but it's nice to have a lot of familiar pieces. 

Last year's Bruins defense was very strong, which is a reason for the old DC being poached by USC. Kelly promoted Ikaika Malloe from DL/LB coach to DC before leaving the program and Foster is keeping him there, so there shouldn't be any scheme shakeup. The EDGE room sustained heavy losses, most notable of which being likely first round pass rusher Laiatu Latu, but DT/LB look pretty similar. They're plugging holes in the secondary with transfers but you'd figure UCLA's defense looks respectable this season. I'm not terribly high on this squad but with a bit better of an offense, shooting for 7-5/8-4 again seems pretty reasonable in the new conference.