With the 2024 college football regular season concluded, pundits and fans alike will begin their retrospectives on teams and players’ performances.
One particular player that made a lot of noise early in the year but went slightly under the radar until the final week was Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord.
The senior transfer from Ohio State drew attention in the wake of his former school spending a lot of NIL money ($20M to be exact) in recruiting and the transfer portal after failing to make the College Football Playoff in 2023 with him under center.
Since then the Buckeyes have essentially clinched a berth in the new 12-team format but it seems like McCord still got the final word anyways.
Ohio State lost to rival Michigan for a fourth straight year in Week 14, a streak many blamed McCord for not snapping last year.
On top of that bruise, McCord finished the year as the sport’s leading passer at the FBS level with 4,326 yards through the air.
That’s more than Miami’s Cam Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart, all once highly favored Heisman Trophy candidates this season.
In fact, McCord led Syracuse to a massive upset over then-ranked No. 6 Miami in Week 14, effectively ending the Hurricanes’ College Football Playoff hopes.
When asked by reporters about his successful statistical season and Ohio State’s stumble against Michigan, McCord only had one thing to say: “Everything comes full circle.”
