As is our Saturday morning tradition in the fall, our recruiting analysts discuss the weekend visits and programs with a lot on the line in front of prospects.
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1. What is the biggest recruiting visit this weekend?
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John Garcia Jr.: Four-star DL Floyd Boucard at USC. The former Oklahoma defensive line commitment loved USC over the summer months, during his official visit, and the program has been pushing as much as any since he decommitted from OU last week. Colorado, Florida and several others are trying to gain positioning and momentum with Boucard, but him setting his first trip to Los Angeles says a lot about where the Trojans may eventually stand in this race. Pair that with a final decision timeline that is actually going to be accelerated over the next month or so, and the Trojans can potentially build a lead for the big interior talent’s services while others campaign to get a visit out of him. With the trajectory of the USC defense in a strong spot and plenty of movement expected with the current defensive front – especially with Bear Alexander redshirting – it would almost present as an upset should the Trojans not become a major player for his services by weekend’s end.
Adam Gorney: It is a huge weekend across the country as Alabama and Auburn will especially be hosting elite prospects across the board but the biggest visit to me is Javion Hilson going to UCF. The five-star defensive end lives less than an hour away in Cocoa, Fla., his teammate, Jayvan Boggs, is already committed to the Knights and after previous commitments to Alabama and Florida State, Hilson is back on the market. If he were to pick UCF it would give the hometown school an instant impact player as Texas and as many others pursue Hilson, a pledge to the Knights would show they can battle for some of Florida’s top players.
Marshall Levenson: I am rolling with Deuce Knight, who will be back at Auburn. This might be an odd choice as Knight has now been at Auburn four times this season with no real developments of substance taking place yet. But the longtime Notre Dame commit has to end the song and dance at some point with his continued flirting of flipping to the Tigers. This visit is more important than previous ones however as it is finally an official visit, which often lends itself to longer, more in-depth discussions and experiences while on campus. So, the full expectation is he will be an Auburn Tiger at some point and this weekend seems about as good as any to make the move, which will then allow Notre Dame and other universities in limbo to then make corresponding moves to help finish their classes.
Greg Smith: Deuce Knight. It’s very easy to forget at this point that Knight is still committed to Notre Dame. He’s been to Auburn four times now this season and all signs still point to him ending up as part of the Tigers’ class. However, the Tigers have made a habit of losing while he’s in town. Auburn is a double-digit underdog to Oklahoma so winning will be a tall order. Can the Tigers seal the deal this weekend?
Sam Spiegelman: Deuce Knight to Auburn. We’ve seen this before, haven’t we? Knight is set to make his fifth consecutive visit to the Plains, this time for an official visit after a series of trips beginning with Big Cat Weekend and a handful of subsequent game days at Auburn. Hugh Freeze and the Tigers are looking to fill out their top-five recruiting haul with a quarterback and circled back to Knight midway through the summer. Knight, who committed to Notre Dame this time last year, has not been back to South Bend since June. There’s a sense Knight is likely to play college ball closer to home in Mississippi, and we’ve circled Auburn as the team to beat entering this weekend’s official visit.
2. Which program can do most to help its recruiting efforts with a big win this weekend?
John Garcia Jr.: With new Big 12 foe and polarizing program Colorado coming to town, and Miami playing on Friday, the state’s top recruits are headed in to see Gus Malzahn‘s program. From five-stars such as pass rusher Javion Hilson to elite recruits committed elsewhere such as wide receiver Dallas Wilson or offensive lineman Max Buchanan, the amount of talent headed to Orlando over multiple classes is staggering. The Knights are 3-0 and profile as double-digit favorites against Coach Prime and co., who have already begun taking shots at UCF in saying the Buffs are the reason the visitor list is so strong. Should the program take care of Colorado and come close to covering at the Bounce House, it would potentially propel the school into the top 25 conversation with an undefeated mark overall and within the conference. It’s about as ideal a position for UCF since it made the move into the Power Four ranks, profiling as perhaps the second-best team in the state behind Miami as Florida and Florida State struggle on Saturdays. No wonder the program has a top 20 class while it tracks for easily the best class UCF has brought in during the Rivals era.
Adam Gorney: Auburn is 2-2 and has a major quarterback problem. Coach Hugh Freeze caught some heat this week after losing to Arkansas by 10 saying if the two teams played nine more teams, the Tigers would win all nine. Through all this early season turmoil, Notre Dame QB commit Deuce Knight is coming back for his fourth visit and five-star Ohio State CB commit Na’eem Offord is expected to visit again as well. Oklahoma has lots of struggles on offense as well as the Sooners cannot figure out their QB situation and all their receivers are hurt so a big win this weekend could re-ignite some interest from many Southeast stars.
Marshall Levenson: It would be easy to say Alabama given the monster visitor list it is bringing in against Georgia, but it’s ‘Bama, which is going to be fine regardless of outcome. UCF though has tons to gain with a big win on Saturday, hosting Deion Sanders and Colorado. This is a weekend that, if everything goes UCF’s way, could be looked back on as a defining moment in program history. That is of course asking or predicting a lot but there are some big-time names who could propel the program forward were they to join the Knights. Five-star defensive end Javion Hilson headlines the list alongside crucial names such as Landon Duckworth, Lamar Brown and flip targets in Oregon commit Dallas Wilson and Miami commit Max Buchanan. A big weekend with an exciting win would be a massive boost to not only their chances to compete for a Big 12 title but further their recruiting efforts, which also top the conference at the moment.
Greg Smith: Purdue. The Boilermakers are hosting an enormous recruiting weekend with more than 80 visitors coming to town for the matchup with Nebraska. Coach Ryan Walters is hoping to spring the upset against the Huskers. Doing so would give the program a jolt especially since wins are going to be hard to come by this season. Ohio 2026 safety Kaden Gebhardt and 2026 running back Kory Amachree are among the headliners for the big game.
Sam Spiegelman: UCF has made quite a few splashes over the years and even more since becoming a Power Four program and making noise around Big 12 country the past few weeks. This week, the Knights are set to host a massive group of visitors in the 2025, 2026 and 2027 classes, and are hitting several priority targets in the Southeast. UCF is welcoming back top QB target Landon Duckworth, who has been leaning in that direction since reopening his recruitment over the summer, as well as Miami OL commit Max Buchanon and Florida DB commit Demetres Samuel Jr., and top targets like OL Lamar Brown, four-star WR Nalin Scott, four-star CB Jalen Williams and four-star RB Ezavier Crowell. UCF is welcoming Colorado to town for a huge national spotlight game with a high volume of blue-chip recruits in the Bounce House. UCF has the opportunity to make noise this weekend.
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