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Last week, Syracuse got the disappointing (though not insanely surprising) news that Houston quarterback transfer John O'Korn decided to take his talents to Ann Arbor, suiting up for Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. The spurned Orange were still in the O'running for another O'QB, though. Penn State passer Michael O'Connor was also looking to relocate and also had the Orange in his sights.
The Ottawa-turned-Tennessee-turned-Florida-QB decided to spurn Syracuse as well, though (much to the chagrin of those who don't believe in what's on the current Orange roster). He decided to pick BC...
QB Michael O'Connor, formerly of Penn State has signed with #UBCFootball. Best Cdn QB prospect since Jesse Palmer. HUGE coup for Blake Nill!
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) February 12, 2015
Oh. THAT BC. Not sure if that's better or worse.
So instead of seeing O'Connor on the opposite #OrangeEagle sideline, we'll be... not seeing him at all here in America. He heads back to his native Canada (though, really, Ottawa is pretty far away from British Columbia) to play for the THUNDERBIRDS. In some ways, the game in Canada is less #hardnosed, because there are 12 players on the field. In others, it's MORE #hardnosed, because they only get three downs to gain 10 yards. Perhaps he felt that challenge was already tough enough, and that operating in the Syracuse offense would just be masochistic?
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Bummer to lose out on a solid QB transfer target --especially to a Canadian university -- but it's debatable how much we were ever really "in" it on O'Connor. Now, he'll be the potential savior for the UBC Thunderbirds and their Canada West Football Conference hopes.
"Offseason football news, everyone!"