Tuesdays with Gornie: The final four teams in the playoffs have significant footprints

If there’s a team in the College Football Playoff that has legitimately gone coast to coast, from the Southeast to the Pacific Northwest, it’s Ohio Statefavorite to win the whole thing.

Quarterback Will Howardtransfer from Kansas Stateis from Pennsylvania. Star escapes TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins – who have nearly identical stats going into the semifinals – are from Virginia and Alabama, respectively, and Judkins is a transfer from Ole Miss.

All three featured receivers were five-star prospects, all from different areas. Emeka Egbuka is from Steilacoom, Washington, Jeremiah Smith is out of Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade Madonna and Carnell Tate is from Illinois, but played at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy.

The same can be said for the Buckeyes’ defense. Linebacker Cody Simon is from New Jersey, Caleb Downs (an Alabama transfer) is from Georgia, and then there’s a significant west in Ohio State’s defense with Lathan Ransom and Denzel Burke from Arizona and JT Tuimoloau is from Washington. The Buckeyes also stayed home for two stars – both five stars – at linebacker Sonny Styles from Pickerington (Ohio) Pickerington Central and defensive end Jack Sawyer from the same native town, but went to Pickerington North.

There are some exceptions, though Penn State has used its traditional recruiting footprint heavily to build this underwhelming roster SMU and Boise State ahead of Thursday’s showdown with Notre Dame for a trip to the national championship.

And all the stars are developed through the program, and not brought from the transfer portal.

Star quarterback Drew Aller is from Ohio (and was once considered Irish in his recruitment). Running back Kaytron Allen is out of Virginia and Nicholas Singleton is an in-state recruit from Shillington (Pa.), Governor Mifflin.

Tyler Warrenarguably the best tight end in the nation, is a former three-star out of Mechanicsville (Va.) Atlee Virginia Tech to Penn State the summer before his senior season. One wonders where the Nittany Lions would be without him. Receivers Harrison Wallace is from Alabama and Omari Evans is from Texas.

On defense, Penn State had previous success at Michigan and returned there for a defensive back Jaylen Reed and linebacker Kobe King. Zakee Wheatley is a Maryland prospect, regular recruiting territory for the Nittany Lions, along with Dani Dennis-Suttonformer five-star prospect. Up and coming star LB Tony Rojas is from Fairfax, Va.

Penn State linebacker Abdul Carterwho is rehabbing and hopes to play Thursday, is another state win for the coach James Franklin and his staff as a former four-star player played at Philadelphia (Pa.) La Salle.

When the former coach Mack Brown had Texas When he was truly a national power in the early 2000s, there was always an interesting recruiting move that would help him fill out his class without much work to do.

Texas would hold an early junior day in the offseason, invite virtually every elite player from the state and surrounding areas to Austin, and by the end of the day the Longhorns would have the vast majority of their class locked up.

Coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff hasn’t taken quite the same approach, but there’s a very significant feeling in the state for the elite players on the roster.

On offense, quarterback Quinn Ewersthe first two backs Quintrevion Wisner and Jaydon Blue and Houston transfer receiver Matthew Golden they are all from Texas. Among other pass catchers, tight end Gunnar Helmwho may have helped his position in the NFL draft more than any other Texas player, is from Colorado and then Isaiah Bond is a transfer from Alabama from Georgia with Deandre Moore from Bellflower (California) St. John Bosco.

Defensively, the feeling in the state is even more striking. Five-star star linebacker Anthony Hill together with Michael Taaffe, David Gbenda, Andrew Mukuba, Jahdae Barron, Colin Simmons and Vernon Broughton – basically everyone – is a player in the state.

If recruiting really starts at home and then spreads, the Longhorns essentially skipped the second round with so many elite players close to home.