The Oregon Ducks suffered an embarrassing loss on the field this week, and now they have lost one of their top quarterback prospects.
Oregon entered the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 seed after an undefeated regular season. However, they faced a humiliating defeat against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Wednesday night and have now lost a highly-coveted quarterback as well.
The Ducks were routed in their College Football Playoff quarterfinal game on Wednesday, falling 41-21 to Ohio State in a matchup where the Buckeyes dominated with a 31-0 lead in the first half.
It was a disheartening outcome for the Ducks, who were favored to win the national championship entering the playoff. Unfortunately, the bad news didn’t stop there.
Four-star quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who signed with the Ducks in December and participated in their Rose Bowl preparation, has decided to leave the program.
On Friday afternoon, Sagapolutele confirmed his intention to transfer from Oregon, stating that he “wasn’t a main priority” for the team.
“I just felt that I wasn’t a main priority [at Oregon],” Sagapolutele told ESPN. “Of course there’s going to be competition anywhere I go. But I’m just looking at other QB rooms and the best place for me to go get on the field early.”
Needless to say, this led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“I never understood why he committed to us, not that we wouldn’t take a 5 star QB prospect but we already had a QB in the class and a stacked QB room. Moore likely starts the next two seasons. Felt very odd to me when Jaron can play sooner elsewhere,” one fan wrote on X.
“How is this good for college football?” someone else wrote.
“A quarterback entering the portal just weeks after enrolling shows how quickly things can change in college football – makes you wonder what conversations happened behind closed doors,” another fan added.
“Can you blame him? Oregon doesn’t take time to develop QBs they just pay a few million for transfer portal QBs,” someone else said.
“Kid is a solid young man. Respectful. Humble. Hard working and a heck of a player. Wish him much success in his journey,” another fan wrote.
It remains uncertain where Sagapolutele will transfer next, but before signing with Oregon, he had been committed to Cal.
[ESPN]
