Around the Pac-12: Beavers building positive mojo; recruiting rankings; Chip Kelly’s bold plan (2024)

The alert comes via two simple emojis on social media, from the fingers of the new man in charge.

There’s a Beaver.

And there’s a padlock.

It’s Trent Bray’s way of saying he — and the Oregon State football team — have locked a commitment for next season. And it was a busy weekend for the Beavers’ new coach, who landed commitments from multiple prospects on Sunday.

There have been some painful transfer portal departures from the Oregon State roster since coach Jonathan Smith defected for Michigan State, including the Beavers’ starting quarterback (DJ Uiagalelei) and quarterback of the future (Aiden Chiles), starting tight end (Jack Velling), and a trio of important defensive players (Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, Akili Arnold and Jerod McCoy). Additionally, eight prep recruits have backed off verbal pledges to Oregon State.

But after weeks of bad news, the mojo in Corvallis is starting to improve as Bray and his staff have worked feverishly behind the scenes to keep the OSU roster together, recruit high school prospects for the future and add immediate help through the transfer portal.

Bray’s busy Sunday featured four commitments, including a portal pledge from linebacker Anthony Jones, who has played at Oregon and Indiana in his college career. Bray and the Beavers have now landed seven players through the transfer portal: Jones; Colorado running back Anthony Hankerson; TCU cornerback Mason White; Colorado offensive linemen Van Wells and Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan; Northern Colorado defensive lineman Nick Norris; and Houston defensive tackle Amipeleasi Langi (who committed Monday).

(Keep up with the Beavers’ departures via our transfer tracker)

And more additions could be on the way: Maalik Murphy, a former five-star recruit who is transferring from Texas, arrived in Corvallis for a visit Sunday. The 6-foot-5, 238-pound quarterback, who passed for 477 yards and three touchdowns as a reserve last season, also is reportedly visiting Duke and Baylor.

Murphy’s addition would be monumental for the Beavers, offering proof that Bray and his staff can lure top talent to Corvallis even though Oregon State has been abandoned in the wake of conference realignment.

I can only imagine how difficult it has been for Bray and his staff to recruit this month, when they’ve no doubt had to combat a barrage of negative pitches and harsh rhetoric from opposing schools and recruiters. In the ever-evolving landscape of college football, few schools are dealing with more uncertainty than Oregon State, which went from a program on the rise to a program in limbo.

But last week, Oregon State and Washington State earned an important legal victory when the Washington state supreme court decided not to review a lower court’s ruling that decided the Pac-12 board should include OSU and WSU exclusively, giving the two schools control of the conference and its assets. The ruling came days after Oregon State announced its 2024 football schedule, allaying uncertainty about next year’s slate.

The pair of positive developments no doubt benefited Bray on the recruiting trail, as he and the Beavers start to dig out from a debilitating couple of weeks of negativity.

Is more good news on the horizon?

The NCAA early signing period opens Wednesday and the transfer portal closes Jan. 3, giving Bray ample time to add more talent — and unleash more of those emojis.

Now, let’s take a spin Around the Pac-12:

• ESPN takes a look at the unprecedented challenges facing Oregon State and Washington State.

• UCLA coach Chip Kelly laid out a bold vision for the future of college football and Sports Illustrated shared the details.

• USC isn’t just losing its starting quarterback. Malachi Nelson, one of the top recruits in the 2023 class, is entering the transfer portal, according to multiple published reports, including the Los Angeles Times ... ESPN ... The Athletic ... and 247 Sports.

• Confused by college football recruiting? The Athletic has the terms you need to know to follow the drama of the early signing period in its “Recruiting from A-to-Z.”

• The best — and worst — bowls, ranked from No. 41 to No. 1, courtesy of The Athletic.

• Bowl games have started! And two Pac-12 teams have already played. In the LA Bowl, Ethan Garbers led UCLA to a comeback win over Boise State, writes the Los Angeles Times. Garbers proved he has the ‘it’ factor in the win, according to the Times.

• UCLA played hard for its embattled coach in the comeback win, according to columnist Bill Plaschke.

• Conversely, Cal laid an egg in the Independence Bowl, coughing up 27 consecutive points in a loss to Texas Tech, writes the San Francisco Chronicle.

• On the eve of the bowl game, Jaydn Ott, Cal’s talented running back, played a cruel April Fool’s prank in December. In a social media video, Ott joked that he was transferring ... before immediately backtracking. The San Francisco Chronicle has the details.

• ESPN is offering takeaways from every bowl game this season.

• And Sports Illustrated has a breakdown of every bowl game this season.

• USC’s once-vaunted depth at receiver is no more and the Los Angeles Times wonders: Will the Trojans regroup?

• Former Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers is transferring to Washington, writes The Athletic.

• Colorado and coach Deion Sanders were among the weekend winners in the transfer portal, according to The Athletic.

• The Pac-12 has just one team in the top 10 of ESPN’s recruiting rankings — the Ducks at No. 4. “On the heels of securing the Pac-12′s top class in 2023, the Ducks are proving they will be tough to dethrone. They made news going back to the transfer portal to get a QB in Dillon Gabriel but also have one coming in this class in Luke Moga, who needs to continue to develop as a passer but can be dangerous running threat as he has run sub-11 seconds in the 100 meters. They are also adding more talent to the receiver position with Dillon Gresham; an ESPN 300 prospect that can be a versatile weapon with a nice blend of speed and quickness. The Ducks are also adding top talent to their secondary with Aaron Flowers, a cornerback with elite quickness and good instincts, and Ify Obidegwu, a big corner with elite length. They further bolstered that group by flipping Dakoda Fields from rival USC. Up front, Aydin Breland was a big win out of California as he gives them one of the top DTs in the class and, out of Arizona, they’ve done well in Arizona, pulling two promising edge defenders out of that state. A top-five DE prospect, Elijah Rushing is a rangy defender who can be a very disruptive pass rusher and Jaxson Jones is an edge player with good initial burst and body control. He brings a nice ceiling for development.”

• So you want to be an NIL agent? Well, there’s very little stopping you, writes The Washington Post.

• The Huskies added an important piece from the transfer portal, according to The Seattle Times.

• Utah’s bowl prep is colliding with the busiest time of the year, writes The Salt Lake Tribune.

• The Denver Post breaks down the Buffaloes’ revamped offensive line.

• Arizona State and coach Kenny Dillingham have been very active in the transfer portal. The Arizona Republic has a rundown of their activity so far.

— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.