College football NEWS & NOTES

Ohio State: Quarterback J.T. Barrett is returning to Ohio State for his final year of eligibility. Barrett indicated as much after Saturday night’s 31-0 loss to Clemson in the College Football Playoff. He confirmed it in a tweet Wednesday , saying: “I’m coming back for my senior year. Much love to the Buckeye Nation and thank God for the blessings.” Barrett broke school records for career touchdowns, but Ohio State’s passing game struggled against better defenses, including in the Fiesta Bowl rout. Barrett led the Buckeyes to an 11-1 record in 2014 before breaking his leg in the final game and watching from the sideline as Cardale Barrett led the team to a national championship.Earlier Wednesday, linebacker Raekwon McMillan announced he would leave early for the NFL draft.

Auburn: Defensive end Carl Lawson is leaving to enter the NFL draft. The fourth-year junior announced his decision to skip his final season of eligibility with the Tigers on Twitter Wednesday. Lawson had easily his best season after battling injuries throughout his career, racking up nine sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss. The second-team All-Southeastern Conference performer is projected as a likely first- or second-round pick. Lawson missed six games last season with a hip injury and all of 2014 with a knee injury. That came after a promising freshman season when the Tigers won the SEC title and played for a national championship. Lawson’s decision was no surprise since Auburn had honored him with the seniors before the final home game.

Stanford: Defensive lineman Solomon Thomas will leave school early to enter the NFL draft. Thomas said Wednesday that he will bypass his final two seasons of eligibility to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL. Thomas is projected by some experts as a first-round pick. Thomas was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection and third-team All-American this season. He had eight sacks and 15 tackles for loss. His final collegiate play was a sack of North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky on a potential game-tying 2-point conversion in the closing seconds of Stanford’s Sun Bowl win. Thomas is the second Cardinal player to leave early for the draft this season, joining running back Christian McCaffrey.

California: Wide receiver Chad Hansen will skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft. Hansen said Wednesday that playing in the NFL has always been one of his highest goals and the time was right to make the jump. The former walk-on ranked third in the nation last season with 9.2 catches per game and fourth in yards receiving with 124.9 yards per game. He caught 92 passes for 1,249 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Baylor: Former Oregon offensive coordinator Matt Lubick is among five new hires announced Wednesday by new Baylor coach Matt Rhule. Phil Snow, Elijah Robinson and George DeLeone were on Rhule’s staff at Temple. Jeff Nixon spent the last 10 seasons coaching in the NFL, and was tight ends coach for San Francisco this season. Job titles and responsibilities for the new coaches weren’t announced, but Lubick is expected to be an offensive coordinator with the Bears. After Mark Helfrich was fired at Oregon, Lubick — the son of former Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick — became receivers coach at Ole Miss two weeks ago before going to Baylor. Rhule had previously hired seven staffers. He hasn’t retained any of assistants from the previous staff of coach Art Briles who had remained with acting head coach Jim Grobe this season.

South Carolina: Junior running back David Williams is among three South Carolina players leaving the program. Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp announced the departures Wednesday. Along with Williams, receiver Jamari Smith and defensive back Jasper Sasser have chosen to give up their senior seasons at South Carolina. Williams was a 6-foot-1 tailback from Philadelphia who played in 30 games the previous three seasons, making six starts. He gained 744 yards and five touchdowns in his South Carolina career. Williams was the team’s third leading rusher this season behind a pair of freshmen in Rico Dowdle and A.J. Turner. Muschamp said Smith graduated in December while Sasser and Williams are scheduled to graduate in May. He thanked the three for their contributions to the program

Florida: Oft-injured linebacker Alex Anzalone is forgoing his final year of college eligibility and entering the NFL draft. A fourth-year junior who missed 20 games over the last four years because of injuries, Anzalone announced his decision Wednesday. He joins cornerback Quincy Wilson and offensive tackle David Sharpe in leaving the Gators (9-4) early to turn pro. Cornerback Jalen Tabor and defensive tackle Caleb Brantley are expected to join them. Anzalone will be a wild card in the draft.

Associated Press