Crank the mass hysteria up to a fever pitch.
A “savior” is coming to town.
Ohio State graduate transfer Joe Burrow will sign with LSU instead of Cincinnati, he announced on Twitter late Friday night. Burrow is a graduate, meaning he’d be eligible to play immediately with two years remaining, immediately thrusting a serious competitor into LSU’s wide-open quarterback derby.
“Excited to be playing in Death Valley next season,” Burrow wrote in a tweet. “Ready to get to work.”
LSU was one of the immediate leaders in recruiting Burrow since news of his intent to transfer broke early last week. LSU and Cincinnati were the only schools granted permission to contact the former Buckeye, and he took visits to both last week before arriving at a decision Friday.
So why all the hype for this Ohio native: he spent two seasons backing up JT Barrett at Ohio State and competed for the starting job this spring. Reports out of Columbus indicate he wasn’t out of the race this spring but left to find a clearer path to start.
Burrow, a former four-star recruit, has appeared in 10 career games, completing 29-of-39 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. He shined in Ohio State’s spring game, too, going 15-for-22 for 238 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Burrow landing at LSU heats up the intrigue surrounding the three quarterbacks already on the roster heading into summer.
LSU coach Ed Orgeron has said repeatedly that he didn’t anticipate junior Justin McMillan, sophomore Myles Brennan or redshirt-freshman Lowell Narcisse would leave this summer because all three had a legitimate shot at starting, but Burrow could change the equation.
McMillan, like Burrow, is a graduate with two years of eligibility remaining, so he’s the most likely of the trio to look for greener pastures elsewhere. The two younger signal callers would have to sit out a year if they were to transfer to another Division I program.
Orgeron hasn’t spoken publicly since the Burrow pursuit began, but LSU’s actions in courting him would seem to indicate that neither Orgeron nor offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger were sold on the three in-house options going into summer workouts.
“I want every one of those guys to work hard and compete for the summer job,” Orgeron said at the LSU Football Caravan stop in Houston earlier this month. “Every one of them has a chance to start. It’s very equal right now … Hopefully it’s a no brainer. Hopefully a guy wins it in August. We’ll see.”
Be the first to comment