Recruiting roundup: Utah, USC make stellar first impressions as Cal readies for two big visits

The Hotline is delighted to provide West Coast fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman the Phoenix-based national recruiting editor for Sports He submitted the following overview on Sept Recruiting panic season Week is invariably good for a number of things but the primary impact of the competition is well panic Fans of teams that lost their season openers are convinced - awaits and that every prospect their school landed over the previous nine months is going to renege on his commitment But with the way recruiting operates in with revenue sharing and NIL having more influence on decisions than a degree the school s location and the chance of immediate playing time is there any reason to panic Not really A multitude of recruiting deals are finalized before the season and in selected cases money is exchanged already As a impact de-commitments in the wake of poor on-field performances are fewer and further between So if you re a fan of Stanford UCLA Colorado Boise State or Oregon State it may be a bit premature to worry that all those pledges will switch their commitments anytime soon Season for optimism On the flip side see what we did there do victories in Week mean your school is getting everyone on its wish list Possibly not But where early-season success does help is with the younger prospects While the recruits are mostly locked in schools are trying to make an impression on the recruits in the classes of and who are attending games this fall And the teams out West who had the the greater part impressive wins based on far different metrics were Utah and USC The Trojans played Missouri State which just made the jump to FBS competition from the FCS thus preserving USC s legacy as the only major college initiative that has never played an FCS opponent Still with specific whispers that perhaps coach Lincoln Riley has lost his touch with quarterbacks given the struggles with Miller Moss last season and the ho-hum showing by Jayden Maiava USC fans assuredly were giddy over the offense on display in the Coliseum last weekend in the - accomplishment Hello Husan Longstreet USC s quarterback of the future On the other hand Utah has invariably won with defense But in the Utes best seasons under Kyle Whittingham when they were winning Pac- championships the offense did its part too So what Utah did to UCLA under new offensive coordinator Jason Beck and quarterback Devon Dampier they joined the Utes from New Mexico last winter certainly caught the attention of several players out West who were impressed with the offense That it happened on the road in front of a pretty good roster of visiting recruits can only help Utah s continued efforts Lyons in the Coliseum We mentioned last week that the only committed prospect to keep an eye on with his visit schedule this fall is quarterback Ryder Lyons the No recruit in California and a Brigham Young pledge Lyons is planning to serve a church mission after high school graduation and won t enroll at BYU until Jan But with his older brother Walker on their roster the Trojans will have an opportunity to welcome Lyons to several games While he may be there as an interested sibling USC won t waste the visit Riley and Co will do their best to try to flip him That process could begin to unfold this weekend when Ryder Lyons will be in attendance for USC s reunion matchup with former coach Clay Helton and Georgia Southern Lyons teammate Vlad Dyakonov an offensive tackle who has committed to the Trojans will be there as well Bears back in Berkeley With so much focus on the quarterbacks debuting in Pasadena where Utah and Dampier beat UCLA and Tennessee transfer Nico Iamaleava there was an impressive performance in Corvallis Related Articles Big social media takes on Saban Sankey and Petitti in crafted strategy Week picks against spread Oklahoma rolls Michigan Ok State at Oregon Holy Total Projecting Utah s results in the Big competition by battle The Hotline s Power Four power rankings SEC on top followed by the ACC College Football Playoff forecast How Miami s win over Notre Dame benefits the ACC and Big We aren t referring to Maalik Murphy the former Duke starter who transferred to Oregon State Rather Cal left-hander Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele sparkled in his debut Now the Bears return to Berkeley for their home opener against Texas Southern And they re expected to have a number of recruits in town None will be bigger than Giovanni Hodge the class of defensive lineman from Grant High School in Sacramento and Malakai Taufoou the athlete from Serra High School in San Mateo Hodge is the top interior defensive lineman in Northern California in his class and plays for a Cal alum at Grant former defensive back Syd Quan Thompson His first scholarship offer came from the Bears he s a primary target for coach Justin Wilcox Taufoou has several Cal ties as well His uncle Sione Taufoou is a defensive analyst for the Bears after serving as the defensive coordinator at UAB Taufooa is the top true defensive prospect in the Bay Area in and has offers from numerous schools But Cal has done well in the Bay Area and would love to keep Taufoou in the Golden State Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow Huffman on the social media platform X via BrandonHuffman and backing AveryStrongDIPG Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline