In this installment I’ll stick a fork in Texas Tech and Brendan Sorsby. And I’ll list ten portal players I’ll be watching this fall and tell you why.
Stick a Fork in Them, They’re Done
Finally, clearer heads prevailed. Who that was is still unclear and for the last month there has been no evidence it was anyone in West Texas. From the University of Texas Tech to Joey McGuire and his staff, to money man Cody Campbell, to Brendan Sorsby and his legal team, the idiocy ran unbridled. Wait, I left out Texas AG Ken Paxton, there are just too many igits to remember them all.
Maybe I’m being too harsh – no – no I’m not, not even in the least little bit. With Sorsby admitting to breaking NCAA rules and suing the NCAA, to a Lubbock judge ruling in his favor and Tech not instantly declaring him ineligible afterwards was an absolute farce. It was enough to almost make the college football world’s heads implode.
I told myself all along there was no way in hell Sorsby would be allowed to play. He couldn’t. But man, the way it went on and how Tech repeatedly tried to justify their actions, I was beginning to think everyone had lost their minds.
So, who do we give the credit to for ending this? I’ll say the same culprit who caused the mess was responsible for clearing it up. Greed. Good old fashion greed was behind it all. From Sorsby entering the transfer portal looking for a big payday to Texas Tech willing to pay $5 million to sign him after not scoring a single point against Oregen in the CFP, to both parties willing to defy the college football world to fill their pockets and win a national championship. It was all driven by greed.
Neither party seemed the least concerned about doing the right thing. Tech had the opportunity to save face early on but elected to make themselves the villains. And the fact it’s over won’t change that. Football fans love the underdog but not in Texas Tech’s case. Fans will pick against Tech all season long due to this.
And the sad thing, Tech is good enough that they didn’t need to do it. They can win the Big XII and make the CFP without Sorsby. Going down this road only magnified how desperate they are and the depths they’ll go to win a national championship so they can rub the Texas Longhorn’s noses in it. Talk about selling your soul.
But thank goodness Sorsby finally got the message. College football wasn’t going to let him play and cash in. His best odds for a payday was applying for the NFL’s supplemental draft. I’m not sure how receptive the NFL will be to taking a chance on him. But if Sorsby has shown us anything it’s that he isn’t afraid to gamble. We watched as he pushed his chips all in only to fold. Now he’ll try his luck with the NFL.
It was an ugly time for college football, but we came out on the right side of things.
This time.
Players of Interest in 2026
I’m a Cornhusker fan first. However, I watch and follow multiple teams, coaches and players. With that said here are 10 players I’ll be watching this coming season. I’ll confess, many of these guys have a Big Ten connection.
Ethan Grunkemeyer – The Virgina Tech transfer QB played at Penn State for James Franklin last season. I’m a fan of Franklin and I thought he got a raw deal at Penn State. VT changed the trajectory of their program by hiring him. Grunkemeyer will be reunited with QB coach Danny O’Brien and OC Ty Howle. Under the pair last season Grunkemeyer passed for 1,348 yards and 8 TDs, completing 68.9% of his passes. Franklin wouldn’t have brought him to Blacksburg unless he thought he could improve on those numbers this season.
Rocco Becht – Becht followed head coach Matt Campbell from Iowa State to Happy Valley. He has 42 games of starting experience and has passed for 9,274 yards and 64 touchdowns while rushing for 500 yards and 19 touchdowns. He’ll team up with his old OC from the last two seasons. Not a superstar, but certainly the guy Campbell needs in his first year at PSU.
Benjamin Brahmer – At 6’7”, 255-pounds, Brahmer hails from Pierce, NE and was recruited by the Huskers. However, he went to Iowa State and has now followed HC Matt Campbell and OC/TE Coach Taylor Mouser to Penn State. Brahmer has played 33 games, has 75 receptions for 977 yards, 9 TDs, with an average of 13.0 yards per reception. He will fall in with the long line of successful tight ends to come out of PSU.
Darian Mensah – This one gets my attention because Miami has started a trend of going to the portal for their QBs, first Cam Ward and then Carson Beck. They went hard after Mensah and ended up paying Duke a settlement because of an NIL agreement. Miami has found success with proven QBs from the portal. Will it continue with Mensah? His numbers say it will. He spent his first two seasons at Tulane, passing for 2,723 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions in his second season. Going to Duke, last season he passed for 3,973 yards, 34 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. While Mensah isn’t known as a great runner he can move when needed. With the talent he’ll have around him in Coral Gables and Cristobol’s running game, he’ll be everything the Hurricanes are looking for and more.
Aidan Chiles – Northwestern is Chiles third school after starting at Oregon State and spending two years at Michigan State. Chiles has flashed potential as both a passer and a runner, throwing for 4,116 yards, 27 TDs, and rushing for 531 yards and 12 TDs. The drawback, 14 interceptions and 11 fumbles, losing 7. His new OC at Northwestern is Chip Kelly who coached Marcus Mariota, Dante Moore, and Will Howard. Can Kelly pull the full potential out of Chiles? I’m betting against it.
Katin Houser – With landing at Illinois Houser is another guy who is now at his third school. Now in his fifth year, he started out at Michigan State and then spent the last two seasons at East Carolina. He’s of interest to me because he played against Nebraska as a red shirt freshman leading the Spartans to a 20-17 victory. In that game he went 13/20 for 165 yards and 1 TD. He’s played in a total of 34 games with 13 being in the Big Ten. In that time, he’s thrown for 6,438 yards, 43 TDs, and 22 interceptions while rushing for 364 yards and 15 TDs. A capable passer and runner, he is clearly a good fit for Illinois and their spread offense. He’ll be someone to watch when the Huskers go to Champaign on November 7th.
DJ Lagway – First, I’m not a Florida or Baylor fan. DJ Lagway was one of the hottest players coming out of high school and talent evaluators had Lagway winning the Heismen before he ever took his first college snap. It didn’t take me long to get tired of the overblown hype. While Lagway did well with the Gators over two seasons, passing for 4,179 yards and 28 TDs, he was disappointing as a runner, only rushing for 237 yards and 1 TD with a 1.9 yard per carry average. Add in the fact he threw 23 interceptions and Lagway didn’t live up to the hype. So, it makes sense for him to go home to Texas and Baylor. Will Dave Aranda be able to resurrect the high school version of Lagway or will we see more of the same? Baylor will be average at best this season, even with Lagway.
John Henry Daley – This one is more about HC Kyle Whittingham than Daley. I’m a big fan of Whittingham and his time at Utah. In fact, he was my number one pick for head coach at Nebraska before Rhule was hired. So, for Michigan to snatch him up was a no-brainer. Daley started his career at BYU, then transferred to Utah. He barely showed up in his first season as a Ute. However, in 2025 he came on with 24 solo tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss, 11.5 sacks, 1 pass defended and 2 forced fumbles in just 11 games. A season ending knee injury sidelined him for the last game and the bowl game against Nebraska. A former DC, Whittingham is praised for his approach to the game. How will Daley respond under Whittingham while wearing the maze and blue? I’m guessing surprisingly well.
Princewell Umanmielen – The former Texas high school player is making the rounds. After two seasons at Nebraska, he transferred to Ole Miss. He played 23 games as a Husker, made 15 solo tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks and 1 pass defended. In his single season and 15 games at Ole Miss he made 17 solo tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, 9 sacks, 1 interception and 1 pass defended. When Lane Kiffin went to LSU, he decided he needed Umanmielen’s production to go with him. Was Umanmielen a product of Ole Miss DC Pete Golding? Will he excel at LSU, or will he return to his non-productive ways while at Nebraska? Needing to be motivated, I suspect his performance will depend on his DC and position coach.
Trey White – Most fans won’t be able to tell you who Trey White is and honestly, if he hadn’t been a former player of Nebraska’s DC Rob Aurich and rejected the Huskers, I wouldn’t either. But because of that he is now someone of interest, especially since he went to Texas Tech. White is in his fifth year and played 40 games over four seasons at San Diego State. In that time, he totaled 76 solo tackles, 31 tackles for a loss, 19.5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 forced fumble with 4 passes defended. Nebraska could have used that sort of production. Was White a product of Aurich’s scheme and will he have the same success at Tech? Is Tech’s locker room fractured after the Sorsby fiasco? Would White have been better served to go to Nebraska?
There are a hundred more players I could talk about and give you a storyline for 2026, especially on the Husker’s roster. But these are a few outside of the Huskers I’ll be following. Some will live up to the billing, others won’t.
GO BIG RED!! SIMPLE, FAST, VIOLENT!!
~Lyle Harmon
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