Report: Vanderbilt losing sophomore running back to NCAA transfer portal
The Vanderbilt Commodores have been hit hard by opt-outs and transfers this offseason, and that bad news continued on Wednesday.
The latest departure comes via the NCAA transfer portal, where a sophomore running back is apparently leaving the program.
Per AL.com’s Matt Zenitz, JR Tran-Reno has entered the portal and will explore his transfer options moving forward:
Have learned that Vanderbilt running back JR Tran-Reno has entered the transfer portal.
Birmingham native who was a finalist for Alabama’s Class 5A Mr. Football award in 2017.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) September 2, 2020
Tran-Reno was a 3-star athlete in the 2019 recruiting class. He was the No. 149 athlete in the class of 2019 and the No. 64 overall recruit from the state of Alabama, per the 247Sports composite rankings.
He did not see any action as a freshman in 2019. We’ll see where he ends up moving forward.
He was way on down the depth chart anyway. Wish him luck.
Vanderbilt is always short on depth, but with the attrition in the offensive line, the opt-outs, the Covid positives, and the transfers, with the schedule they have to play now, it is going to be really tough on the Commodores.
What probably was at best a 1-9 season with a lucky upset has probably morphed not only into an 0-10 season, but an 0-10 season with historically low negative scoring margins.
When was the last time a team failed to average 14 points per game in the SEC? When is the last time a team gave up more than 28 points per game above what they scored? Those negative accomplishments are now in the black and gold headlights. I hope the remaining players can get through the season without serious injuries, because this roster is about where a JV roster might be at a lower tiered SEC rival.
Upon further research, in the days of 8 SEC games, here are the teams that failed to average 14 points per conference game:
2014 Vanderbilt–12.8
2012 Kentucky–11.1
2011 Ole Miss–11.6
2009 Vanderbilt–8.9
2005 Ole Miss–12.1
2005 Mississippi State–9.8
2004 Kentucky–13.3
2000 Vanderbilt–13.8
1999 South Carolina–7.9
1998 Vanderbilt–8.3
1997 Vanderbilt–6.5
1996 Vanderbilt–8.1
1996 Arkansas–11.0
1996 Ole Miss–12.0
1995 Vanderbilt–11.3
1994 Kentucky–9.5
1993 Vanderbilt–6.5
To find a team that was outscored by more than 4 touchdowns per game in SEC play, you must go back to 1979 when Vanderbilt was outscored by an average of 45.3 to 16.0, 29.3 ppg.