Former Minnesota Gopher quarterback Philip Nelson announced late last week that he was transferring and Texas Tech is mentioned as a possible landing spot along with UCLA (via St. Paul Pioneer Press, hat-tip CFBTalk), although Texas Tech is considered the favorite. You can read the post at The Daily Gopher and it appears to be an amicable split with Minnesota and Coach Kill has offered to find Nelson a spot (via The Daily Gopher).
From what I can tell from Philip's page at Minnesota, he played immediately his freshman year and his sophomore year, so he has three years to play two more seasons (via GopherSports). Nelson passed for 1,300 yards on a 50% completion percentage, 7 yards an attempt, 9 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Nelson also rushed for 364 yards and about 3 yards an attempt. He was actually the 3rd leading rusher for Minnesota and he had 6 touchdowns. Looking at his 24/7 bio, Nelson was the Minnesota Gatorade and AP player of the year (via 24/7).
Nelson's passing stats aren't that spectacular, but I'm not real sure what he had to work with offensively at Minnesota, which really poured it on as a rushing team. I'd totally welcome any competent quarterback that wants to compete a bit for a spot. It is obviously an uphill climb for him, but for a team with one scholarship quarterback right now, I'd welcome anyone that can add to the mix.
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Collier to TCU: This is somewhat expected and to be honest, I don't think that L.J. Collier even had an offer from Texas Tech at this point, but Munday DE L.J. Collier flipped his commitment to TCU over the weekend (via DMN). I checked Collier's profile page at Rivals over the weekend and it didn't even show him having an offer from Texas Tech any more. So, yeah, I guess he flipped technically. I'd also add that I've heard rumblings that the staff was heading down this way for quite some time (grades and maturity issues) and they had asked Collier to greyshirt in this class and then eventually moving to not even having an offer any more.
DFW All-Area: Congrats to Texas Tech commits WR Ian Sadler and S Derrick Dixon as first team All-Area in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area (via DMN). Dixon doesn't get ink, but he really is as good a safety as there is in the state, just an inch or two shorter than ideal. A ferocious hitter and incredibly fast, Dixon just makes plays. Dixon is really underrated, much like Sadler was before his state championship game. These two guys deserve it.
Receiver Review: The LAJ has a look at the receivers for the 2014 class (via LAJ).
More on Thorpe: The LAJ has more on the commitment of Brandon Thorpe and don't think that there's not a correlation between Thorpe committing and Collier having an offer (via LAJ). Texas Tech has immediate needs at defensive tackle and defensive end. Thorpe and his Highland C.C. teammate, Marcus Smith, are both being courted by other programs. Thorpe still has a visit with UCF scheduled and Louisville and Cincinnati are looking at Smith. The article focuses on Smith commenting on Thorpe and here's a bit:
"Coach (Scott) said (Thorpe) will be on the outside, be that d-end rushing the passer," Smith said. "The good thing about both of us is we can play multiple positions, be swing guys. We can play inside, play the three (technique, defensive tackle) or play on the end.
"I’ll be the noseguard in the 3-4, and in the 4-3 I can play the tackle and also the nose. We got another commit from a big boy from California (Levi) that can play noseguard. He’s not as versatile as much. He can be at noseguard. Me and (Thorpe) as swing guys, we can play the whole line."
Porter Profile: A nice interview with S Tre' Porter, who hopes to be drafted in April (via NewEraScouting).
2014 Predictions: A couple of early predictions for 2014 (via Athlon and Turfburner).
New Campus Photos: Some great new photos from TTURed (via TotallyTexasTech).
Autonomy to the Power Five: Last week, a number of athletic directors and various big wigs met and in a straw poll, a unanimous number of them agreed to give autonomy to the five big conferences, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC, also known as the Power Five (via SI).