Around The Dog Park: A Former D2 Star Will Start In The NFL This Week

The big story this week should excite anybody that roots for lower-level college football players to make it in the pros. As the NFL’s Chicago Bears try to figure out their season, they turn to former Shepherd University stud Tyson Bagent at quarterback.

Bagent is DII’s all-time passing yards leader with 17,034 yards in 53 career games. He went undrafted after an appearance at the 2022 Senior Bowl, but was signed by the Bears

Bagent addressed the Chicago media earlier this week.

AAC

• Have you seen Steve Helwick’s AAC Midseason Power Rankings yet?
• USF have had some bad losses their last few times out. New head coach Alex Golesh is ready to move on by keeping his team’s collective head up and managing morale above all else.

CUSA

• If you were a fan of the Underdog Pawdcast, I’m still doing a G5 football podcast for another network. This week, I asked CBS Sports analyst Robert Turbin about some of the things he’s seen in CUSA this year calling those games.
• Western Kentucky have some incredibly important matchups coming up in terms of competing for the Conference USA title. They’ll do in some of the greatest helmets the college football has ever seen with Big Red in different poses for different positions.

Sun Belt

• Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill offered his thoughts James Madison’s situation with regards to postseason eligibility. Gill was cordial in his comments as always, but like the rest of us, he’s not thrilled about it.
• The West Division is incredibly tight right now, but it would be foolish to write off the league’s defending champion in the Troy Trojans. Marc Narducci of herosports.com broke down what he likes about the Trojans in the second half of the season.