Getty Image / Jesse Beals
Even though the transfer portal doesn’t officially open for coaches to contact players in the portal until Monday, portal season is very much here, with marquee players announcing their intentions frequently this week.
And, one of the most marquee players to enter the portal so far is Washington State quarterback Cam Ward, who announced that he would be enter the portal on his Instagram story on Friday. But, soon after his announcement, USA Today’s Ducks Wire erroneously published an article stating that Ward had announced he was transferring to Oregon, when that was, at least not yet, the case.
An article on Ducks Wire was incorrectly published and has since been deleted and we are working to remove it from syndication to Yahoo and other sites. Please disregard. Thank you for understanding.
— Zachary Neel (@zacharycneel) December 1, 2023
The problem is, the article was syndicated to other major sites like Yahoo! and spread on social media, causing people to think that the quarterback was indeed transferring to Oregon.
My guess is, the site has a few pre-written articles for different potential transfer portal quarterbacks if they were to pick Oregon, and he accidentally published it.
That being said, Cam Ward could end up at Oregon. Oregon will likely be looking for a portal quarterback with superstar and Heisman favorite Bo Nix getting ready to move on to the NFL. And, Ward is certainly one of the best guys out there.
Ward was not a huge prospect coming out of high school, and went to D1 FCS program Incarnate Word. There, he threw for nearly 7000 yards and 71 touchdowns against just 14 interceptions in 19 games before entering the transfer portal and ending up at Washington State.
He picked up where he left off, and has excelled at the higher level. Ward has been the starter in Pullman the last two years, throwing for nearly 6,500 yards with 43 touchdowns against 14 interceptions and helped breathe new life into Washington State. The team struggled to a 5-7 record in a very tough PAC 12 while playing a tough schedule in terms of the conference opponents they drew, but Ward still impressed, and will be a top quarterback in the portal when it opens Monday.
Meanwhile, #3 Oregon’s focus is on their season-defining game on Friday night in the PAC 12 title game Saturday night against #5 Washington, as they will try to avenge their only loss of the season and make their case for a spot in the College Football Playoff.