Former Oregon State running back Anthony Hankerson has moved a step closer to another shot at college football after a Louisiana judge issued an injunction Thursday night that could open the door for him and a group of former NFL players to suit up this season for a fifth year of eligibility.
The ruling blocks the NCAA, the SEC and LSU from keeping those players off the field while the larger legal fight continues. The SEC has already said it plans to appeal.
LSU sits at the center of the dispute because the Tigers have added several of the players involved, setting off a clash with the conference over its rule barring member schools from signing players who previously entered professional contracts. The SEC escalated matters Thursday by filing a federal lawsuit against LSU, saying the school had orchestrated the recruitment of multiple players in the case.
Hankerson’s path is a little different. There’s no sign LSU is after him, but he became eligible for the same possible route back to college football after entering the transfer portal last month. That came shortly after he was waived by the Seattle Seahawks.
The injunction clears one hurdle for Hankerson, but it doesn’t answer the biggest question: whether he’ll actually play again in college.
If he does, the Pac-12 stands out as a possible landing spot. It’s one of only three FBS conferences that still has not adopted a ban on schools signing former professional players, which makes it, at least in theory, one of the likeliest places for Hankerson to land.
In Other News...
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Saturdays opening weekend gave the college football rankings plenty to sort through, but a few teams wasted no time making their case. Ohio State rolled past Ball State behind big days from Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin, Indiana handled North Texas with a balanced showing in its opener, and Alabama looked sharp in a comfortable win over East Carolina as Keelon Russell made his first start.
For Oregon State, though, the early conversation already feels a little more complicated after Houston came away with a 33-20 win. The Beavers had enough offense to stay in the game, but the result left them in the position so many teams face in September: trying to figure out what a tough opener says about the bigger picture, and how much of that first impression can still be reshaped before the schedule gets more demanding. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon States Loss Raised A Bigger Concern Than The Final Score
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For a team still sorting out what it is defensively and where the offense can be more consistent, those are the kinds of issues that matter beyond one loss. Fritz also mentioned individual performances and areas that need to improve, which is usually the sign of a coach trying to separate fixable mistakes from broader concerns. In other words, the final score was only part of the story, and not necessarily the biggest part. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon State Left Houston With One Worry Fans Will Feel Fast
Oregon State left TDECU Stadium with a loss to No. 23 Houston, 33-20, but the larger concern for the Beavers came after the game when JaMarcus Shephard started sorting through the aftermath. The coach reviewed a performance that had some encouraging elements, including turnovers and leadership from Braden Atkinson, while also pointing to the areas that kept the Beavers from turning a competitive night into a better result.
The immediate follow-up now sits on the injury front, where Oregon State has to wait for clarity on a couple of players after a physical night in Houston. At the same time, Shephard was blunt about the football itself, saying the Beavers have work to do in tackling and on third- and fourth-down execution if they want to make the most of the positives they did bring home. [Read more 🡒]