SAD NEWS;’ Georgia Loses Running Back To Unexpected College Football Program…
When former Georgia Bulldogs running back Andrew Paul selected the second-year Conference USA program as his future home on Friday, Rich Rodriguez and his Jacksonville State Gamecocks made a big pickup through the post-spring transfer portal.
According to Palmer Thombs of On3, Paul joined the transfer site on April 16 after playing with the Bulldogs for the previous two seasons.
He sustained a knee injury during the 2022 preseason, forcing him to redshirt his true freshman year. Paul saw seven action as a reserve for the Bulldogs in the 2023 season, logging 29 total carries for 129 yards and a touchdown.
Paul’s NCAA eligibility will expire in 2024, leaving him just three years left.
According to On3’s 2024 Transfer Portal Industry Rankings, Paul is ranked 34th as a running back and 384th overall.
According to On3’s Industry Rankings for the 2022 recruiting cycle, the Dallas, Texas native attended Parish Episcopal School, where he was listed as the No. 429 overall prospect, No. 67 recruit in the state, and No. 33 running back recruit.
The Gamecocks placed third in their inaugural season as a Conference USA member in 2023 after finishing 9-4 overall and 6-2 in the conference.
Moreover, the Gamecocks defeated the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns 34–31 in the 2023 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. This came about despite the program being deeply involved in the debate surrounding the NCAA’s required transition year, which barred programs in their first two years of FBS competition from being invited to postseason bowl games.
Coach Rich Rodriguez of the Gamecocks hopes to improve on his team’s performance from the previous season by adding Paul, who might be a dangerous weapon in the backfield.
ACC AD Predicts Major Changes Coming To College Football.
After a dramatic league shuffle, college football is back in action. The Pac-12 has virtually disappeared. Four new schools joined the Big 12; two joined the SEC; four joined the Big Ten; and three joined the ACC.
In the future, there might be more. The next teams to play are the Clemson Tigers, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Florida State Seminoles. When Michael Alford, the athletic director of Florida State, appeared on College Sports on SiriusXM, he was questioned about whether the ACC could restore its standing with the universities.
That’s the baseball analysis for you, Alford said. “I’ll say you run out every ground ball.” We’re going to keep running every ground ball out. However, analytics are something we are certain of, as is the impending revenue disparity and how it will only widen.
The ACC is bound by its present contract until 2036, while the Big Ten and the SEC inked massive new TV deals.
Alford anticipates additional conference restructuring in the upcoming years as a result.
According to Alford, “you’re seeing networks really consolidate the major brands of college football.” “And they desire to pit one brand against another. And that’s what we observe. We believe that aspect of it is unfinished. We’re taking things day by day and believe that there will be much more change in the years to come.