There is only one game left in the 2023 college football regular season, which will conclude after the Army-Navy game this weekend. There is still much to get excited about; the college football playoff field looks tremendous and there are plenty of bowl games that are about to come through the pike.
But it is also time to monitor the transfer portal, where plenty of big names have entered since the end of most teams' seasons. One of the biggest names to hop into the portal is now ex-Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord.
Kyle McCord's tenure with Ohio State probably didn't go the way he wanted it to go. He arrived in 2021, but spent the first two seasons of his career there backing up CJ Stroud. To that point, McCord attempted only 58 passes.
He finally got his chance to be the guy in Columbus this season, and it was a bit of a rocky ride. He struggled a bit in his first start of the year at Indiana, but he found a groove later in the season starting with Ohio State's game against Maryland. He helped Ohio State get two signature wins over Notre Dame and Penn State. He finished the year completing 65.8% of his passes, averaged 9.1 yards per attempt, and threw for 3,170 yards and 24 touchdowns.
But, Ohio State couldn't seal the deal against Michigan. McCord wasn't great in that game. He completed only 60% of his passes and threw two of his six picks on the year in that game. The overall numbers for McCord are solid, but that is the game Ohio State needed to have and may be why he is in the portal now.
It's possible McCord returns, but he may have sights on a new home. Two teams that recruited McCord out of high school make sense as potential options out of the portal.
Maryland Terrapins
If Kyle McCord wants to stay in the Big Ten and be closer to home, going to Maryland would make a lot of sense. McCord is from Mount Laurel, New Jersey, which is roughly two and a half hours away from Maryland's campus in College Park, Maryland. That could very much appeal to McCord.
Maryland might also be in a position where they need a new starting quarterback next season. Taulia Tagovailoa followed former Alabama offensive coordinator Mike Locksley to Maryland from Tuscaloosa and has done a great job as the Terps' starting quarterback the last three seasons. He just became the all-time leading passer at Maryland and in the history of the Big Ten conference earlier this season.
Tagovailoa could still have another year of eligibility; he did redshirt during his lone season at Alabama and still has the extra COVID season of eligibility at his disposal. But, even if he doesn't have another year of eligibility, he could also leave for the NFL. This could be a great spot for McCord and should be a spot he has some familiarity with going back to his high school recruiting days. Keep an eye out on the Terps.
North Carolina Tar Heels
One place that is a near lock to have a quarterback opening is North Carolina. Tar Heels' starting quarterback Drake Maye is going to declare for the NFL Draft sooner than later. If McCord wants a spot to start and has a history of producing NFL quarterbacks, maybe North Carolina is the place to go.
Just in Mack Brown's second stint as North Carolina head coach alone, both Sam Howell and Drake Maye (eventually) will have made the NFL. Howell has been more than solid for the Commanders this season, and Maye has lit up the box score at Chapel Hill and soon will on Sundays.
North Carolina also recruited McCord coming out of high school before he chose Ohio State. With Maye gone, the starting quarterback job would surely be McCord's to lose in a place that is churning out NFL quarterbacks. This would be another great spot for McCord to land out of the transfer portal.
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