Curtis Dunlap Jr Enters Transfer Portal and October Big Ten Football Talks Get Trumped Up

PHOTO: AARON LAVINSKY • [email protected]

Everyday is weird in 2020 but Tuesday, September 1 had a few extra twists. First, we woke up to Donald Trump tweeting about secret meetings with Kevin Warren over October Big Ten football. That got the blood pumping.



Throughout the day, we had all sorts of reports about how early fall football could really start, if the Big Ten decided to walk back their postponement. “Sources” were leaking start dates to sports media members that ranged from October 10th, all the way back into November.

The most credible report came from The Dan Patrick Show and had the season starting on October 10. That was later debunked by the Nebraska AD, of all people. Nonetheless, 247Sports reported that these talks have been going on in Big Ten circles for weeks, lending to the seriousness.

So… we still sit in wait, after all the dust settled Tuesday evening. I’d say we sit closer to fall football, than we do spring football… Playing two seasons that close together (2021 winter or spring + 2021 fall) seems like too much, if this whole thing is about player safety (it’s not).

Curtis Dunlap Defects

This one came out of the blue and smacked Minnesota Gopher football fans in the face. (LG) Curtis Dunlap Jr, one of two IMG Academy commits (Daniel Faalele being the other) who came over after Zack Annexstad committed in 2018 as a preferred walk-on, has entered the transfer portal.



Dunlap was the highest-rated recruit of that class and he started all of 2019, as a Redshirt Sophomore. I’ve searched high and wide all day, for what made Dunlap put his name in the transfer portal, and haven’t found anything.

I did find out from GopherIllustrated.com, that Dunlop hasn’t been attending practices or been on campus, so this isn’t surprising to those who have sources close to the team. There are some other players who haven’t been around the team either, so we could see more movement, too.

I’m not panicking yet. It’s difficult to panic when we know so little about what is going on around college football right now. We have guys opting out and we have campuses opening and closing, not to mention some seasons being canceled and some seasons being played.

It’s going to be a rollercoaster few months so buckle up.

Athletic Department Releases COVID-19 Testing Results (Kind Of)



The stats released to media today reveal a possible 3% infection rate among student athletes being tested since June, but we didn’t get any context with the numbers. We don’t know how many of those positives were recorded by the same people, who had already tested positive one time.

We also do not know how many of these positives were captured upon intake and how many acquired the virus after already being on campus. I’ve requested more information. I’ll update this post if/when I hear back.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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