Huffman on Recruiting: Oregon State cooks, USC and Oregon duel, trouble for Cal and another West Coast exit

The Hotline is thrilled to provide West Coast fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Phoenix-based national recruiting analyst for Rivals/On3. He submitted the following report on Oct. 2 …

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Shep gets his QB

When the Pac-12 expanded to its new format, most observers believed Boise State would dominate recruiting just as the Broncos had in the Mountain West. And for good reason.

On the flip side, many doubted Oregon State could recruit at a high level. And for understandable reasons.

But first-year coach JaMarcus Shephard has long been known as a tireless recruiter, which makes his pursuit of quarterback Zeke Thomas a jewel in his crown.

Thomas is a local product the previous OSU coaching staff never prioritized, at a position of need. And he committed to Boise State.

Of course, the Broncos have always recruited quarterbacks well, often landing players before Power Four programs take notice.

But the Beavers’ victory was more significant because they are now recruiting rivals with Boise State.

Thomas started his career in Corvallis, at Crescent Valley High School, before moving to Eugene to play at Willamette.

He committed to the Broncos in the spring, but Shephard and his staff never stopped pushing.

At the Northwest Showcase in June at Western Oregon College, Thomas was the QB MVP. Shephard was there and shadowed him throughout the camp.

The Beavers also had another ace: their high level baseball team. Thomas is a dual-sport standout with multiple baseball programs pursuing him, especially after he played in the vaunted Area Code Games.

Oregon State is giving Thomas the option to play both baseball and football, which played a significant role in his recruitment and should give OSU plenty of confidence that it can hold onto Thomas.

It doesn’t hurt that his father worked at Oregon State. He came to Corvallis when his former college coach, Gary Andersen, was hired by OSU.

But it’s a big win, and the on-field results show the Beavers found their leader in Shephard.

Late hits and subtle digs

Each week, it seems a new villain emerges in college football (or perpetual if it’s Lane Kiffin).

This week, it was USC linebacker Desman Stephens for his late hit on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore — and more for his reaction after the ghastly collision.

That sequence added to the emotions for Ducks coach Dan Lanning, who really wanted an Oregon victory in Los Angeles.

His heightened emotions are no surprise, given the social media beef between the two schools tied to recruiting, although it has been relatively one-sided on the field lately, with Oregon owning the Trojans.

Southern California is a major recruiting bunker for the Ducks.

Although the controversial hit happened between a pair of players from Michigan — Stephens and Moore went to high school just over 40 miles apart — it was more of a Southern California hot spot between the coaches, the programs, and the fans.

Lanning took shots at USC after the game, all measured and calculated in his effort to keep succeeding in recruiting.

But the big, overarching question is: Does that matter? Not really.

Both programs are recruiting Southern California. Both are recruiting nationally. It could be presented as good vs. evil, but at the end of the day, recruiting in 2026 is about which programs have the resources to win right now, and both do.

So while the sport had its weekly heel turn — Arch Manning and Lane Kiffin are off the hook — and while it could correlate to recruiting, Lanning’s comments don’t seem likely to negatively impact USC’s efforts with Southern Californian prospects.

At least, not as much as Lincoln Riley’s status on the hot seat.

Trouble brewing in Berkeley?

For all the offseason goodwill that first-year head coach Tosh Lupoi built, the past week has been rough for the Cal alumnus.

It was bad enough that the Bears lost at home to scuffling Clemson. But it got worse in recruiting—the one area where Lupoi has really been able to make an impact.

Mere hours after the Bears lost to the Tigers, their highest-rated commit in the high school class of 2027, receiver Charles Davis, announced he was opening up his recruitment. He didn’t de-commit, per se, or flip, but it essentially served notice that the Westlake Village prospect is open to other schools.

UCLA was his runner-up and nearly landed him in April. And while the Bruins’ offense is cooking, Cal’s attack is flagging. That’s one to monitor.

To make matters worse, Cal’s highest-rated defensive pledge, and the No. 1 junior college player in the country, cornerback Alius Mayo, didn’t just open his recruitment. He flipped his verbal to Georgia.

When Cal landed Mayo in the summer, it was a bit of a surprise. But his proximity to home helped — he is from Stockton — especially with a defense-centric coaching staff.

Georgia is always tough to beat, particularly for defensive backs, under Kirby Smart.

But the optics, and the timing, certainly don’t help.

West Coast departures, again

At one point, Washington looked like the heavy favorite to land 2028 edge rusher Jalanie George, the No. 2 player in Arizona and a top-30 player nationally.

Two of his teammates, receiver Zerek Sidney and quarterback Blake Roskopf, are committed to the Huskies in the 2027 class, and George attended UW’s season opener against Washington State. Purportedly, the vibes were good.

A week later, though, he visited Wisconsin, which also had commitments from two teammates in 2027, linebacker Nathan Jones and defensive lineman Yahzeen Zion.

Somehow, the Badgers surpassed Washington and, despite one more late push by the Huskies, George announced for Wisconsin on Thursday.

Jedd Fisch has seven pledges in the 2027 class from Arizona, so it is clear that he has prioritized the state. But George is a big loss.

And in another note that even the non-blue-bloods are a threat on the recruiting trail — provided they have good coaching and development and resources — Kentucky went to Southern California and landed a commitment from one of the top 2029 quarterbacks on the West Coast: Marcus Washington from Cajon High School in San Bernardino.

There are three class-of-2029 commitments from California to date, and two are leaving the region: Washington and receiver Austin Miller (committed to Ohio State).

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